The Sure Fire Soul Ensemble is a heavy, original, instrumental soul band with a cinematic sound featuring Tim Felten (organ and electric piano), his wife Sheryll Felten, and anywhere from five to eight or more players.
A self-titled debut full-length was released in 2015. The following year, the band collaborated with the Amplified brewery to create a signature craft beer and released a followup album, Out On the Coast.
The group won Best Blues Album at the 2015 SDMAs and Best Recording at the 2017 SDMAs. In 2018, guitarist Nick Costa debuted a new solo project, My Mynd.
Their album Build Bridges debuted number one on Billboard's contemporary jazz chart in October 2019. “It actually took quite a while [to record], because we had two band members leave during the process,” says Felten. “After they left, we decided to scrap what we had done and just start over from scratch.” The album features Felten on keyboards, Jesse Aduelo on sax, Nick Costa on guitar, Willie Fleming on trombone, Omar Lopez on bass, Kiko Cornejo Jr. on percussion, Bill Caballero on trumpet, and Sheryl Felten on percussion. On one track, Steve Haney guests on percussion.
A video debuted in early 2022 for the title track of their fourth full-length, Step Down, which dropped April 1. According to the band, "Step Down is a direct reflection of the heavy times they were written and recorded in: Covid-19, two Presidential impeachment trials, the George Floyd murder and resulting social unrest, along with a seditious attempt to subvert the democratic process at the Capitol." The album includes post-millennial song titles such as "Time To Rebuild," "High Times," "Love Age," and "In Common."