The 69-year-old soul singer spent three decades installing TV cable before his music career got a jolt in 2007, when local reissue imprint the Numero Group released Eccentric Soul: Twinight’s Lunar Rotation, a compilation that included a batch of old Domino cuts. The Bronzeville native is now releasing two songs — “No Laggin’ and Draggin’ ” and “Give Up The Love” — that he wrote during the ’80s and recently recorded. He’ll perform with his backing band, the Heavy Sounds, on January 4 at the Hideout.
On his vocal chops
“I am a singer by genetics — both my parents sang — and I haven’t been doing things that would harm my voice over the years. I don’t smoke or drink hard liquor. But I can’t sing as high as when I was 19 or 20.”
On the perils of the music business
“I got into it when I was 17, and at first it was a lot of fun. As it got more serious, I started to see the implications of having to know about owning your publishing. I had a manager who was taking care of all this stuff, but he had a nervous breakdown. I didn’t know anything about the business and I was kind of disgruntled, so I got out to raise my family.”
On being rediscovered
“Back in the ’70s, I played strictly in black nightclubs on the South Side and the chitlin circuit. Today, my audience is primarily young white kids — I call them kids, but they’re in their 30s and 40s. They generated my comeback on the scene, but it’s not paying any big bucks yet. It’s not taking care of all my bills.”