The Hard Luck Souls are an original blues-influenced hard rock band from the Capital District of NY. Big riffs, thunderous drums and bass with melodies to keep the heads banging, the mind cleansed. The Hard Luck Souls will bring a tornado of sound to the Capital Underground stage at The Hangar On The Hudson In Troy on May 2. It's a Free show at 6pm with Joe Mansman & The Midnight revival Band and The Dionysus Effect. We caught up with founding member and vocalist Chris Itani to fill us in.
Ralph: Chris I met you a long time ago. You were in many projects until you got here. You seem to feel comfortable with the hard luck souls and felt no need to move on but to grow as a band elaborate?
Chris:It’ s crazy, we’ve been together for over 9 years now. I didn’t even have kids yet. I think for me, I found a home with a group of guys who are as real as could be. I’ve grown a lot as a person since we first started. It’s wild to think about. But we really are one unit. There’s no BS. There’s no leader. We’ve really become family. I say it to them all the time. This is the best band I’ve ever been in. And I mean that. Look, we might not win these awards, or pack these shows. But quite frankly, we don’t give a shit. We love what we do. We bring it every night. We write really well together and have great chemistry You know it’s funny to think about. I’ve gotten to an age where you start reflecting on your life, where you’ve been, what you’ve done, who you’ve done it with. And I think about past projects more as of late and the what could have beens, or what the hell was I thinking? Some projects had great players, with different ideas. Or some bands were one track minded, and didn’t necessarily want to journey in the direction I was looking to go in. But I think all those bands I’ve been in, the different people I’ve played with have really shaped the person I’ve become and I’m grateful for all of them. I’ve created lasting friendships with a lot of great people. And I wouldn’t change any of it.
Ralph:Has fatherhood helped your songwriting.
Chris: I think it has. Probably more with my acoustic stuff that I basically write for myself. I’ve kinda had this acoustic project in the works for about 15 years now that I keep telling myself to finish. But of course, something always gets in the way. That’s how life goes. I hope to put it all together someday and get it out there. But I think having two little girls Olivia and Aubrey 7 and 5, has certainly softened me in a lot of ways. Kids do that to you. It makes you realize all that outside noise doesn’t matter. Kids help put things into perspective. You look at things differently. Appreciate the little things life gives you. And I think some of my acoustic stuff reflect that compared to the music I have played over the years. My girls love pop music, big Taylor swift fans. So I hear a lot of pop music. And I think some of that pop style has leaked into some of our tunes. Not that we write pop songs. But certain elements of it I guess. I think I’m more aware of song structures, creating catchy melody’s. I think we tried to be more mindful of that during the writing process.
Ralph: The next step for the hard luck souls would be to jump on the road and get out of town. Are there any plans for a tour? You do know that we have a radio station in Knoxville Tennessee, and we could possibly connect you.?
Chris: Yes. We are absolutely looking to venture out of the 518. We are all dads with busy schedules. And that takes priority. But we have something plans of making a run at some point in the near future. We have a few new songs out with a few more coming out very soon. So we will be looking to get out and promote them near and far soon. We love getting our weekly Apple Music and Spotify reports and seeing our music played in cities all over the country and in other countries. It’s motivating and exciting. So we know there is interest in what we are doing.
Ralph: What are you go to records for inspiration?
Chris: I mean, I was a big Soundgarden fan. And of course, then became a big Audioslave fan. I think when that debut album by Audioslave came out, it was exactly what I was looking for. I don’t think that album gets enough credit and is often overlooked. Definitely an album I still listen to regularly. JJ grey and mofro, his Lochloosa album is another one of my all time favorites. It’s that southern soul that just gets right down to your bones. If you haven’t listened to JJ Grey, take a listen. The stories he tells. He’s an amazing writer. A mixture of soul, gospel, blues, with some grit. So I love all his stuff. I listen to a wide range of music and draw inspiration from a lot of different things, but those are two albums I always come back to.
Ralph: New music and tour? What are the plans for 2025 and 2026?
Chris: We are have a new single coming out very soon. We are currently working on a video for it, and will be releasing it in the very near future. Then we have a couple more song we will be recording with Tim at The Recording Company. Our goal now is to really put out singles. We’ve put out two albums. But the time it takes now to write a full length album with our busy lives, it would take a couple of years to complete. So we would rather just continuously write new tunes and record them as we finish them to be able to keep putting out new material. And then once there’s enough songs for a full length, we can put these songs together as one album and put it out there. We have some really great shows coming up. Of course May 2nd at the Hangar on the Hudson in Troy with our friends Joe mansman and the midnight revival for the Capital underground live show. Thank you song much for letting us be a part of it. We appreciate everything you do for us and the local scene as a whole. Those guys are super talented and great guys. We always love playing with them. And then we will be sharing the stage with them again June 5th at Empire in Albany opening for Texas Hippie Coalition along with The Erotics. The show is going to be insane. We love playing Empire. Mike Valente has always been great to us and another guy, much like yourself, who does a ton for the local scene and we really appreciate his effort in giving local bands a place to call home. We have tickets available so reached out to us! You don’t want to miss it. We are also currently putting together a lineup for the second annual Smaz fest hosted by our bassist Dave. Live music, food. Reach out if you want to be a part of that. And then we do have a few more shows booked throughout the summer and into the fall. So we are focused on those shows coming up and getting the new songs completed and out there.
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