Hoss & the Juggernauts inject soul into top spot

August 12, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

By JOHN BENSON

Jokes about ’60s television show “Bonanza” aside, singer Joe “Hoss” Jarman is feeling pretty good these days about his new music project.

After fronting local soul-blues act Acoustic Juggernaut for the past few years, Jarman decided to put that band on hold after a lineup shift. Now less than a year later, the 2000 Mineral Ridge High School graduate has resurfaced with new band Hoss & the Juggernauts.

“It’s more intricate and more jam now,” said Jarman, who spent the early 2000s pursuing a career in professional wrestling before moving back home and eventually forming Acoustic Juggernaut. “There’s a lot more room to dance and to sing along. We found out we’re branching out in so many directions. We’re definitely blues, and we’ll do jazz, soul and funk. We’ll sort of mix them all together and see what happens. A lot of different stuff, a lot of fun comes out.”

Jarman’s partner in crime is California guitarist Albert Sanudo, who actually moved from sunny San Diego to, well, not-so-sunny Youngstown. So just exactly how did that sales-pitch conversation go between Jarman and Sanudo?

“He had already visited about a year before that,” Jarman said. “ So I called him up and said, ‘Do you want to come out? There’s a lot of potential.’ The first thing we did when he arrived was go right into the studio in Columbus for a week. As far as writing together, everything is coming together really nicely.”

So far, Jarman boasts there is plenty of material in the mix, with a debut full-length album due out sometime in 2011. Among the new tracks he’s excited about are the pop-funk “Waiting” and the jazzy “After Five.” Up next for Hoss & the Juggernauts — Jarman, Sanudo, Roger Lewis (percussion), Mike Geffert (bass), Jared Mott (tenor sax), Jordan Graham (guitar) — is its Vexfest debut Sunday in downtown Youngstown. While Jarman played the all-day festival before with Acoustic Juggernaut, he points out this is the first time he’s headlining.

Finally, there is no denying Hoss & the Juggernauts is different from most local bands. Just the fact Harman is deciding whether or not to throw a Bill Withers cover into the set says it all. Invariably most groups playing around Northeast Ohio are clueless about R&B and soul artist Withers. With this in mind, Jarman admits there may be a learning curve for attracting a regional fan base.

“I sound completely different than most people around here,” Jarman said. “I’m just a big soul singer. We don’t have a lot of soul music in the Valley, and it’s nice to stand out. People appreciate the fact that we’re not screaming — not that there’s anything wrong with that — and that we play music. I have people that like heavy metal who say we can really groove because we put in some really funky grooves. And for people who like other stuff, emo or whatever, I get compliments as well. I don’t think we’re losing anybody, but because we’re not the norm it might take a little bit longer.”

He quickly added, “It’s catching on. We have a lot of people that follow us and we appreciate that.”