Caruso

Sam Fisher and Charles Newkirk met as members of the revamped R&B band Mercury Blue upon its formation in January 2008. Learning of their mutual love for acoustic-based R&B, the two put together a side project as an acoustic duo while still playing with Mercury Blue. After writing over twenty songs and performing a residency at a local jazz lounge, Sam and Newkirk decided to make their side project their main priority. And so Caruso was born.

Self-described as "jazz singwriters" the duo dub their brand of acoustic based R&B as "coffeehouse soul." They perform exclusively with their acoustic guitars, which you tend to see in coffee shops, but there’s an unmistakable soul in their music that can’t always be captured by two guys with two guitars. Their style is organic and simplistic in nature, but the sound and the emotion that radiates from their music is full-bodied and complex. Caruso’s debut album, entitled Lucas Gambit, showcases their acoustic styling, which has been described by critics as “[a] perfect blend of blues, soul, and gospel music…” (Kungfu Groove).

So what exactly is a “Lucas Gambit”? The album’s name is derived from a combination of two concepts: the Lucas Integer Sequence, in which the number 2 is the initial number, and a chess gambit, which is a calculated risk taken to gain the upper hand in a match. Loosely translated, it means, "gamble of two". As Sam explained in an interview, "When Newkirk and I decided to take on this project, we realized that we would be taking a huge risk putting Mercury Blue on hold and pursuing Caruso wholeheartedly. Since it would be the two of us taking all of the risk, we felt that the word [gambit] aptly described our mindset. We knew there was a space for well thought out, acoustic-based, original music and felt that Caruso would fill that space."