Best of Cleveland 2014: Northern Soul Band

Northern soul band

To Wesley Bright, soul is not just a type of music, it's a feeling. "It's a dynamo," says the frontman of Akron-based soul band Wesley Bright & the Hi-Lites. "It takes you somewhere else." Since 2011, the seven-piece group - influenced by James Brown's Famous Flames and complete with the two-step, dapper suits and horns - has been spreading joyous soulful vibes regionally with Bright at the helm. Growing up in the Baptist church, spinning records of Stevie Wonder and traveling regularly to Georgia helped inform Bright's signature sugary-sweet vocals and exuberant dance moves. "As soon as I get on stage and I hear people, I hear their feet moving and their screaming, something happens and I turn on," he says. The group released two singles, but waited until this fall to drop a full-length album, recorded with Black Keys engineer Jason Tarulli, to ensure a fully polished debut. "We got a nice little soul history in Cleveland," Bright says, "but I really want to bring it back." facebook.com/wesleybrightandthehilites