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Annie and the Caldwells at The Freight
Annie and the Caldwells
The Freight
2020 Addison St
Berkeley, CA 94704
Dec 11, 2025
8:00 PM PST
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About this concert
Co-Presented with (((folkYEAH!)))
Annie & The Caldwells are a family band that plays a powerful disco soul from West Point, Mississippi. Their music pulls from artists the family love — The Gap Band, Chaka Khan, Bootsy Collins. Their acclaimed album Can’t Lose (My Soul) was released by David Byrne’s Luaka Bop record label in 2025.
Annie Caldwell says, “My family is my band,” and so naturally the history of the band—and their music—dovetails with the family’s real life. When Annie was 16 years old, in Aberdeen, Mississippi, she played in a band with her brothers (they were called the Staples Jr. Singers, a group of teenagers with a single album recorded in the 1970s). One day, the Staples Jrs. were singing on a church program in West Point, when a guitarist who played with one of Annie’s brothers in another band heard her and said, “Who — is that?” That moment Annie met Willie Joe Caldwell, Sr., her husband of the last fifty years, and the co-founder and guitarist for the Caldwells who supports his family’s high-flying vocals with fuzzy, psychedelic riffs.
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The Freight is the West Coast home for traditional music from around the world. We're dedicated to promoting public awareness and understanding of global roots music—musi...
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Annie and the Caldwells Biography
“A fantastic album – funky, gritty and powerful…belting out raw, disco-tinged soul gospel” – Alexis Petridis, The Guardian
“The most exciting, most dynamic family of faith imaginable… would give the Family Stone a run for its money[!]” – David Hutcheon, MOJO
ANNIE & THE CALDWELLS are a family from Mississippi that plays a powerful disco soul, led by mother Ms. Annie Caldwell. Their music won’t only move you spiritually but emotionally as well—with songs that are as much at home in a church of God as in the church of the dance floor.
Their incredible first single, Wrong, was released on January 15—and a new remix by disco legend Nicky Siano was released on February 25. Their new album Can’t Lose My (Soul) [Luaka Bop, 2025] is 40 years in the making and has already gotten rave reviews in MOJO and The Guardian.
Ms. Annie is backed by daughters Deborah and Anjessica, and goddaughter Toni Rivers; their eldest son Willie Jr. is on the bass and youngest son Abel Aquirius is on the drums. Their father and Annie’s husband of the last fifty years, Willie Joe Caldwell, Sr, is on guitar.
They generally play on weekends—so for their day jobs Annie runs a clothing store, Willie Jr. drives a forklift, Abel Aquirius drives hospital patients, Anjessica works in customer care for an insurance company, Toni is an elementary school teacher, and Deborah does hair. Ms. Annie herself runs Caldwell Fashions—which has been a beloved staple for women dressing for COGIC (Church Of God In Christ) convocations and church anniversaries since the ’80s.
Read More“The most exciting, most dynamic family of faith imaginable… would give the Family Stone a run for its money[!]” – David Hutcheon, MOJO
ANNIE & THE CALDWELLS are a family from Mississippi that plays a powerful disco soul, led by mother Ms. Annie Caldwell. Their music won’t only move you spiritually but emotionally as well—with songs that are as much at home in a church of God as in the church of the dance floor.
Their incredible first single, Wrong, was released on January 15—and a new remix by disco legend Nicky Siano was released on February 25. Their new album Can’t Lose My (Soul) [Luaka Bop, 2025] is 40 years in the making and has already gotten rave reviews in MOJO and The Guardian.
Ms. Annie is backed by daughters Deborah and Anjessica, and goddaughter Toni Rivers; their eldest son Willie Jr. is on the bass and youngest son Abel Aquirius is on the drums. Their father and Annie’s husband of the last fifty years, Willie Joe Caldwell, Sr, is on guitar.
They generally play on weekends—so for their day jobs Annie runs a clothing store, Willie Jr. drives a forklift, Abel Aquirius drives hospital patients, Anjessica works in customer care for an insurance company, Toni is an elementary school teacher, and Deborah does hair. Ms. Annie herself runs Caldwell Fashions—which has been a beloved staple for women dressing for COGIC (Church Of God In Christ) convocations and church anniversaries since the ’80s.
Funk
Disco
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