St. Paul & the Broken Bones at Damrosch Park

Paul Janeway

Paul Janeway, a native of the small town of Chelsea, Alabama, was raised in a non-denominational, Pentecostal-leaning church and wanted to be a preacher. He began moving away from this youthful path in his late teens and went from singing in church choirs to singing in bar bands. He bonded with bassist Jesse Phillips in a rock group in the mid-2000s and they entered a recording studio together in 2012. As they began working around Janeway's voice, they realized that the songs sounded like rhythm and blues. The duo filled out the band and recorded a four-song EP, Greetings from St. Paul and The Broken Bones, before ever playing a live show. "St. Paul" was a wry allusion to Janeway’s church roots. Based in Birmingham, Alabama, the band began performing on weekends only, waiting for the horn players to graduate college before embarking on more extensive touring. St. Paul & the Broken Bones is composed of Janeway, Phillips, Browan Lollar (guitar), Andrew Lee (drums), Al Gamble (keys), Ben Griner (trombone), and Allen Branstetter (trumpet) . A debut album, Half the City, was released on February 18, 2014.

Opening for Charles Bradley & the Extraordinaires at Lincoln Center's AmericanaFest at Damrosch Park, St. Paul & the Broken Bones seemed to juxtapose a classic soul music revival with an evangelical revival. Browan Lollar led the band in revue-style instrumental music for several minutes before Janeway came on stage wearing a buttoned two-piece suit, an open-necked white shirt with cufflinks, and black horn-rimmed glasses. He looked like he meant business, but his affairs were not in a briefcase; they were in his gut. The band played well, could probably have stretched out musically a bit more, but the center of attention was always Janeway. He sang passionately like he possessed the spirit of 1960s soul singer Wilson Pickett and moved like James Brown. Tossing the microphone stand and pulling it back by the chord, dropping to his knees, sliding his foot, kicking his legs, Janeway’s extroverted performing style imitated the stars of the Apollo Theater in its heyday. Sometimes it sounded like church. In the end, however, it was probably closer to last call on Saturdays than sunrise services on Sundays.

Visit St. Paul & the Broken Bones at www.stpaulandthebrokenbones.com.