Joslyn and The Sweet Compression coming to Leeds Jan. 24

An upcoming concert at Leeds Center for the Arts promises to be a “refreshing experience” that will draw audience members back to a purer time in music. At least that’s what Joslyn Hampton, lead vocalist for Joslyn and The Sweet Compression, expects for her band’s first performance in Winchester.

Joslyn and The Sweet Compression is a neo-funk and soul band based out of Lexington.

The band formed nearly four years ago under the helm of Hampton and her step-father, Marty Charters.

They will perform as part of Leeds’ 2020 concert series at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 24. Tickets range from $10 to $15 and can be purchased at leedscenter.org.

According to Leeds’ website, “After growing up singing in the church choir, Joslyn Hampton cultivated her powerful and dynamic voice in college stage productions.”

Hampton said she and Charters each spent their own time working the cover band scene — she in Lexington and he in the Cincinnati area.

“He was just kind of over the whole cover band scene and wanted to do something original and refreshing for him,” she said. “He suggested starting a band and doing something original, doing our own music.”

And Hampton was on-board.

“He wanted to know if I’d be interested in doing something with a little old-school feel,” she said. “And I said, ‘I don’t want to sound like everyone else anyway,” so I was in.”

The two got to writing and in the studio before finding other members of the band.

“We did things a little differently, a little backwards,” she said. “We did the album first and then put the band together.”

She describes the sound as neo-funk and soul with a little mix of R&B.

“It’s very retro,” she said. “It’s not really what you would hear on the radio today.”

And that’s how Hampton likes it.

“It’s just refreshing,” she said. “It will take those who have been around for awhile back. It will remind them of another time in their life. It takes you back to a time when music was pure with real instruments, real musicians. There’s no one sitting behind a computer pushing a button to make a sound.”

She said the band is excited to perform in Winchester for the first time, with hopes of expanding their fan base.

Audience members can expect a good time, she said.

“Expect to dance,” she said. “Expect to have fun. Come out expecting to have a great time. That’s what I expect to deliver.”

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