Drawing on the traditional jazz heritage of their hometown of New Orleans, the Hot 8 Brass Band are renowned for including elements of funk, hip hop, rap, and its local variation, “bounce” in their music. The collective earned a win in the 64th Annual Grammy Awards 2022 for their feature on John Batiste’s ‘Album of The Year', following the nomination of their ‘The Life & Times Of…’ LP for ‘Best Regional Roots Album’ in 2013.

Transcending genres and trends, Hot 8 have performed and collaborated with the likes of Jon Batiste, Blind Boys of Alabama, Basement Jaxx and Alice Russell, and provided live support for Mos Def, Lauryn Hill and Mary J Blige. Since forming they have established a decade-long affiliation with actor/BBC 6Music DJ Craig Charles, among other tastemakers, DJs and journalists worldwide. After a festive appearance Live at Maida Vale for Lauren Laverne (BBC 6 Music), the Hot 8 Brass Band performed for Jools Holland's annual Hootenanny on BBC Two to welcome in 2019. Later that year, after taking to the stage at the BRIT awards in February, Hot 8 Brass Band were invited on the European leg of George Ezra’s tour.

Stephen El Rey is an American musician, artist, actor, model, songwriter, and a troubadour of sorts. He was born at the George Air Force base in the high desert of Victorville, California. His folks transferred to San Diego when he was three. At age seventeen he learned the art of hitchhiking and busking the streets of San Francisco before doing a brief stint at San Diego State University and learning the construction trade. In 1998, Rey obtained a publishing deal with Warner Chappell as a songwriter, after which his songs appeared in films and documentaries such as Embrace of the Vampire with Alyssa Milano.

Rey primarily attributes his musical influence to his childhood in El Centro – an agricultural city situated in the Imperial Valley of California. His grandfather was a selfmade, hard working truck driver/owner and rancher who measured the stature of a man by how hard he worked. Rey’s grandmother owned a local Cantina where occasionally live music was brought in. Invariably, a Juke Box would be playing Johnny Cash, Rene/Rene and others. Coincidentally, Rey's grandparents on his mother's side owned two working Jukeboxes in their living room. These were leftover remnants from a failed restaurant/bar business in the border town of Mexicali. It was there that Rey gravitated towards the Jukebox; he just loved reaching up and randomly pushing the big square whitehorsetooth buttons of letters and numbers to see what songs he might surprise himself with. If he was lucky enough to pick a good one, his grandmother would just laugh, dance and have a good ole time. As a result, he discovered 50's rock ‘n roll, country music, and a long lasting affinity for old Mexican love songs.

Rey’s affliction for blues also expanded to jazz and murder ballads. He carries a torch and passion for those things that are slowly disappearing in our American culture. These changes are characterized in his composition, “The Old Fashioned Future.” His songs dangerously tight rope honky tonk, border town barrel house country blues, and at times unpredictable rock & roll with a southern swamp. As MoJo Nixon said, it’s “The Gun Club meets Memphis’ Tav Falco drunk.”