All Sweat Original Series: Soultru, Frankie Fontagne, and Zay at the Redstone Room -- April 21. (Soultru pictured)
Thursday, April 21, 7 p.m.
The Redstone Room, 129 Main Street, Davenport IA
Continuing the Redstone Room's concert-event programming under the "All Sweat Original Series" banner, in which local songwriters are paired up alongside outstanding area musicians to act as their own personal backing band, the Davenport venue will host three sensational headliners in its April 21 presentation: Soultru, Frankie Fontagne, and Zay.
A soul acoustic artist based in Davenport, Soultru has signed to Kansas City label The Record Machine, and sometimes travels with a full band and as a duo or solo act. While drawing influence from such gospel-music artists as Fred Hammond and Smokie Norful, the musician also finds inspiration in the works of Gavin Degraw, Anthony Hamilton, John Legend, and Allen Stone. Soultru has had the pleasure of opening for artists such as Kweku Collins, Magic City Hippies, Michigan Rattlers, Neil Hilborn, Ceschi Ramos, and Kaleb Mitchell, and in June of last year, the artist shared Davenport's Alder Theatre stage with Amythyst Kiah. Soultru also ended 2021 strong, playing essential festivals such as Alternating Currents in the Quad Cities, the Barrel and Flow Fest in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Lincoln Calling in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Born in Monmouth, Illinois, Frankie Fontagne began her soul-music career early by singing in the church choir. It was here that her natural ability was given the roots that would later flower into its current soulful state. Not only did Fontagne sing in the church choir, but she became a student of music, and from 1982 to 1993, the artist became a student of the Monmouth/Warren County music program headed by Dr. Edward Sheckler. It was there that she flourished as an award-winning percussionist. Realizing that her hometown didn’t provide the opportunities she needed, Fontagne packed up and headed west to California, where she began to ride the circuit dabbling in gospel and doing hooks for various west coast rap groups throughout the '90s. Though not, as she attests, especially lucrative, these escapades paid off in the form of studio experience, as well as numerous chances to arrange and produce.
A Davenport resident born in Glendale, California, Zay has always had a passion for music. At the age of 14, Zay started producing six-track beats for fun, and would occasionally write short stories and poems. Little did he know this would build a strong foundation for his music career in the years to come. Over the years, he has amassed more than 15 years as a professional hip-hop dancer/choreographer; was a featured dancer on B.E.T’s 106th & Park - Wild Out Wednesday, and has done shows with Chris Brown, Soulja Boy, and T-Pain. Zay is not only at the forefront of entertainment as an up & coming Artist & DJ, but also has an AA and BS in Electronic Engineering, even though producing, writing, DJ-ing, and performing are his passions.
The Redstone Room's All Sweat Original Series event featuring Soultru, Frankie Fontagne, and Zay takes place on April 21, admission to the 7 p.m. concert is $10-75, and more information and tickets are available by calling (563)326-1333 and visiting RiverMusicExperience.org.
