Artist Guide

"Swing It"

Lomax

Composed by Aaron Lomax Spaulding, IV

January 1, 2018:

CHART-CLIMBER!:
Lomax and "Swing It" Debut At #93 On Daddy B. Nice's Top 100 Southern Soul!

The chart ranks the top one hundred contemporary southern soul singles over the last seventeen years--ultimately a twenty-year period (from 2000-2020).

See Lomax's "Swing It" debuting at #93 on the Chart.

Lomax also becomes the #93-ranked artist on Daddy B. Nice's Top 100 21st Century Southern Soul Artists Chart.

See the Top 100 Artists Chart.

Daddy B. Nice notes:

Since his album debut, LIFE'S LESSONS, Southern Soul fans have understood Lomax was a special talent and one of the heirs apparent to the southern soul stars of yesteryear. His second album, IS THIS WHAT YOU WANT, has made good on that promise, extending the good vibes of "Swing It," the signature song from LIFE'S LESSONS, while honing the rough edges from the first disc. IS THIS WHAT YOU WANT balances exhibition and modesty in equal measure, displaying a dazzling comfort level with the techniques and themes of southern soul music. Old-schoolers have reason to rejoice.

(Originally posted on Daddy B. Nice's Corner.)

Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "BREAKING" Southern Soul Singles Preview For. . .

-------DECEMBER 2017-------

1. "Please Don't Leave My Wife Alone"-----Lomax

It starts with a Marvin Sease "Mr. Jody" echo--one man calling another--and Lomax gets it perfect. "Please Don't Leave My Wife Alone" will be dismissed by urban r&b snobs and celebrated by southern soul enthusiasts. For Lomax, it's his most masterful ballad yet, steeped in southern soul lore, both musical and lyrical.

Listen to Lomax singing "Please Don't Leave My Wife Alone" on YouTube.

Learn about and buy Lomax's new IS THIS WHAT YOU WANT CD/MP3's in Daddy B. Nice's Artist Guide to Lomax.



October 4, 2017:

New Album Alert!

Sample/Buy Lomax's new IS THIS WHAT YOU WANT? CD at CD Baby.

IS THIS WHAT YOU WANT Track List

1. Get This Party Started

2. Gonna Miss You

3. Watch It Shake

4. Let the Rain Come Down

5. Why You Wanna Do That

6. Don't Leave My Wife Alone

7. Knock Down Inn

8. Can't Help Myself

9. Is This What You Want

10. Please Let Me Come Back Home

11. Caught Up

12. Kiss It Goodbye

Daddy B. Nice notes:

Lomax's second album is loaded with songs that have charted or otherwise gained notice at Daddy B. Nice's Southern Soul. Here's a list...

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Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "BREAKING" Southern Soul Singles Preview For. . .

-------MARCH 2017-------

…7. "Let's Get This Party Started"-----Lomax

Lomax Spaulding uses an old disco chord progression that I can't retrieve from my dusty memory bins. (Help, readers!) But hold on, I'm not criticizing. Just the opposite. Instead of over-reaching or trying to impress, which so often taints Lomax's singles, this one is as comfortable as an old pair of your favorite shoes. Swing it, Lomax!

(P.S. The chord progression was from Johnnie Taylor's "Disco Lady".)

Listen to Lomax singing "Let's Get This Party Started" on SoundCloud.

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Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "BREAKING" Southern Soul Singles Preview For. . .

-------OCTOBER 2015---------

7. "Knockdown Inn"-----Lomax

Just in... A mid-tempo classic from Lomax that takes a couple of listenings to work its magic.

Listen to Lomax singing "Knockdown Inn" on YouTube.

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Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "BREAKING" Southern Soul Singles Preview For. . .

-------MAY 2016---------

10. "Watch It Shake"------Lomax

Best Chitlin' Circuit Blues Song Nominee in 2016:

"Watch It Shake"----Lomax

Listen to Lomax singing "Watch It Shake" on YouTube.

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Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "BREAKING" Southern Soul Singles Preview For. . .

-------OCTOBER 2017-------

4. "Kiss It Good-Bye"-----Lomax

"Kiss It Good-Bye" carries on the unique and identifiable tradition of Lomax's signature hit, "Swing It": mid-tempo melody, intertwining acoustic and electric guitars, synth-violins and brass, impeccable mixing.

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“You’re The One, Baby” featuring O.B. Buchana, a solid and well-executed if predictable ballad, is not included (see O.B.’s SWING ON WITH O.B. album).



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To automatically link to Lomax's charted radio singles, awards, CD's and many other references and citations on the website, go to "Lomax" in Daddy B. Nice's Comprehensive Index.

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Listen to Lomax singing "Swing It" on YouTube while you read.



August 4, 2013: Reprinted from Daddy B. Nice's New CD Reviews

July 20, 2013: LOMAX: Life's Lessons (Kal Ent.) Four Stars **** Distinguished Debut By A New Southern Soul Artist.

There's no doubt Lomax is going to get a lot of Southern Soul love. He's got the Southern Soul thing down. The question with a young artist as technically-accomplished and emotionally-driven as Lomax demonstrates on his first full-length Southern Soul CD Life's Lessons.....is....Will he stick with Southern Soul or move into the smooth-jazz mainstream?

The song "I've Had My Turn," for instance, starts out with a burnished, jazzy-sounding intro, then, just when you think it's going down smooth-jazz avenue, kicks in with a full-bodied southern soul melody and middle. By the end, Lomax is head over heels in a gospel-like climax.

"Satisfy You," too, leans away from southern soul towards a more urban sound, but unlike "I've Had My Turn," it keeps on going, throwing away any pretense of being country and illustrating how easily Lomax could transfer his talents to a more conventionally R&B, Charlie Wilson-type style.

Influences? There's a lot of T. K. Soul behind Lomax's "Put It All Up In There," a song whose lineage also runs through Mel Waiters and Tyrone Davis.

Just last week a local (Mississippi) promoter pointed your Daddy B. Nice's nose in the direction of "Put It All Up In There," marking the third time a song from Lomax's breakthrough CD LIFE'S LESSONS has charted at SouthernSoulRnB, following "Swing It" and "Second Hand Man."

"Second Hand Man" charted in Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 in June 2013 at #6 and "Put It All Up In There" occupied the #6 spot in July of 2013. "Swing It" by Lomax (#2 October '12) was the 11th-ranked song of the year as cited in Daddy B. Nice's TOP 25 SINGLES OF 2012.

Here in Lomax's "Swing It," Daddy B. Nice wrote, is the sweet spot of Southern Soul rediscovered, especially on the choruses. Lomax (Lomax Spaulding IV) came up through the Southern Soul ranks via Tony Troutman ("Your Man Is Home Tonight") and Mel Waiters, who is a virtual magnet for talent. In fact, "Swing It" harks back to Mel's own 1998 sweet-spot classic, Swing Out.

That's not to say Lomax is perfect. A song like "Baby It's Over" drifts dangerously close to cloying pop. But at his best--for instance, the assured, Redding-like performance on "Second Hand Man"--Lomax purveys an impressive mix of melody, hooks, arranging acumen and clear, convincing vocals.

And on "I'm In Love (With My Next-Door Neighbor's Wife)" Lomax not only revels in a slice-of-life story with a Sam Fallie-like melody perfectly suited to the chitlin' circuit: he makes it sound like he lived it.

Nevertheless, the single most impressive point on the album are the choruses of "Swing It," in which Lomax sings background harmonies of a beauty and luminosity that transcend the song's simple pop structure. The choruses are mid-tempo mini-masterpieces of arranging, burrowing deep into the southern soul subconscious for their inspiration. It's the kind of music Southern Soul was born to create.

--Daddy B. Nice

Sample or Buy Lomax's LIFE'S LESSONS at CD Baby.

Listen to the official "Put It All Up In There" Promo-Video on YouTube.

Sample/Buy Lomax's LIFE LESSONS on iTunes.

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--Daddy B. Nice

About Lomax

A onetime gospel singer who has compared himself to neo-soul artist Calvin Richardson, rock-and-roller Darius Rucker and contemporary-country artist Jason Aldean, Lomax Spaulding IV (aka Lomax) has performed for the National Congress of Black Women and met Ms. Michelle Obama.

Lomax played guitar on underground Southern Soul star Tony Troutman's "Your Man Is Home Tonight" (covered more famously by the late Artie "Blues Boy" White), which led to a stint in Mel Waiter's band.

Lomax wrote and produced Waiters' popular single, "She's Got No Curfew" and Chandra Calloway's (solo recording artist and background singer for Waiters) single "Ask Me what You Want."

He also contributed to new music by JimmyJa and Charles Wilson on Mel Waiters' record label, Brittney Records.

Life's Lessons, Lomax's first full-length Southern Soul CD, was released in 2012 (KAL Ent.) and notched a solid, chitlin' circuit hit with the exceptionally-sung, mid-tempo anthem "Swing It."

Lomax was nominated for "New Male Vocalist of the Year" by the Jus' Blues Music Foundation and won Daddy B. Nice's 6th Annual "Best Of Southern Soul" awards in 2012 for Best Mid-Tempo Southern Soul Song: "Swing It" and Best Southern Soul Artist Debut: "Swing it."

Honorary "B" Side

"Kiss It Good-Bye"