The Suffers Bring the Heat at High Sierra Music Festival

It was a scorching hot day in Quincy, California, but that didn’t stop Houston-based band, The Suffers, from bringing the heat during their set at High Sierra Music Festival. Their self-proclaimed “Gulf Coast Soul” style had the crowd grooving in tandem with their buttery rhythms and powerhouse vocals. 

Though the award-winning band just released their first album last year, they go way back. “We were all players in the Houston music scene,” bassist Adam Castaneda says. “Most of us have known one another for about 10 years. One day we put together the ‘dream team’ list of who we wanted in the band, made some phone calls and in about two weeks The Suffers were born.”

Each band member's diverse background has contributed to the The Suffers’ collective sound. A hybrid of soul, rock and roll, reggae and jazz, front woman Kam Franklin described their dynamic style as a ”chaotic paella.”

And it’s clear that everyone wants a taste. Within the last year, the group played nearly 200 shows, performed on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah + Jimmy Kimmel Live and will continue to bring their big-band sound to major festivals across the country this summer, like Telluride Jazz Festival and LOCKN'.

Though The Suffers are on the come up, we don’t expect it to be short lived. “The goal for us is to make timeless music,” Franklin gushed. “We don’t want to make stuff that’s just popular now.” And making music is exactly what the 8-piece ensemble will be doing this fall -- stay tuned for some new grooves from what might just be the next big thing, The Suffers.