One of the most celebrated musicians who contributed to "The Norfolk Sound" was multi-talented singer, songwriter, producer, arranger, and label owner Lenis Guess. Born on February 27th, 1940, Lenis was entertaining his family at an early age. By the time he was seventeen he joined a vocal group called the Blue Beards and started entering talent shows. Inspired by his talent show success, he decided to pursue a recording career.

In 1970, after Perkins and Guess parted over artistic differences, Lenis and gifted engineer Dorsey "Brock" Brockington opened up their own recording studio, Brockington & Guess, in Norfolk, Virginia. They had an in-house band called Raw Soul which consisted of Barry Saunders (guitar), Maurice Glass (bass) and Grover "Groove" Everett (drums). All three were still teenagers at the time the group was assembled. The three matured into a tight unit and started backing some of Virginia's finest vocalists including Barbara Stant, Lee Fields, Debbie Taylor, Shirley Johnson, and many more.