Soul music will never go out of style. Just like Otis Redding and the Allman Brothers spawned from the same bluesy roots, Gaslight Street melds pure Southern rock with charismatic vocals, traipsing the boundaries of blues and funk.

Born in the growing musical bastion of Charleston, SC, Gaslight's regional prescence has grown behind the release of their sophomore album, Idle Speed. Featuring the unmistakably soulful lyrics and vocals of Campbell Brown, the followup to 2009's Blue Skies For Fools strongly stakes the band's place as worthy inheritors to the Southern soul tradition.

Brown is joined in Gaslight by bassist Frank Nelson, the New Orleans-bred half of a rhythm section rounded out by Jack Friel's impeccable timing on drums. A new addition in 2011, organist Whitt Algar is a rising star in his own right, equally adept at holding a keys groove and taking off on a staggering solo. Rounding out the quintet is another fresh member, singer Noelle Pietras, whose country tinged harmonies add roundness and familiarity to Brown's poignant lyrics.

Idle Speed starly reminds us of music's ability to tae the most desolate of human emotions and give them shine. Not that it's a sad album. Rather, it's a career defining body of songs from a man coming to terms with a crumbling family life, heard in the opening strains of "Fast and Slow", a late night, solo home recording by Brown. It's fittingly followed by "Vicksburg", a Civil War tale of a man reluctantly forced into a bitter battle, destined for defeat, featuring Cary Ann Hearst on harmony vocals. With a driving, gritty backbeat, Brown's heart wrenching, soulful vocals lift the analog tape-recorded album into an optmistic backwoods boogie. The title track "Idle Speed" and "Black As Coal" keep the wheels rolling fast, before the album's closer and second single, "April Mournin'."

"Gaslight Street has crafted a signature sound that is equal parts in honey and moonshine, with Brown the catalyst for the soul-infused swagger," remarks Jamie Lee of Honest Tune and Hittin The Note magazines. "Idle Speed could've been the swan song for Gaslight Street. But the spark remains. The band is stoking it, and rightfully so."

After five years of touring the Southeast and recording, Gaslight Street is quickly making strides. Their fall tour includes a notable stop at the Bear Creek Music Festival in Live Oak, FL, performing alongside musicians that have influenced their sound like The Meters and Galactic. "Constantly Running" and "April Mournin'" continue to enjoy local airplay on Charleston's 105.5 The Bridge, and Campbell Brown and Whitt Algar were both nominated in the 2011 Charleston Music Awards for "Best Vocalist" and "Best Keyboardist," respectively.

Not content in letting their creative impulses lie dormant, the band is already back in the studio this winter recording freshly minted tracks for an upcoming EP to be released this spring.