Soulful band expands its sound
St. Paul & The Broken Bones aims to tug on emotions at Jazzfest opener
St. Paul & The Broken Bones have played a ton of shows as they’ve criss-crossed the globe over the past four years, and they may not recall them all, but they’ll probably never forget their last visit to Ottawa.
At CityFolk 2015, the Birmingham, Ala.-based soul revivalists had the unenviable side-stage task of following Van Morrison.
But for Broken Bones frontman Paul Janeway, whose soaring, throaty tenor has often drawn comparisons with Van the Man (and with influences like Sam Cooke and Wilson Pickett) seeing Morrison “wailing away and blowing his saxophone” was only the second-most-memorable moment of that show.
“I remember we were playing in this hall, and there was a girl right up front who was licking the glitter that was kicking up off my shoes,” said Janeway, still marvelling.
“She was licking the bedazzled jewels off my shoe — like, licking her finger to pick up the glitter off the stage, and I thought, ‘Well that’s crazy. Must be a good night in Ottawa if people are licking jewels off your shoes.’ “That was a first.” The performance that night, with the band whipping up the raucous crowd, would have provided a good test for the foundation of the old Horticulture Building, and Jazzfest fans should probably expect to stow their lawn chairs when St. Paul kicks off opening night — glittering shoes and all.
“Our approach is pretty consistent. We still want to take people to emotional highs and lows,” said Janeway, who also recalled enjoying an off-day as a tourist at the Centennial Flame and Parliament Hill.
“At that point we hadn’t released our second record (Sea of Noise) and so our live set then was kind of just pound-ya, pound-ya, poundya. Now it’s a little more nuanced. And I like the way it takes some left turns, and the fans appreciate that you’re not doing the exact same show that you’ve done.”
The same could be said about their studio work, as Sea of Noise veers into territory unexplored in their 2014 debut, Half the City.
“Your second record really tells an audience what kind of artist you’re going to be. Are you going to be an artist that continually makes the same record, or are you an artist that’s going to always explore? That’s the message we wanted to convey back to our audience with Sea of Noise,” Janeway said.
He and his bandmates hope the result will help remove any “retro” tag critics may place on the band.
“Obviously we’re not trying to replicate a moment in time, yet at the same time some of our favourite music is ’60s soul, but we’re influenced by a lot of things now,” Janeway said.
“We just never want to get pigeonholed, because once you do, and you release a new record that doesn’t fit that tag, then people are disappointed. We’re still a young band, and we’re still exploring where we’re going. We’re expanding and we’re going to continue to.”
St. Paul & The Broken Bones When: Thursday, 8:30 p.m. Where: Confederation Park Tickets/passes: ottawajazzfestival.com