:: PRESS HIGHLIGHTS ::

"HOBEX is everything I like about the sweet soul music...'
JAMBASE.COM :: Review by Ted Kartzman

HOBEX is everything I like about the sweet soul music of Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder,
Al Green and Curtis Mayfield. Vocalist Greg Humphreys takes the best of Gospel R&B, puts
a tight funk band behind it, and created modern soul music.

 

"HOBEX Has Soul."
AN HONEST TUNE MAGAZINE :: Review by Tom Speed

HOBEX Has Soul. They have continuously drawn comparisons to the soul masters of the 70s'
folks like Al Green and Curtis Mayfield. And their sound does indeed hearken back to those
days. What's more, HOBEX has infused the genre with the type of vital energy that can
invigorate a style, breathe new life into it and drag it out of the graveyard. But this is no
nostalgia act. There is a youthful energy here that is impossible to deny.

 

"...they are just amazing. true underdogs!"
MOJO MAGAZINE :: Producer / Musician Al Kooper

I have a friend, Larry Katz, who is the music cloumnist for the local newspaper. About every
three months we get together and play each other our latest "disc-ovaries." Last year, he turned
me onto this Southern band called HOBEX. they are just amazing. true underdogs!

 

"You can see why HOBEX has been grabbing people's attention..."
RELIX MAGAZINE :: Review by Jeffrey Greenblatt

You can see why HOBEX has been grabbing people's attention... A regional phenomenon in
the Southeast since the mid 90s, HOBEX updates the Stax and Motown soul of the 1970's by
combining it with jazz, blues and good ol' rock n roll.

 

"I think Greg is a real soul singer"
INDEPENDENT WEEKLY :: Jimbo Mathus

"I think Greg is a real soul singer," says Jimbo Mathus, founder of the Squirrel Nut Zippers
and Humphreys' bandmate in the Jas. Mathus Knock Down Society. The two met during a
tubing trip on the Yadkin River several years ago, and spent a couple evenings playing old
gospel and bluegrass songs together. "He's a great white soul singer, and I say that because it's
mostly a black man's field. It's a sympathetic, intuitive thing. Greg doesn't have to try to be a
soul singer, he just is. He has a great gift, and a style that's unique--poppy but real soulful.
His songs have that timeless feel to them."

 

"North Carolina's Hobex commute between Hitsville and Soulsville."
MEMPHIS FLYER :: Review by Mark Jordan

North Carolina's HOBEX commute between Hitsville and Soulsville... you stick in the CD,
and that turns out to be all it takes. The funky soul/pop begins to wash over you and, like
the best gospel music from which it is partially derived, begins to buoy your spirits upward,
dragging your body not far behind.
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"As 2001 Beckons, Noisemakers (From Funk to Salsa) Cavort"
NEW YORK TIMES :: \Review by ANN POWERS

HOBEX is a soulful party band led by Greg Humphreys, who is turning into the Van Morrison
of the college-rock circuit singing his own poignant compositions alongside chestnuts by the
likes of Sam Cooke... the grooves will flow.
::View Link

 

"HOBEX Back in the '90s (WEA/Sire)"
LA WEEKLY :: Review by Michael Lipton

Writing and arranging songs like he¹s the godchild of Al Green and Alex Chilton,
singer-songwriter/guitarist Greg Humphreys has happened on a sound that, from the first note,
crackles with freshness and inspiration... Most musicians quickly figure out how to ³borrow²
from the masters, but only a few are talented enough to listen and learn a thing or two.
::View Link

"Spicy soul-funk-jazz that'll put taste buds on your eardrums"
ROLLING STONE :: Review by Adrian Zupp

Here's a triple threat for ya: spicy soul-funk-jazz that'll put taste buds on your eardrums. What
they've laid down here is an hour of untainted music-from-the-heart that owes as much to
improvisation and intuition as it does to technique and calculation, which is to say it has
soul, baby.

 

"HOBEX is comprised of stellar musicians..."
JAMBANDS.COM :: Review by Jeff Waful

The North Carolina-based group has a timeless sound, which serves as the perfect contrast to
those marathon instrumental jams that typically inhabit the improvisational world. Although
HOBEX is comprised of stellar musicians, the band understands the concept of dynamics,
both in its songwriting and its song selection. While the live show typically features a rotating
cast of additional players and extended improvisation, the group's most recent album,
"U Ready, Man?" boasts catchy, concise arrangements inspired by the likes of Al Green,
Marvin Gaye, Prince and Stevie Wonder.