“Soul music isn’t about a defined genre or style, it’s about embodying a time when our culture celebrated love and heartbreak and spirituality through song,” says Melissa Bathory. “When I was a kid, I loved singing in the church choir. I was drawn to the power of hymns, not yet realizing the connection that that music had to my father’s R&B records. I loved the spirit of gospel and blues before I knew the history of the sound.”

Read more about Melissa Bathory on Last.fm.