SWAN QUARTER—The Mighty Saints of Soul, a local beach music band, perform for beach music enthusiasts throughout the area. Whether it’s a wedding, a party or a festival, the Saints present a mixture of rhythm and blues, soul and beach music for their audiences.

Randy Hignite, who plays keyboard for the band, said the band played at the Atlantic Beach Beach Music Festival on May 17 and performed for a wedding of around 1,000 people in Pink Hill recently. The band will perform on June 3 at Twilight Time in Belhaven.

“We play a couple of beach music festivals as well as various parties and weddings every year,” Hignite said. “I wish we could play more because we all have day jobs which keeps us from playing as much as we would like to. Everything we play is 100 percent live and we write a lot of our own music and lyrics. It’s really cool to perform and see that your music is influencing people that listen.”

Hignite said he started playing music as a child. He had a couple of older siblings who are musicians and his mother played guitar and sang gospel music for church events and services. In fifth grade, he started playing piano and was noticed by one of his teachers, who told him about another kid who played drums. That kid was Jim Heidenreich, the current drummer for the Mighty Saints of Soul. From that point on, Hignite was a musician, he said.

“When we were 15 years old, we used to play out at Belk Tylers in Greenville for Midnight Madness and some of the other things,” Hignite said.

In 1969, the guys with the group called the Avengers and their manager, Ray Houston approached Hignite and Heidenreich after hearing them play and asked if they would like to join the group, Hignite said. The next year, the group would change their name to the Band of Oz, becoming a popular beach music band.

The band performed together until 1976, when most of the members started playing with various groups, Hignite said. Since then, Hignite has played with several other acts, including Sheryl Rouse-Crawford, a vocalist who made her television debut on “Showtime at the Apollo” in New York City. Hignite said Rouse-Crawford will perform with the band on June 3 in Belhaven.

Through a series of swaps and collaborations with various bands and members, Hignite found himself playing with Jackie Gore and the Embers who wrote “I Love Beach Music”. Then he played with Jackie Gore and the Mighty All, he said.

“A lot of the guys who had been with the Embers formed a group called the Legends of Beach and Jackie left, and we got Danny (Garner) to replace him,” Hignite said.

Hignite said now the band, called Mighty Saints of Soul, is comprised of himself, Johnnie Byrd on guitar, Heidenreich on drums, and Garner on lead guitar. Hignite said all four of the members contribute for vocals. Hignite plays string, horn, piano, and organ parts of the songs on three different keyboards he sets up for the performances.

“I’ve played all my life,” Hignite said. “With me, it’s in my blood. I just enjoy playing. Beach music, to me, is really old R&B and soul. Our style of music is considered beach music though. My influences are more or less Tower of Power, Earth, Wind and Fire, James Brown and Chicago.”

Hignite said the band has cut two CDs. The first was all cover tunes, but the second was original, which the band recorded and wrote. The Saints plan to come out with a third CD soon, which will also be original beach music.

Hignite said he has joked about his experiences talking to other bands and fans about why the band is not living in Los Angeles and signed to a major label.

“I like hearing feedback from people saying we are approachable and humble,” Hignite laughed. “When you’re as good as we are…”

If you are interested in the Mighty Saints of Soul playing for your wedding, party or another event, contact Randy Hignite at 252-916-5328 or email at randyhignite@gmail.com.