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SEAL OF APPROVAL – (DC) SHERELL ROWE – Red Palace – 1/6/11

3 Jan
We at True Genius Requires Insanity enjoy dancing nearly as much as we enjoy breathing. We also have an extreme affinity for pop music. As well, we’re also at a point with our twin loves of dance and pop where we feel that there are two acts who deserve time to shine. If you’re a reader of the site, you already know how we feel about Baltimore’s Lazerbitch. Libby Picken and Maxwell Houston have an evolving pop sensibility that only improves by the track. We’d also like to take the time to introduce everyone to DC’s Dark Planet Records’ own dance pop diva, the wonderful Sherell Rowe.
LISTEN TO SHERELL ROWE’S SINGLE “SEX TOY”
In 2011, TGRI is all about reforming standards in a slumping music industry and standing behind who and what we believe in. In 2010, we featured Sherell and her mix of sultry sounds and enticing charisma as the vocal performance during our Soul Train Happy Hour at U Street Music Hall. Her presence was not just limited to this performance though. She was a feature performer on a number of occasions at wildly popular gay/lesbian dance night Pink Sock at DC’s Wonderland Ballroom, and was a feature performer just a few nights ago at Brightest Young Things’ New Years Eve extravaganza. She also released an EP with an excellent lead singles in “Sex Toy” and “Ordinary” that has begun to get critical acclaim from music industry insiders and numerous key players in the blogosphere.
On Thursday night, we’re happy to sponsor Sherell, alongside fellow Dark Planet Records acts that we’ve featured before like the dance/rap hybrid of the Roll Wit Us All Stars, Cyra and the excellent and developing heavy and hard electro style of producer/DJ DJ Lemz at the Atlas District’s Red Palace. We urge all of you in the DC area able to come out for the show to do so, as the Dark Planet family of performers are easily the most criminally underrated in the city. It’s a guaranteed good time out for all involved, and even better, there’s an iPad being raffled off by the label.

Enjoy!

THE DROP: Dark Planet Records’ sultry vocalist Sherell Rowe discusses her career and TGRI’s Soul Train Happy Hour on 9/24

3 Sep

On September 24th, True Genius Requires Insanity is bringing SOUL TRAIN to DC’s U Street Music Hall. Why? Well, September 27th is Soul Train host, creator and music legend Don Cornelius’ 74th birthday. While we can’t bring Don to U Hall to celebrate, we’re instead going to celebrate his creation, what he proclaimed as a “stone gas,” and the “hippest trip in America” filled with “love, peace and soul” back to prominence for one night. We’re going to have a THIRTY MINUTE LONG Soul Train Line. We’re going to have a scramble board. We’ll probably have skinny microphones, and with the Sol Power crew of DJ Stylus, Deep Sang and DJ Meistro DJing, you’d imagine there would be an emphasis on the show’s classic era of Cornelius as host from 1971-1993.

Keeping in line with the Soul Train theme, we absolutely had to have a performer that met to the standards of the program. 80s disco/funk/pop dynamos Shalamar were comprised of later 80s and 90s R & B staple Howard Hewett and Soul Train dancers (the true inventor of the moonwalk) Jeffrey Daniel and later a major solo R & B and dance star, Jody Watley. That eclectic dance energy with a heart based in soul is what Dark Planet Records artist Sherell Rowe brings to the table. Born in Hawaii and having moved all over the United States as a military brat, Rowe has developed into a singer whose vocal strength and sonic flexibility are her calling cards as a professional. Tracks like “Sex Toy” recorded with TGRI favorites the Roll Wit Us All-Stars show the strength of Rowe as a performer, and are indicative of the fun and frenzy with a premium on quality she brings to the table.

I had the opportunity to interview Sherell about her career so far, her upcoming EP, and thoughts about the industry in general and her upcoming plans.

Enjoy!