May 8: Soul Tsunami
- Jeremy Earnhart
- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
There’s a version of this story
where the band ended in 2007
and that was that.
Life moved. Geography changed. Careers, families, time—everything did what it does. Most kept playing with other groups, different directions, and Soul Tsunami became something we talked about in past tense.
Except it didn’t quite stay there.
In December, I wrote about that time—about the double life, about how life eventually gets in the way of the best musical experiences you’ll ever have. I shared it, tagged a few people, and thought of it as closing a loop.
It didn’t close anything.
What I didn’t fully realize was that, in the background, there had already been movement. Our bass player, Trey Smith, and Brian Davis on trombone had been pushing a little bit about getting the group back together. All of them playing in other groups, all of them good—but none of it quite the same.
The post didn’t start the idea.
It accelerated it.
We got together between Christmas and New Year’s—nothing formal, just a chance to see each other again.
But there was something underneath it. You could FEEL it.
At one point, one of the significant others came up to me and said,“I wasn’t there when all of this happened… but after reading what you wrote, I feel like I was.”
That’s when it shifted.
Later that night, we were all sitting around a table, talking, laughing, doing what you do when you haven’t been in the same room in years. And then, almost casually, someone said:
“Alright… everybody get your calendars out.”
And just like that, it wasn’t a memory anymore.
We picked a date in January.
That was the first rehearsal.
And then the part nobody thinks about started.
Before Christmas break—maybe anticipating where this was headed—I dropped my trumpet off at Brook Mays to be overhauled. It’s a 1995 Bach Sterling Plus, which means the bell is pure sterling silver. Don’t tell the stock market folks.
It came back almost as good as new. Except for the parts I’d basically eaten through with my hands over time. The guys at the shop were pretty honest about it—at some point, I’m going to need a new body. But for now, it works.
And it sure does.
I also had to buy an iPad.
I’ve always been a laptop and phone person—especially through my dissertation—but this is how it’s done now. That’s where the music is.
And once the May 8 date became real, I ordered my first set of in-ear monitors. They show up this week. Most of the guys have been using them for a while now.
The old setup—microphone clipped to the bell, sound guy making more than half the band combined—that’s been in the rearview mirror for a long time.
Getting the band back together has already cost me close to a thousand dollars. 🙂
We got together in mid-January for the first rehearsal.
We’d agreed on about thirty tunes to start with. The plan was to ease into it—the first night, stick to the more “straightforward” charts. Brick House. Shining Star. Things that would let us find our footing again.
We didn’t do that.
We started with What Is Hip.
If you play high note trumpet, that’s not exactly the soft opening.
The drummer clicked it off—and it just went.
And it felt fantastic.
The first rehearsal was in a space that was, generously, too small for ten people. We were packed in, shoulder to shoulder, navigating stands, cables, bodies—everything you’d expect when a band like that tries to fit into a room built for half its size.
It didn’t matter.
The last three rehearsals have been in a larger space over on Walnut Hill.
When you walk in, it smells like cigarettes and bad decisions.
But once the band starts, none of that matters either.
The bass drops.The guitar lays down just enough chicken grease. Fender Rhodes fills the middle. And then the horns hit.
And there it is.
What’s been surprising isn’t that everyone can still play.
It’s that everyone has been out in other groups for years—doing it different ways, in different systems, with different expectations—and somehow, almost immediately, we all came back to this.
There have been moments where you can feel it—where something happens and the collective reaction is:
“No… this is the way we do it.”
And that part didn’t need to be relearned.
Before one of the last rehearsals, our bass player said,“You know, this is the only band I play with that actually starts on time.”
And he’s right.
Most nights, everyone’s there early. Ready.
At the last rehearsal, the bandleader, Dan Nelson, actually called the first tune at 6:59 PM. I looked at my watch and said,“Whoa, whoa, whoa… we’ve still got a minute.”
We can’t wait to show it off again.
And now, it’s real.
We found out today—May 8 is on the calendar. Community Beer Co., Dallas. The Facebook invites went out, and people are already starting to click “going.”
Just like that, it’s not rehearsals anymore.
It’s a gig.
There was a time when this was just what we did. Weekend after weekend. Load in, set up, count it off, play.
Then it stopped.
No last show. No real ending.
Just life doing what it does.
And now, somehow, almost twenty years later, ten people from completely different paths have found their way back into the same room, playing the same music, the same way.
Not because we had to.
Because we wanted to.
May 8.
We play again.
Follow us on Facebook: Soul Tsunami
Possible Set List
What is Hip
Let’s Groove Tonight
Brick House
Grits Ain’t Groceries
Mustang Sally
Chain of Fools
Hold on I’m Comin’
Le Freak
Got To Be Real
Good Times
Car Wash
What You Won’t Do for Love
Pick Up the Pieces
Leave Your Hat On
I Feel For You
You Got The Love
I Wish
Funky Music Medley
Food For Thot
Back In Love
ThankUfaLetinmeBmicelf
Fire/Roller Coaster
Lady Marmalade
Best of My Love
I Feel Good
I’ll Take You There
Signed Sealed Delivered
Respect
I Can’t Stand the Rain
We are Family
Boogie Oogie Oogie