About Soul Tracks

SoulTracks is the leading online resource dedicated to classic and modern Soul Music and is currently the most popular soul music website in America.  From its inception in 2003, SoulTracks has been designed to provide useful information and updates on the greatest Classic Soul artists and to introduce readers to the next generation of Soul Music singers.

SoulTracks includes artist biographies, music news and reviews, and First Listens to some of the newest music available.

Chris Rizik (Publisher) is the founder and publisher of SoulTracks. Chris began building the website in his kitchen with one of his four children on Memorial Day weekend, 2003, to hold the transcripts of a soul music biography show he was broadcasting on XM Satellite Radio. What began as a hobby turned into a passion, and SoulTracks has expanded over the years to include thousands of pages of biographies, news and reviews, and it has developed into the most popular online magazine for soul music lovers. It has also attracted some of the most knowledgeable and passionate writers about Soul Music in the world, making it the complete bridge between classic and modern soul.

Melody Charles (Music Director) is a Cleveland-born, Dallas-based columnist, musician biographer, amateur photographer and entertainment journalist; her parents’ extensive vinyl collection stoked her interest in all forms of music, but soul remains the genre that grooves and soothes. A professional writer for over 15 years, Ms. Charles has contributed to a variety of websites and publications, including DallasBlack.com, Upscale magazine, Florida Today and The Dallas Morning News, where she currently pens weekly columns for its Briefing Department covering pop culture and current events.  For Melody, writing for SoulTracks is yet another step in cementing her reputation as an insightful, enthusiastic conveyor of R&B musicians, events and culture. Past and present articles, including those linking back to soultracks.com, can be found at www.motherofcolor.com

Howard Dukes (Senior Writer) is a father of three and a reporter for the South Bend Tribune as well as a poet, playwright and filmmaker, with two documentary films and two successful plays under his belt. In 2006 he published his first book, Will Flo-4-Food, and is now working on a new book on the underground soul music scene.

Our Contributing Writers (alphabetically)

Justin Kantor‘s work has been published in Wax Poetics, The All-Music Guide, and SoulMusic.com. A graduate of Berklee College of Music’s Business/Management program, he honed his writing chops as a teenager—publishing The Hip Key from 1992-1996. The Virginia-based magazine reached a circulation of 10,000 by Justin’s sophomore year in high school. At Berklee, he continued to perfect his craft with a series of in-depth ‘Underrated Soul’ features for The Groove from 1997-2003. A passionate Black music historian, Justin has also penned liner notes for reissue labels Funky Town Grooves, Soul Music Records and Big Break Records. ([email protected]).

Keivu G. Knox (kgknox22(at)gmail.com) is a native Detroiter who grew up in a family that had a genuine love for music. As the youngest of six boys, he would spend time reading the liner notes of various albums in his family’s record collection. That curiosity sparked a sincere desire to soak up as much as he could about the singers, writers and producers behind the music.  This led to a hobby of writing about some of his favorite albums an artists. In 2015, he turned his hobby into becoming a contributor to Smooth Jazz Magazine, writing album reviews and conducting artist interviews. Keivu has a B.A. from the University of Michigan in American Cultures and an M.B.A. from Regis University. He currently lives in Charlotte, NC with his wife and their children.

Peggy Oliver – No matter what ‘office-type’ day job Ms. Peggy Oliver has worked in, the music industry somehow finds a way to her life and her heart. Majoring back in the day as a Broadcast Major at Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA, the Seattle, WA native was a DJ for several regional radio stations, including Seattle’s KEXP 90.3 FM (formerly KCMU FM), featuring an eclectic format of nearly all genres.  She also served as traffic manager at KBCS 91.7 FM on the campus of Bellevue (WA) Community College. Ms. Oliver was infected by the music review writing bug as a former bookkeeper/administrative assistant at Blues To Do’s, a Seattle-based Blues Music magazine. Presently, besides Soultracks, Ms. Oliver is a regular contributor to https://www.gospelcity.com/ and https://www.blackgospel.com.

Robb Patryk is a partner with the law firm Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP in New York City who has represented Maysa Leak, Robin Gibb, and many other musicians.   He originated our Flashback Soul series and has authored album and concert reviews.

Darnea N. Samuels, a Washington, DC native, is a radio broadcaster and producer with an immeasurable love of music.  That love started as a child when she heard her parents regularly play doo-wop and Motown classics, songs that she now views as part of her DNA.  Since November 2016, Darnea – a self-proclaimed ‘90s kid – has shared her love of classic R&B from the 1950’s to the 1980’s on her radio show, “The Sound of Soul with D’Nicole,” on WOWD 94.3 FM in Takoma Park, MD.  This has given her the platform to interview many artists she admires, such as Dr. Otis Williams of The Temptations.  In 2020, she had the incredible honor of narrating a bonus segment of the award-winning and nationally-televised PBS documentary, “Fat Boy: The Billy Stewart Story,” about the late DC soul singer.  Her other ventures have included serving as an artist manager, concert promoter’s assistant, and music research specialist.  Darnea is happy to combine two of her earliest passions – music and writing – to contribute to SoulTracks.com, a site she has long turned to for new music and updates on her favorite soul artists.  (Her other works can be found on her website, darneasamuels.wordpress.com.)

 

All information and other content on this website are the copyrighted works of SoulTracks, LLC and may not be copied or reproduced without our written consent.

 

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Album of the Month

Various Artists

80s Soul Classics, Vol. 8

Video of the Month

Heidi Tann feat. Kinsman Dazz Band

"Island Summer"

Album of the Month

Will Downing

"Luscious"

Choice Cut

Will Preston

"Merry Go Round"

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