Meah Pace

And the band was cooking – waves of echo from the Fender Rhodes piano, fat, reverberating, tastefully bluesy lines from the guitar and a sultry, oldschool soul groove from the bass, drums and baritone sax. Meanwhile, singer and bandleader Meah Pace sized up the situation in a split second and made her move. A graceful whirlwind, she took over centerstage and then moved out into the crowd, pouncing and seizing the first few feet in front of the stage as her own, as if in a ballet choreographed by Tina Turner.

A very smart move, because with a few exceptions, the expensively dressed, drunken gentrifier crowd had not come to hear music. Tbey’d come out to talk loudly and languidly with their fellow suburbanites. But Pace not only got them to shut up – by the time the show was over, many of them were singing along. She owned them. The transformation was astonishing. Then again, Pace has the kind of charisma that only comes along every few years. Forget Adele – Meah Pace is the real deal. Her style is strictly oldschool, mid-60s soul, from all over the map – Memphis, Detroit, Chicago, it doesn’t matter, she goes there. Her voice has a sharp edge that reminds a little of a young Aretha Franklin, but it’s different, a lot sweeter and warmer. A little like Tammi Terrell – how she moves so effortlessly between the high and lows is absolutely breathtaking. Yet that warmth also carries a 100-proof punch. Best of all, in an hour onstage, Pace wailed, and murmured, and seduced, but she never once lapsed into cliched, fake, over-the-top American Idol theatrics. Then again, American Idol didn’t exist in 1967.

The band was like the Dap-Kings on steroids. Brisk, two-chord King Curtis vamps; bouncy, syncopated Memphis grooves; slow, slinky ballads – they could do them all. In front of them, Pace mixed it up – other than the obvious covers (a funked-up version of Your Cheating Heart that got everybody singing along), it was pretty much impossible to tell her originals from the classics. She opened with one of hers, a potently catchy number: “You can dance to the music – you gotta dance through the fire,” she wailed, and she danced along, but as if she was fireproof, or part of the flame. They reinvented the oldies radio hit I Got You Babe with a Sergeant Pepper-style intro and turned it into a hypnotic soul/funk tune, with a split-second breakdown to just the drums and vocals. A considerably slower, warm, Bill Withers-style song fueled by cascading waves of electric piano was even more hypnotic, like a soul classic the Rolling Stones might have ripped off around 1968. They went deep into Chicago-style blues with a song-length intro to a swinging organ tune (by Etta James, maybe Telephone Blues?) lit up by a methodically crescendoing, soulful guitar solo and an even longer one from the organ, baritone saxophonist Paula Henderson stepping on it playfully with a deliciously torchy one of her own. They wrapped up the set with a Memphis-flavored tune and a surprisingly blistering rock version of High Heeled Sneakers, Pace’s wordless vocal outro just as full of longing as ecstasy. Which is pretty much what soul music is all about, isn’t it? - NEW YORK MUSIC DAILY

Singer, songwriter and actress Meah Pace is fearless and has been blessed with a soulful voice. Her sound evokes comparisons with the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin as well as Tina Turner , because of the musical composition in her work. The classy songstress strives to take charge of her musical career by composing work that will touch people’s hearts and souls.
Pace’s first solo EP, 11:03, gives listeners an opportunity to figure out who she is as an artist. From listening to her EP, it’s clear she likes to get up and dance but also compose and write heartfelt records at the same time. Promised Land, one of the singles from the EP, highlights her homage to ’70s soul music because the song is upbeat and funky.
Brooklynites who have seen any of the Maryland native’s many performances in our borough (including Union Pool, Littlefield, Franks’ Cocktail Lounge and the Brooklyn Soul Festival) understand how Pace is truly making a name for herself. She’s performed the National Anthem at Madison Square Garden and at numerous venues , including Brooklyn’s legendary Southpaw, where she sang a gut wrenching tribute to Etta James and has shared the stage with Brooklyn acts including Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings and The Revelations featuring Tre Williams.
To learn more about Meah Pace’s musical style, you can purchase her EP, 11:03 on iTunes. You can also follow her on Instagram and Twitter and like her on Facebook. - Brooklyn Roads

This Maryland native, Morgan State University alum, and former captain of the Baltimore Ravens Cheerleading squad, has dropped a jewel of an EP (Extended Play). Meah Pace is a take-charge kind of artist. She is executive producer on her latest project “11:03.” She combined elements of rock, blues, and gospel into a sound that is truly her own. There is a song entitled “Gracefully”; when you listen to it, you just want to grab someone and just do that slow grind as if you were in New Orleans at some hot sweaty club. The tracks “I Don’t Need You” and “On My Brain” are two standouts that are sure to get your toes tapping. - The Baltimore Times

Meah Pace and her band The Map Legends gave the audience at Brooklyn’s Southpaw a special treat during their January 28th opening set, with a killer performance of “I Would Rather Go Blind” paying tribute to the recently deceased Ms. Etta James. Meah delivered the classic blues/soul tune, which has been covered by everyone from Christine McVie (nee Perfect) to Beyonce, in spectacular torchy style. - Skeleton Pete

Strutting the stage in a shimmery dress that would make Grace Potter jealous, local performer Meah Pace started the evening off with her brand of classic soul and R&B.

Meah and her band put on a fantastic performance for those who arrived early enough for her set. With a couple lineup changes and a few more original songs to her credit, I believe that we’ll be seeing Meah Pace on a much larger stage in the near future. - The Backstage Beat