Introducing… St Paul & The Broken Bones

St Paul & The Broken Bones: coming to a venue near you

This rock ’n’ soul seven-piece from Alabama are about to tour the UK… catching them in action is highly recommended!

Names: Paul Janeway (vocals), Browan Lollar (guitar), Al Gamble (piano, keyboards), Andrew Lee (drums), Allen Branstetter (trumpet), Ben Griner (trombone), Jesse Phillips (bass)

Ages: 23-65 (they tell us, but we think the ’65’ bit might be a fib)

Location: Birmingham, Alabama

Style: “We like to consider ourselves a soul band”

Look out for: Live UK/European dates in late August/September, and the Live And In Person EP

St Paul & The Broken Bones formed when Jesse Phillips, a veteran of several bands in the Birmingham, Alabama area introduced Paul Janeway, a long-term friend who “grew up singing in church and listening to soul records” to some of his bandmates. “When we all met in the studio,” recalls Paul, “we hit it off and it turned into this band. I don’t drink or smoke, so they thought it would be funny to call me ‘St Paul’, and the Broken Bones part came from a song of ours called Broken Bones And Pocket Change.”

To date, St Paul & The Broken Bones have released two EPs and an album, Half The City, with Jesse and Paul sharing songwriting duties on some tracks, and the rest a team effort. Only the latest EP has had an official release outside the US, but they’ve done one tour this side of the pond already, and have another kicking off later this month, With a Jo Whiley session under their belts as well, the profile of these purveyors of stompin’, ruff-edged soul in the UK and Europe only looks set to keep on rising.

Which is good, because Paul seems to rather like it here. Asked about the difference between UK and US crowds, he told Songwriting: “UK crowds were a little more reserved initially… but once they warm up to you, they get crazy! We had a ton of fun last time we played in the UK.”

If you fancy having a ton of fun with St Paul & The Broken Bones, catch them at Leeds Social Club (28 Aug), Nottingham Rescue Rooms (29), End Of The Road festival (30), Glasgow Oran Mor (1 Sept), Manchester Gorilla (2) or London Electric Ballroom (3). European dates and more info at their website.

Below, you can hear the new EP on Soundcloud.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.