Bio
“Every moment is a fresh beginning.”
-T.S. ELIOT
We’re from Seattle and like a lot of folks from our town we draw outside the lines. Paula Boggs Band blends jazz and Americana, touring and releasing a steady stream of music since 2010. In 2017 after releasing 3rd album Elixir, The Soulgrass Sessions produced by Grammy©️ winning Trina Shoemaker, multi-instrumentalists Paul Moore and Darren Loucas, bassist Alex Dyring and drummer Jacob Evans joined original members Boggs, on vocals, guitar and ukulele, percussionist Tor Dietrichson and banjo player Mark Chinen.
“Mistletoe & Shiny Guitars,” the band’s first holiday song was remixed in 2022. The band has worked with Grammy©️-winning producer Tucker Martine twice — 2020’s single “America 2020,” 2022’s 4th studio album, “Janus,” featuring Carolina Chocolate Drops co-founder Dom Flemons, and is writing music for its 5th studio album, again partnering with Martine in 2024. Meanwhile “Traces of You Instrumental” single and music video dropped in 2023 and a new holiday video is available to watch on our YouTube channel.
Paula Boggs Band is sponsored by Deering Banjos, Breedlove Guitars and Radial Engineering.
"This Seattle combo dubs its sound “soulgrass,” since it combines bluegrass and Americana idioms. This track is a story song telling of Paula’s enslaved ancestor in Alabama and his journey through the postbellum Jim Crow South. Flemons, a veteran of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, shares lead vocals. " - MusicRow magazine
"The harrowing, chanted chorus [of Ponies] is immediately followed by verse after verse from Boggs, as she weaves soul, bluegrass, country, and even a little bit of jazz into a beautiful yarn about finding the romantic side of life in any given circumstance." - Billboard
"Rewriting the bluegrass story from a black perspective." - AmericanaUK
"["Ponies is a]n ambitious charmer that curates with Dylan "Desire" era multi-dimensional expressiveness along with storied lyrics worth continually revisiting." - Glide Magazine
"Boggs is like the Dylan, the Peter, Paul, and Mary, the Joan Baez of this era."
Phil King, AudioFuzz.com
“Paula Boggs Band sets themselves apart distinctly by Boggs’ stunning vocals…this Seattle band sounds the part of a bygone era and part refreshingly modern, an exciting contributor to the Pacific Northwest’s diverse music scene.” Glide Magazine
Paula Boggs:
vocals,guitar,ukulele
Mark Chinen:
guitar,banjo
Alex Dyring:
bass,vocals
Tor Dietrichson:
percussion,vocals
Paul Matthew Moore:
keys,accordion,vocals
Jacob Evans: drums
Darren Loucas:
mandolin, guitar, harmonica, fiddle, lap steel, vocals
"Paula Boggs Band joins with Dom Flemons to share “King Brewster,” a song from Janus written about Boggs’ enslaved-then-emancipated ancestor." - Americana Music Association
"The record [album Janus] includes deeply personal themes of ancestry, memory, and love. The storytelling on this record will pull you in, but it’s the musicianship that ultimately takes center stage, thanks to an elegant, groove-laden soundscape crafted by an all-star backing band." - No Depression
"Boggs captures a raw nostalgia ...that might catch you by surprise. She has created a gentle groove for your heartache." - Americana Highways
“This veteran Americana act boasts a range of influences from classic — James McMurtry and Bruce Springsteen — to more contemporary — the Drive-By Truckers. The group describes itself as “soulgrass.” An unfamiliar tag, sure, but not to be dismissed lightly in this age of microgenres.” Current San Antonio
"Mark Chinen played...banjo. I have not heard anyone play a banjo quite like that before...he made it sound like a big city brother to the banjo...when this talented man moves his finger down the strings of a banjo it is magic!” Juanita Smith - From the Cradle to the Stave, Mobile AL
“Boggs makes...urban, jazzy music...within the structures of...folk, bluegrass, and...blues...[s]he calls... “soulgrass,” and reminds me a little of Gil Scott-Heron, if only for the razor-intensity of her words...in a croony-rich street voice...evocative and easy to like.” Dave Good, San Diego Reader