Juke Just Wants Your Soul

You're walking down the street on an ordinary afternoon, and you come upon a group preaching. One of them shouts into the ether, "We don't want your money, we just want your soul." That moment stopped Eric Garcia in his tracks. The phrase, soaked in spiritual intensity and irony, sparked the earliest ideas behind Juke's new live-in-studio record, We Just Want Your Soul, a three-song journey that digs deep into Miami's humid backstreets of gospel, blues, and raw improvisation. The release will be celebrated with a show at Gramps on July 18.

Garcia — better known around town as Uncle Scotchy — is a third-generation Miamian, harmonica shredder, and the band's founder and frontman. He is also the music booker for many local venues. Named Best Songwriter in Miami New Times' 2023 Best of Miami edition, Eric doesn't just play blues — he reconstructs it, fusing it with whatever sound his bandmates bring to the table. "We were never really on hiatus," he says of the years since their last record. "We just gigged. We never even really rehearsed." After years of playing iconic stages and Miami mainstays like Tobacco Road and the Fillmore, Garcia grew tired of studio sterility. "I just wanted to capture everything live," he says. "That's kind of where the magic is with us."


That essence is baked into all three tracks of We Just Want Your Soul. The title track, written in a flash after that sidewalk encounter, features Ainara Gastaminza's ghostly background vocals layered over the thuitars in the chorus, a loose, rolling groove. "Moses" and "Burnin Hell" round out the tracklist, both reimagined covers that stretch well beyond the standard runtime — one hitting nine minutes, the other clocking in over thirteen. Tracked live at Brian Lang's Fazeone studio, each cut was performed twice, then selected. "Brian used to be in the band," Garcia says. "He knows how we're supposed to sound."

Juke has always been a revolving door of Miami's top-tier musicians — "the only rule," Garcia jokes, "is you better be better than me." The current lineup features Harold Trucco on guitar (also of The Lab), Korian Hannah on drums, and Sebastian Gavilan on bass. Hannah's church background infuses the grooves with subtle spiritual cadence, while Trucco, a returning Miami native, adds a shot of rock fire. "Our songs aren't the same each time we play them," Garcia adds. "We let everyone flex their muscles. It's what we sound like live."
That live spirit will take center stage July 18 at Gramps, inside the intimate Shirley's room. Juke won't be alone: they'll be joined by Apostoli Floyd, a young blues powerhouse with deep reverence for tradition, and Girl Blues, a project fronted by the quietly fierce Irie — who started as a band photographer and evolved into a soulful performer in her own right. "She's got this voice, deep and unexpected," Garcia says. "She just showed up one day and played classical guitar, and we were like, what the hell?"

Garcia hopes this release, that will be available on streaming platforms on July 17, marks a kind of restart for the band. "We've been called the best band nobody knows," he says. "But the music community here knows. It's time more people heard us."

Juke with Apostoli Floyd and Girl Blues. 8 p.m., Friday, July 18, at Shirley's at Gramps, 176 NW 24th St., Miami; 855-732-8992; gramps.com. Tickets cost $14.53 via Eventbrite.