Kris Barras’ new UK blues-rock collective Hollow Souls release their third single “Bad Things,” this time joining forces with Chris Tapp, the driving force behind acclaimed band The Cold Stares. The single is available on all streaming platforms from Thursday July 31st.

“Having already released two belting singles featuring guest stars from across the pond, “Borderline” feat. guitarist Jared James Nichols and “Shotgun” feat. Jon ‘Marv’ Harvey from Monster Truck, Hollow Souls led by Kris Barras, continues their stellar collaborative winning streak with “Bad Things.”

Kentucky natives (but now based out of Indiana) The Cold Stares are a long-standing duo (recently turned trio) fronted by guitarist and vocalist Tapp. After both becoming leading lights in a new wave of blues-rock signed to Mascot Records’ Provogue imprint, Barras and Tapp started a friendship born of a mutual admiration over the past few years. Known for their fresh take on blues and southern rock styles, Tapp’s song-writing for The Cold Stares has seen them soundtrack famous video games and TV commercials.

Barras, with co-collaborator and long-standing bandmate Josiah J Manning, having already sketched the basic outline of the song, on this occasion knew that Tapp would be the perfect partner to co-write and record remotely from his home studio in Evansville IN. The result is a devilishly upbeat and subtly swampy earworm that interplays Tapp’s effortlessly cool verses with Hollow Souls’ lead vocalist Phoebe Jane’s punchy choruses.

Barras says, “I have admired Chris and the work of Cold Stares for a long while and I’ve sort of been waiting for the right track to work on together to drop out of my head. I knew instantly he would take this song up ten notches. He did, and I’m so grateful to have him involved.”

“When considering guests for this album, Chris Tapp from The Cold Stares was always high up on my list. We’ve been friends since meeting on the Joe Bonamassa ‘Keeping the Blues Alive at Sea’ cruise, and I’ve been a fan of his work for a good while.”

It’s important for me to have the guests bring their own flavour to the songs and put their own stamp on things. I sent Chris what Josiah and I had been working on, and he had free rein with the verses. We loved what he came back with and turned it into a duet with Hollow Souls’ main singer Phoebe Jane.”

Fresh from their first-ever live performance on the main stage at Maid of Stone Festival where the band performed a ‘secret set,’ Hollow Souls are pleased to announce Troy Redfern as their special guest on their 20-date Autumn UK tour. Troy, known for his explosive slide guitar and energetic performances, is hugely celebrated for the wall of sound he creates from a mere two-piece guitar and drum combo, which will perform on every Hollow Souls date of the upcoming tour. Tickets are available from The Gig Cartel.

Hollow Souls are also pleased to announce their eponymous debut EP Hollow Souls released on Friday October 10th.Featuring six tracks, including all three currently available singles, the EP will be released on 10” vinyl, CD and download. The EP isavailable to pre-order from https://shop.hollowsouls.co.uk.

TICKETS AVAILABLE FROM THE GIG CARTEL 

OCTOBER
Thu 16 – Bedford, Esquires
Fri 17 – Chesterfield, Real Time Live
Sat 18 – London, Camden Underworld
Sun 19 – Stowmarket, John Peel Centre
Wed 22 – Shoreham, Ropetackle
Thu 23 – Cardiff, The Globe
Fri 24 – Leek, Foxlowe Arts
Sat 25 – Gloucester, Guildhall
Sun 26 – Norwich, Waterfront Studio
Wed 29 – Grimsby, Docks Academy
Thu 30 – Huddersfield, Parish
Fri 31 – Birmingham, Castle & Falcon
NOVEMBER
Sat 1 – Stockton, Georgian Theatre
Sun 2 – Carlisle, Old Fire Station
Tue 4 – Glasgow, Oran Mor
Wed 5 – Edinburgh, La Belle Angele
Thu 6 – York, Crescent
Fri 7 – Blackpool, Waterloo
Sat 8 – Southampton, Suburbia
Sun 9 – Tavistock, Wharf 

More information: WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | YOUTUBE

Kris Barras’ new blues-rock super-collective Hollow Souls are pleased to announce their sophomore single “Shotgun” featuring the unmistakeable vocals of Jon ‘Marv’ Harvey, of the Canadian powerhouse southern rock band, Monster Truck. “Shotgun” is the second single from the band’s forthcoming EP out in September and is released on Hollow Souls own label imprint.

“Shotgun” is available on all streaming platforms HERE. Watch the official music video HERE.

In March 2025, Hollow Souls came out swinging with their breakout debut single “Borderline,” and announced a 20-date Oct/Nov 2025 UK Tour. The upbeat blues rock anthem showcased the awesome pipes of former Kris Barras Band backing singer Phoebe Jane.

This time around, “Shotgun” sees Phoebe providing soulful backing vocals to Monster Truck frontman Jon ‘Marv’ Harvey who collaborated with Kris and producer Josiah Manning remotely after a long-term friendship based on mutual musical respect.

“We’ve been talking about writing a song with Marv for a long time,” says Kris. Josiah and I had a riff we laid down at Momentum Studios. We instantly knew this one would be perfect for Marv, so we fired it over to him. What he sent back blew us both away. The explosiveness of his vocal and Marv’s amazing storytelling. We couldn’t ask for a better collaborator. I hope we perform it live together one day!”

Jon ‘Marv Harvey’, who wrote the lyrics and melody over Kris and Josiah’s stomping blues rock guitar riffs, tells a gritty story of a bar fight with his customary gravelly drawl. Having collaborated with U.S. guitar hero Jared James Nichols on the first single “Borderline,” Kris switches to lead guitar on “Shotgun” and delivers a fiery solo that demonstrates his inimitable style of hard rock shredding with bluesy phrasing. “Borderline” is available on all streaming platforms HERE.

“Shotgun” is released ahead of Hollow Souls’ 20-date Oct/Nov 2025 UK Tour. Tickets are available from thegigcartel.com.

From humble beginnings in Torquay, Devon, to trading licks with the likes of Joe Bonamassa and Billy Gibbons on the world stage, Kris has already lived a hundred lives that defy his youth and exuberance.

Kris’ own project Kris Barras Band had a mammoth 2024. From selling out headline shows in British castles, headlining Planet Rockstock, and a Top #5 UK album with Halo Effect.

Inspired by the U.S. supergroup Supersonic Blues Machine in which he also performed and energised by the wealth of British talent around him, to create Hollow Souls, Kris put together a homegrown jam band to serve as a creative sparring exercise during his downtime.

Hollow Souls is a dream project for Kris. Together with long-term collaborator, multi-instrumentalist and producer Josiah J Manning, using Josiah’s Plymouth-based Momentum Studios as their base, a studio band consisting of drummer Joe Harris (Toby Lee, Lack of Afro) and bass player Leighton Allen (Callum Scott, The Hoosiers) became more than the sum of its parts.

When Kris invited in former KBB backing singer Phoebe Jane to jam, the floodgates of creativity truly opened. In writing for her dexterous range and astonishing power, Kris and Josiah knew they had found a singer with which their musical palette could continue to evolve; the spark that ignited a whole new band into existence with Hollow Souls.

KRIS BARRAS’ HOLLOW SOULS
OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2025 UK TOUR
TICKETS: THE GIG CARTEL & PLANET ROCK TICKETS

OCTOBER
Thu 16 – Bedford, Esquires
Fri 17 – Chesterfield, Real Time Live
Sat 18 – London, Camden Underworld
Sun 19 – Stowmarket, John Peel Centre
Wed 22 – Shoreham, Ropetackle
Thu 23 – Cardiff, The Globe
Fri 24 – Leek, Foxlowe Arts
Sat 25 – Gloucester, Guildhall
Sun 26 – Norwich, Waterfront Studio
Wed 29 – Grimsby, Docks Academy
Thu 30 – Huddersfield, Parish
Fri 31 – Birmingham, Castle & Falcon
NOVEMBER
Sat 1 – Stockton, Georgian Theatre
Sun 2 – Carlisle, Old Fire Station
Tue 4 – Glasgow, Oran Mor
Wed 5 – Edinburgh, La Belle Angele
Thu 6 – York, Crescent
Fri 7 – Blackpool, Waterloo
Sat 8 – Southampton, Suburbia
Sun 9 – Tavistock, Wharf 

More information: WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | YOUTUBE