British blues rock guitarist, former pro MMA fighter and hard rock frontman Kris Barras‘ Hollow Souls takes him back to his blues rock roots, with a series of guest artists appearing on each of their singles this far released.
Having hit the ground running with debut single ‘Borderline’ and guitarist Jared James Nichols guesting, the band issued their sophomore single ‘Shotgun‘ featuring Jon ‘Marv’ Harvey, of the Canadian powerhouse southern rock band, Monster Truck on guest vocals. Now, third time round The Cold Stares‘ Chris Tapp join Hollow Souls on ‘Bad Things’.
Marrying Motown-signed Rare Breed hip-riffed masculine rhythm ‘n blues to a strident deeply intoned vocal reminscent of Paul Rogers’ delivery on early Free numbers, is the early signpost of where Hollow Souls’ new single ‘Bad Things’ is heading. The trouble is you may find yourself digging the groove so much that you need to put it on replay so you can fully appreciate the song’s juxtapositioning lyrical wordplay. All this while taking in the band’s Phoebe Jane interjecting with her smouldering psyched soul delivery.
Cameo by way of Gun, Lenny Kravitz mixing it up with Jamiroquai, ‘Bad Things’ is some nasty-but-nice blues dripping in sweat-stained soul.
Kentucky natives (but now based out of Indiana) The Cold Stares is a long-standing duo (recently turned trio) fronted by guitarist and vocalist Tapp. After both becoming leading lights in a new wave of blues-rock signed to Mascot Records’ Provogue imprint, Barras and Tapp started a friendship born of a mutual admiration over the past few years. Known for their fresh take on blues and southern rock styles, Tapp’s song-writing for The Cold Stares has seen them soundtrack famous video games and TV commercials.
Barras, with co-collaborator and long-standing bandmate Josiah J Manning, having already sketched the basic outline of the song, on this occasion knew that Tapp would be the perfect partner to co-write and record remotely from his home studio in Evansvill, Indiana. The result is a devilishly upbeat and subtly swampy earworm that interplays Tapp’s effortlessly cool verses with Hollow Souls’ lead vocalist Phoebe Jane’s punchy choruses.
“I have admired Chris and the work of Cold Stares for a long while and I’ve sort of been waiting for the right track to work on together to drop out of my head,” said Barras. “I knew instantly he would take this song up ten notches. He did, and I’m so grateful to have him involved.
“When considering guests for this album, Chris Tapp from The Cold Stares was always high up on my list. We’ve been friends since meeting on the Joe Bonamassa Keeping the Blues Alive at Sea cruise, and I’ve been a fan of his work for a good while.”
“It’s important for me to have the guests bring their own flavour to the songs and put their own stamp on things. I sent Chris what Josiah and I had been working on, and he had free rein with the verses. We loved what he came back with and turned it into a duet with Hollow Souls’ main singer Phoebe Jane.”
Fresh from their first-ever live performance on the main stage at Maid of Stone Festival where the band performed a secret set, Hollow Souls has announced Troy Redfern will be their special guest on their 20-date Autumn UK tour. Known for his explosive slide guitar and energetic performances, Redfern is celebrated for the wall of sound he creates from a mere two-piece guitar and drum combo, which will perform on every Hollow Souls date of the upcoming tour. Tickets are available from The Gig Cartel and Planet Rock.
Like a one-two punch, Hollow Souls‘ twenty-date UK tour is a real statement of intent that demonstrates a clean sweep of the UK blues rock circuit, where Barras champions some of the venues that allowed him to cut his teeth as an emerging talent.
Hollow Souls‘ eponymous debut EP Hollow Souls will be released on Friday 10th October on their self-titled label imprint. Featuring six tracks, including all three currently available singles, the EP will be released on 10” vinyl, CD and as a download. The EP is available to pre-order from here.
The singles released thus far are available on all streaming platforms here and you can watch the official music videos here at RAMzine.
‘Shotgun‘ sees Phoebe Jane providing soulful backing vocals to Monster Truck‘s Jon Harvey who collaborated with Kris and producer Josiah Manning remotely after a long-term friendship based on mutual musical respect.
“We’ve been talking about writing a song with Marv for a long time,” said Barras. Josiah and I had a riff we laid down at Momentum Studios. We instantly knew this one would be perfect for Marv, so we fired it over to him. What he sent back blew us both away. The explosiveness of his vocal and Marv’s amazing storytelling. We couldn’t ask for a better collaborator. I hope we perform it live together one day!”
Harvey wrote the lyrics and melody over the pairing’s stomping blues rock guitar riffs, and it tells a gritty story of a bar fight in the singer’s customary gravelly drawl.
If you think Hollow Souls‘ new single ‘Shotgun’ initially comes across like some classic T. Rex album track where Jimmy Page and Angus Young have gone in and beefed up the guitars, then we’re on the same page, and about as ancient. But there’s an added rock dance floor element, some suitably hoary upfront vocals and soulful ones in support, all over some rather apt fighting talk lyricisms that kind of insinuate you ought to play this loud – or else!
From humble beginnings in Torquay, Devon, to trading licks with the likes of Joe Bonamassa and Billy Gibbons on the world stage, Barras has already lived a hundred lives that defy his youth and exuberance – His own project Kris Barras Band had a mammoth 2024. From selling out headline shows in British castles, headlining Planet Rockstock, and a Top #5 UK album with Halo Effect.
Known for the gravelly vocal tone and immense guitar playing that gifted him a rapid ascent in the British blues rock world, it is no surprise that KBB’s music has evolved year-on-year.
Kris Barras Band hit it off with acclaimed US hard rock songwriters and signed to Earache Records that set off a creative chain reaction that led to a darker, heavier, and more energetic sound. Whilst KBB is firmly intrenched in the world of heavy music, Barras is still a bluesman at heart. Whilst in-between albums with KBB, this creative lightning strike with his latest project Hollow Souls just happened to hit with something different.
Inspired by the U.S. supergroup Supersonic Blues Machine in which he also performed and energised by the wealth of British talent around him, to create Hollow Souls, Barras put together a homegrown jam band to serve as a creative sparring exercise during his downtime.
Hollow Souls is apparently a dream project for Barras. Together with long-term collaborator, multi-instrumentalist and producer Josiah J Manning, using Manning’s Plymouth-based Momentum Studios as their base, a studio band consisting of drummer Joe Harris (Toby Lee, Lack Of Afro) and bass player Leighton Allen (Callum Scott, The Hoosiers) became more than the sum of its parts.
When Kris invited in former KBB backing singer Phoebe Jane to jam, the floodgates of creativity are said to have “truly opened”. In writing for her dexterous range and astonishing power, Barras and Manning knew they had found a singer with which their musical palette could continue to evolve; the spark that ignited a whole new band into existence with Hollow Souls.
Hollow Souls’ debut single ‘Borderline’ highlighted all this and more, as Barras invited Stateside blues rock rising star Jared James Nichols to feature on lead guitar remotely from across the pond. Barras said “I have really admired Jared’s playing for some time. His contribution to this song is massive, we gave him creative license to play whatever he wanted. I am so stoked with the results.”
Recorded in one take at Momentum Studios and produced and mixed by Manning, Hollow Souls set the tone that new music with further studio collaborators and perhaps even touring could well be in store.
Applying work song chanting over bluesy ruminating riffs, Kris Barras’ new collective Hollow Souls will call to mind the award-winning When Rivers Meet for some on debut single ‘Borderline’, but those riffs hook in with added Zeppelin-primed fury when vocalist Phoebe Jane sings out loud and high. On paper, adding a third guitarist reads like overkill, but Jared James Nichols was an inspired choice adding a wiry spirit we more reserved Brits might not have opted for and taking it somewhere that little more special.
Tickets for Hollow Souls’ October and November 2025 UK tour with special guest Troy Redfern, are available from The Gig Cartel by clicking here.
