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TRU is a group that sings Motown Music, the Sound Of Phila., 50's - 70's Oldies and Gospel Music. TRU is a multi-talented vocal group with many note-worthy accomplishments which include, singing for the President's Ball in 2005, opening up for many legendary acts such as Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Little Anthony & The Imperials and the list goes on and on. TRU is known for their stylish stage attire
and have been called the hottest act on the Atlantic City Casino Circuit.
TRU has been performing all over the US and is truly grateful for the support
shown by fans old & new. |
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This Trio consists of: * James "Jimi" Williams who sings 1st & 2nd Tenors, Baritone and Lead Vocals, he is also the leader of the group * Primo Wansley who sings 1st & 2nd Tenors, Baritone and Lead Vocals * LaVon "Donnie" Tatem who sings 1st & 2nd Tenors, Baritone, Bass and Lead Vocals. All of them have been singing since they were very young and feel that it is truly a blessing to be able to relieve pressure & stress in people by recreating pleasant memories with familiar tunes.
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James
Williams & LaVon Tatem & Primo Wansley |
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| Interview with Tru... |
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- Let's start from the very begining. Could you introduce yourselves and
give a short description of your music career?
James Jimi-Jai Williams , LaVon Donnie Tatem , Primo Wansley have been singing for a very long time ... Jimi-Jai was with some other groups such as the "Ebonys" and "The Motown Elgins" and Donnie and Primo was singing together in a Gospel Group called "The Stars of Harmony" later LaVon - Donnie did some singing as a Solo artist. They met
each other singing on the same shows together with one another and later
formed the Group TRU! TRU stands for T- (Talented) R- (Religious) U- (Unique!)
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-What were your first professional recordings?
James Jimi-Jai Williams and Primo Wansley first was "Someone On My Side" and "You Are My Friend" released 1995.
The First Professional Recording for LaVon Tatem was "The Fish that saved Pittsburgh", released 1979 on Lorimar
Records..
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- Could you give us a little bit of history around the Tru? Like, how did you meet each other, and when was the group formed?
When they first started out it was James Williams, Mike Upshaw and Primo Wansley they were called the "MEN" then later changed the name to "TRU", then two years ago LaVon Tatem came along with the fella's and Mike moved on. The fella's kept the name TRU and did a Three Man Show with a 5 piece Band. They already knew each other for years but really never sang together but would always meet up at various Shows and discuss singing together ... Then the Three guys decided to join together in a partnership which formed the Group TRU with a new added addition Mr. LaVon Donnie Tatem ... "Tru" How Remarkable!
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- How did you come up with the name Tru?
Well The Manager Sal Angelo came up with the Name TRU from a Club that he had seen in Atlantic City, New Jersey ... which the club at the time was called TRUE but TRU decided to be different and take off the E and leave it as T-R-U. (Talented + Religious + Unique) = TRU.
- What's your show like?
TRU Show is very High Powered with a variety of songs Fast and Slow and lots of Dancing and moving around during the performance with Audience participation ... |
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Tru and their agent/manager Sal Angelo |
- Your first album 'With Tru Love' has been released. Could you tell us
a little bit about the album? Like, what was the road like to get there,
and how about your impressions about it?
The Album we think shows versatility with the TRU Music with an R&B
flavor, we had a few Writers who write songs for TRU like Bobby Eli, who wrote for many of the known singers out there, Joey Latanzzi, who also did a lot of writing for many Artist as well, Reid Whitelaw who wrote lots of music as well ... These Three writers wrote some Awesome Music! The Road to getting there was a lot of hard work in the Studio and listening to the songs that were written and taking them and making them TRU's own with their own style! TRU Impression we think the CD is Hotttttttttt of course and we like the songs that we have chosen for the CD, it shows that we can do so much with the Harmony as an unit.
- What has been the reaction to the album?
Everyone that we know or have come in contact with loves the CD ... you
can find the CD on CD Baby.com, soundsofphilly.com, Amazon.com
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- Why did you choose the the Impressions' "Keep On Pushin'" and
Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes' "If You Don't Know Me By Now"
for covers?
We (TRU) Chose Keep on Pushin for Jimi Jai because we though it was a nice song back then when it was released and today it still sounds nice done by the Artist Jimi - Jai & TRU ... |
The Cover song If you don't know me by now was chosen for LaVon because we knew that LaVon could produce that sound that the song needed and we was right he put a hurting on that song! Beautiful Song ... and Beautifully done by LaVon ...
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- Have you ever had a memory in your career that you can't forget?
The Memories that we have are memories that of people sitting and listening and seeing the smile on the faces of the people that we are entertaining our TRUE Fans.
- Are there any artists or producers you would like to collaborate with?
There are many Artist and Producers that we would like to collaborate with such as Smokey Robinson, The Temptations, The O'jays, Gladys Knight,Whitney Houston, Stevie Wonder. Producers that TRU would like to work with would be Berry Gordy and Gamble and Huff, it would be an honor and a pleasure to work with these folks!
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- What really drives you or motivates you to continue to play music?
Our Drive is seeing Our Fans enjoy our music and the support that they give us each and every time we Perform.
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Tru and their Marketing Director Brigena Tatem
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- What is music for you?
Music for TRU is The Universal Language.
- Would you like to say something to your fans?
To The Fans of TRU please stay our Fans forever! Thank you Thank you Thank
you for all your Love and Support given through the Years! |
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| Discography |
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| Men - Someone On My Side / You Are My Friend (US-12", Society Hill,
1995) |
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Produced by Butch Ingram
Recorded at Society Hill Sounds, Philadelphia, PA |
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| Tru - "With Tru Love" (US-CD, 2009) |
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1 |
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You're All I Want You To Be |
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2 |
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With This Ring |
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3 |
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Can I |
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4 |
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If I Told You |
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5 |
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You're Not Alone |
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6 |
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Keep On Pushin' |
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7 |
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I Never Thought I'd Love You |
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8 |
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Life |
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9 |
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If You Don't Know Me By Now |
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10 |
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Forever In Love With You |
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Contact to:
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