Q&A With “The Earth Shaking” Soul Singer, Paul Janeway Of Soul Band, ST. PAUL & THE BROKEN BONES Who Chats About – Otis Redding, R.Kelly and More!

The Birmingham, Alabama-based St. Paul & The Broken Bones signs a new record deal with RECORDS. The southern soul group plans to release a new album in Spring 2016 via RECORDS, the follow up to their critically acclaimed debut, Half The City.

Known for their classic bluesy-soul-gospel sound and spell binding live performances, St. Paul & The Broken Bones quickly built an impressive following after forming in 2012. To date, Half The City has sold over 105,000 albums, largely direct to fans on tour flocking to see their live show. The band has blown audiences away at Coachella, Lollapalooza and opening a couple of shows for The Rolling Stones “Zip Code” tour. RECORDS is the newly formed independent record label partnership between Barry Weiss and SONGS Music Publishing.

The seven-piece soul band is composed of Paul Janeway (vocals), Browan Lollar (guitar), Jesse Phillips (bass), Andrew Lee (drums), Al Gamble (keys), Ben Griner (trombone), and Allen Branstetter (trumpet). The band formed in 2012.

Vocalist Paul Janeway and bassist Jesse Phillips met in the mid-2000s while playing with another musical project. In 2012, Jesse and Paul met back in Ol’ Elegante Studios in Birmingham, AL to start a new project. Janeway says of the project with Phillips,

“It was going to be our last hurrah” before focusing on other careers, “but then something just clicked and we walked out of there with something.”

Vocalist, Paul Janeway took a few moments to answer a few questions for All Access Music Group writer, Nicole DeRosa. Enjoy their chat below!

Where did you all grow up? How did your location influence your style?

I grew up in Chelsea, Alabama. I was always in church but I hated dressing every Sunday for church. You had to put on your Sunday best. Now every time I play a show I am in my Sunday best.

Why did you want to get into music? Who are your influences and why?

I love music. The way music moves people is a very spiritual thing at times. I never really wanted to “get into” music. It was just always apart of who I was.

Some of my big influences are Otis Redding, Al Green, Joe Ligon and Prince. Otis and Joe Ligon are just raw emotion singers. You can hear hurt in their voices. Al Green is smooth while being rough. The nuances in his voice always blow my mind. Prince is a musical genius.

What’s your favorite song that you have written and what was the influence?

Grass is Greener is one of my favorites. It just takes you high and then it takes you low. I am not sure what influenced that song.

What was the first piece of music that you fell in love with growing up?

We sang old hymns a lot so It is Well With My Soul was the first piece of music I fell in love with. The desperation in that song is still something I use today in my lyrics.

If you could meet any musician that isn’t alive anymore, who would it be? Why?  Where would you go? What would you do? What would you ask him or her?

“Marvin Gaye would be the person because I will always be fascinated with him. I would probably rush him straight to the studio so I could see what we would do in the studio. Probably ask him a bunch of questions about the albums What’s Going On and Let’s Get It On.”

How has life on the road been treating you all?  Can you share with us any memorable stories from the road so far ?

Life on the road has been busy. It is kind of a blur at this point. On our first ever tour we played a show in Whitesburg, Kentucky. A few of the fellas had too much fun after the show. I was sleeping in my bed and one of the fellas was sleeping in his bed. He ended up waking up and somehow projectile vomit crossed the room onto me from his mouth. I tell that story anytime I can. He will never live it down.

If you were on an island and could only bring 3 things, what would you bring?

My fiancé, my dog and my family.

What is in your current music playlist? Any guilty pleasure songs?

I have been listening to Future Islands, Curtis Harding, Sharon Van Etten and Todd Terje. R.

“Kelly’s song  “Sex Planet” is my favorite guilty pleasure song.”

Do you have any hidden talents we don’t know about that you would like to share with our readers?

Not really a hidden talent but I am obsessed with college football recruiting. I can name probably most of the high school recruits in the classes Alabama football has had since 2008. It is a useless skill.

To learn more about St. Paul & The Broken Bones and check out their tour dates, visit them here