By Deborah Reed
WKTV Managing Editor
It’s time to put your dancing shoes on! Local fan favorite, The Soul Syndicate, will take the stage at Park Lamar Park in Wyoming on Tuesday, June 17 at 6 p.m. for the first 2025 Concerts in the Park summer performance.
With their sophisticated appearance, masterful musicianship and trademark high-energy performances, the 10-member band will pay tribute to influential funk, soul and R&B artists in a soul-infused entertainment experience designed to keep the audience dancing.
“It’s always a ride playing Wyoming because the crowds are always fantastic; it’s just always fun,” says drummer Tom Taylor.
Soulful sounds from master musicians
Audiences will be treated to the soulful sounds of Mike Coon on guitar and vocals, Matt Fouts on bass, John Neil on keyboard and sounds, Colin Tobin as lead male vocalist, Katie Sarb as lead female vocalist, Tim DenBesten on trumpet and vocals, Nate Hansen and Danny Giacobassi on saxophone, Jeff Carroll on trombone, Tom Taylor on drums, and Eugene Griffith as sound engineer.
No strangers to large events and festival stages, members of The Soul Syndicate deliver a unique sound and crowd-pleasing experience at every venue they visit with their carefully crafted multi-song medleys.
Though soul, funk and R&B genres are musically related with soul and funk often considered sub genres of R&B, it is only in the past five years that The Soul Syndicate has deviated from their original plan of playing pure, classic soul music.
“Eleven years ago the original idea behind the band was really more around being strictly classic soul,” says Taylor. “That late 60s Motown, Stax, Memphis, Philly soul music. We wanted to do something different, something that was unique.”
At the time, pure soul music was unique to the West Michigan area. Though many people enjoyed The Soul Syndicate’s performances, many songs were not well-known and did not generate the excitement band members were hoping for.
So they decided to change it up.
May I have this dance?
“About five years ago we started to think about becoming more of a pure dance band, adding a lot more funk elements, really keeping the popular songs but making it a little funkier,” says Taylor. “Like anything, it’s evolved from there based on audience reaction and some of the events that we started booking.”
The Soul Syndicate’s popularity soared when the band began playing their own arrangements of song medleys. Suddenly, people were coming to see them perform at multiple events and saying they liked the band’s new sound.
And those medleys, Taylor says, keep the audience on the dance floor.
“Folks don’t like breaks,” Taylor says with a laugh. “If they’re on the dance floor, they like to keep going until they get tired.”
The band may tweak the medleys from year to year, but they continue to add more to their playlist.
“We all love playing together and love seeing big crowds dancing. There’s nothing better.”
Band growth, awards and playing with stars…
Only half of The Soul Syndicate are original members of the band, but the past decade has brought plenty of growth, talent and new friendships.
“When we started, the horn section was just a trumpet and a saxophone,” says Taylor. “And now we’ve got a four-piece horn section: a trumpet, two saxes, and a trombone.”
Many band members, Taylor included, perform with other groups as well as with The Soul Syndicate. That has provided band members with opportunities to play with nationally known artists such as Hootie and the Blowfish, The Beach Boys, The Temptations, The Guess Who, Natalie Cole, Rosemarie Clooney, Elvis Presley Jr., The US Navy Commodores Band – and more.
“The longer you’ve been doing this, you make a lot of relationships and never know who you’re going to run into in different parts of the area, different parts of the country and different theaters,” says Taylor.
The band’s only original music album won a Jammie Award for Best New Artist during their first year of inception.
They chose to move away from original music, however, due to varying ideas about how important original music was to their shows and a level of audience disinterest when playing lesser-known songs.
“Original music is great but, for us, if someone doesn’t know the song, they may not dance to it,” says Taylor. “They may applaud politely, but then wait for that next well-known song.”
More than just notes on a page
For Taylor, music has always been his escape.
“It takes me away from my corporate job and lets me unwind and just play the drums and drive a large horn band,” says Taylor. “There’s nothing better than that.”
Taylor went on to say that each Soul Syndicate member relates to the feeling of escaping into music they love. And doing it together is an added bonus.
“The members of the band are great friends,” Taylor says. “We get along really well, we collaborate very well together. We all laugh, we have fun.”
And The Soul Syndicate enjoys seeing other people having fun.
“We just love making people happy. We love what we do.”
See the band perform – more than once!
The Soul Syndicate is available to play for weddings, corporate events and the festival stage. To reserve the band for an event, click here.
Taylor urges audiences to check out their website for additional summer events.
“Check out our website; all of our dates are posted there,” Taylor says. “We have a lot of public performances in 2025 for people to come see us, especially outdoor concerts.
“We love the support of folks coming out to see us numerous times during the summer.”
Concerts in the Park details
The weekly Concerts in the Park performances are free and family-friendly.
Food trucks will offer delicious bites available for purchase. Bring a comfy lawn chair or blanket, grab some food, kick back and soak in the tunes!
The complete 2025 Concerts in the Park lineup can be found here.
