Countless rock bands dream of making it to the big time. Few get as close to that destination as local garage outfit Soraia is right now.
Regular Northeast Times readers may remember last December’s feature article on the edgy rockers highlighting their appearance in a Project HOME benefit show at the Khyber in Old City. Folks may even recall that the group’s lead singer, Sue Mansour, once taught English at a local Catholic high school for girls.
At the time, Soraia had just released its first EP, Recipe, under the tutelage of longtime Bon Jovi producer and record-business insider Obie O’Brien.
In the 11 months since, Soraia has parlayed that foot in the door into a management arrangement with O’Brien, as well as a new full-length CD, Shed the Skin, that has created a buzz on the Philly rock scene with mentions on local radio, as well as solid sales despite its limited distribution.
With its heavy brand of 1960s- and ’70s-style blues-rock fronted by the powerhouse female voice of Mansour, a Lower Bucks native who graduated from Nazareth Academy before her brief teaching stint there, perhaps Soraia was destined to cause a stir.
The band’s attention-grabbing CD release party on Oct. 19, held on the upper floor of a Delaware Avenue gentlemen’s club, probably had something to do with it too.
Though the strippers stayed downstairs, there was plenty of pole-dancing and revelry involved as Pierre Robert and WMMR pals Jaxon and Markus co-hosted the affair.
Soraia’s recently revamped lineup, which includes Lower Bucks native and band co-founder Joe Francia on guitar and Rockledge’s Travis Smith on bass, along with newcomers Joe Armstrong on drums and Dave Justo on guitar, returned to the stage four nights later as they energized an otherwise sedate Tuesday crowd at Manayunk’s Grape Street.
The band is certain that a steady stream of performances like that, along with an almost obsessive work ethic, will springboard them into the national consciousness and the accompanying commercial success.
"Right now, it’s a lot of talking on the phone, trying to get bigger gigs and open up for bigger acts," Mansour said.
"We’re close enough (to a breakthrough) where we’re really antsy every day," Smith added.
According to Mansour, Soraia already has a couple of offers from independent labels. But the band isn’t rushing into just any deal.
"We want promotion and distribution and that muscle behind (the CD)," Mansour said.
The disc features 10 tracks, one being a brief musical intro that "prepares you for the ride we’re taking you on," Francia said. Suitably, the prelude is called Get on the Ride. Among the nine others are two carry-overs from the aforementioned EP, Home and Need, as well as their jacked-up cover of Dolly Parton’s Jolene, which the band has been performing live in and around Philly for well over a year.
Recorded at two local studios as well as at the former A&M Records studio in Los Angeles from March through August, the disc features several surprises.
The biggest has to be that the names Richie Sambora and John Shanks appear in the liner notes. The Bon Jovi guitar man plays on track eight, Had Enough. Shanks, the noted collaborator of artists Melissa Etheridge, Bonnie Raitt, Michelle Branch and Sheryl Crow, to name a few, also has a guitar credit.
"Obie’s really working hard (for us)," Mansour said.
Perhaps more intriguing than the star power to listeners is how the producer blended instrumentation like the banjo, mandolin, steel guitar, sitar, viola and Mellotron into the band’s standard rock triumvirate.
The band members describe their new sound as an evolved, more fluent version of their punkier novice offerings.
"We had a lot of people come in to play different instruments. It adds a lot of texture to (the music), but it doesn’t really stand out until you really listen to it," Francia said.
"We’re conscious not to make it produced-sounding," Smith agreed. "It’s raw like the last CD. (But) I think we have more of a groove coming into it."
Band members believe that their openness to suggestion, despite their commitment to the early heavy-metal vibe, gives them a chance to take their act to the next level. They’ve always had a desire to do that.
"Maybe a year ago, we didn’t know what was wrong with what we were doing," said Mansour, whose full, soulful voice draws comparisons to Janis Joplin and Grace Slick.
"We talked about it and asked ourselves, ‘Why are we still at this level?’" Francia added.
That attitude was the No. 1 selling point to the two newcomers in the band, Armstrong and Justo. Both missed out on the recording process, but they share the same drive as their colleagues.
"How bad do you want to do this for the rest of your life? That’s what it comes down to," said Armstrong, a Burlington County native.
"I’ve been in bands before with potential, but it wouldn’t have worked out," said Justo, of Pottstown. "I got to the point where I really needed to find a band with their heads on straight. I went and saw (Soraia) and listened and said, ‘I want in.’"
Soraia has several local shows scheduled for the coming weeks. They’ll be at the WMMR Can Drive benefit at Grape Street (Nov. 15), the Khyber (Nov. 18), Sweeney’s (Bustleton and Philmont avenues, Nov. 22) and the Underground in University City (Dec. 1).
They also plan a two-week Midwest tour in December with stops in Chicago, Indianapolis and St. Louis. •• For more information about the band, visit www.soraia.com or www.myspace.com/soraia Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com