Ice cold guitar swagger. Effortless grooves. Sweet vocal harmonies. Strong songwriting. West Side Joe & The Men Of Soul produce a delicious concoction that’s for fans of early R&B and funk, blues, and rock & roll, all energy. Music well met with Los Lobos, Gary Clark, Jr., Joe Bonamassa, and the M.G.s, Chuck Berry, The Meters, Tedeschi Trucks Band, The Allman Brothers, B.B. King, and The Band.

“West Side” Joe Schicke was raised in Memphis, TN and earned his recording and performing credentials with Memphis Blues-Rock Queen Russell. After paying his R&B dues for years, Joe started his own group, Minnigan Blues Band, which became a staple of the Memphis roots-rock scene. Joe also played gigs all over Memphis plus bar parties for Peabody, Billy Gibson, Larry Lee (guitarist for Al Green), and Big Joe Turner (bassist for Albert and B.B. King). Joe has shared stages with Charlie Hunter, Tower of Power, and James Cotton, and worked in the studio with legendary producer Willie Mitchell. Joe moved to Ft. Collins in 2007 and has since worked with local artists, such as Suzie Blue, Bevin Luna, Jeff Finlin, Jonny Mogambo, Megan Mae, and All Chiefs. Now settled in northern CO, Joe leads West Side Joe & The Men of Soul with Steve Amedee of The Subdudes on drums and vocals, and Taylor Frederick (Naughty Professor, The Subdudes, and Horns) on horns. That's world class rhythm section backing a world-class singer/songwriter and guitarist.

The band released their first album, Keep On Climbin’, in 2021. The album has gained critical acclaim and was the #1 played album by Colorado artists on Colorado radio for the month of June 2021.

The band enlisted a who’s who of Colorado musicians to help out on Keep On Climbin’, folks such as Lorenzo Young, Cary Morin, Al Chess, Bevin Luna, WytchKonn, and Suzie Blue, in addition to all band Subdudes, Friend Al Gamble of St. Paul & The Broken Bones. It was recorded at Stout Studios in Ft. Collins by local engineer and drummer Darren Raddatz, and mixed by Toby Vest, Pete Matthews, and Memphis Record Master Dave Hopkins (Kace Hayes, Mavis Staples). Mastered in Nashville at TrueEast by Alex McCullough (John Prine, Lucero).

"The band writes their material and squeezes the best out of the rock n’ roll, blues, rock, R&B, and soul to compose their brilliant compositions that don’t take much time to resonate with the audience."