Paula was just named one of five 2018 Seattle Mayor’s Arts Award Honorees. You can learn more about the how/what/why of the award here!
Playing Berkeley’s Back Room September 22 ended a great 3-day run in the San Francisco Bay Area!
Band Crew for Fall 2018 Shows‼️
Veteran mastering engineer Mark Chalecki is now mastering our upcoming holiday single “Mistletoe & Shiny Guitars!”
We’re excited to introduce Marina Christopher, our bassist and vocalist for rest of 2018. Marina is well known in Seattle, involved in several music projects and teaches music at a local middle school. Learn more about her here!
“Paula Boggs, the Paula Boggs Band’s frontwoman, [is] encouraging unity and action in her music. With the band’s new album Elixir: The Soulgrass Sessions, as on previous collections, Paula and the band hope to inspire listeners to embrace the community around them and get involved. ”
Our “Holocene”
“Every now and then I’m introduced to an artist who’s music and style are so unique as to make a lasting impression. Our society tends to want labels neatly attached to nearly everything, especially Music. What a pleasant surprise to hear a truly different sound in the work of The Paula Boggs Band! To call their Music a hybrid, fusion, or merging of several genres does not do justice to the songs. Here is a group, lead by a consummate pro, that dared take Music to a wholly alternative place; and doing it with the traditional acoustic instruments of an era gone by. “Holocene” takes an eclectic path of message and melody with a captivating video as a bonus. Add to that the passionate vocals of Paula and the precision players behind the song and you have the perfect example of freedom of expression in Music. No labels, no niches, no fitting into standard spaces. Therein lies the creative genius of The Paula Boggs Band. Outstanding work! ”
— Matthew Gillian Retired Radio Broadcaster/Personality Former Host Of Opry Star Spotlight 650AM WSM, Nashville, TN
The Acoustic Guitar Project. One of 5 Seattle-area songwriters chosen for 2017. One guitar. One week. One song. No mics or amps. No effects. Just a Zoom H2 Recorder. “Mistletoe and Shiny Guitars”©️
Paula passing guitar to Seattle songwriter #5 Jessica Lynne as part of global The Acoustic Guitar Project One Guitar. One Week. One Song.
“100 Bands in 100 Days — Day 62: Paula Boggs Band. A few months ago we reviewed the latest album from a Seattle band with a sound all their own, the Paula Boggs Band. They mix in a little bit of everything for a delicious audio blend they like to call Seattle-Brewed-Soulgrass.”
“The term “Elixir,” is associated with magic potions and alchemy and is certainly an apt comparison for what transpires when the Paula Boggs Band plays together, combining their collective elements into a life-giving concoction of golden sounds and spiritual energy.”
“Paula Boggs Band provide[s] their own take on Bon Iver‘s Holocene on which the listener hears every lyric and instrument. The choreography...enhances the magic of the song and heightens the message of Holocene as you’ve never [seen] before.”
“On “Benediction” and other tracks on Elixir: The Soulgrass Sessions, the Paula Boggs Band combines elements of rock, soul, gospel, blues, and even a smidgen of bluegrass (courtesy of Mark Chinen’s banjo work) into an American roots mélange. The group is assisted vocally on “Benediction” by Mycle Wastman and the Total Experience Gospel Choir... “Benediction” features the group at its most musically and emotionally powerful.”
“The music video for Paula Boggs Band’s banjo-driven “Holocene” takes place on a serene stretch of a wooded ranch in Washington State. Alternating between images of the band and a group of modern dancers, there’s a sense of wonder that glides throughout helmed by director John Logsdon. A plucked bluegrass riff unites the song as Boggs takes the expansive ballad in many directions. The lyrics feel at times abstract and wandering, conveying a journey with unexpected turns. ”
— Chris Kompanek, Arts & Culture Writer, The Huffington Post
“ For nearly a decade, Boggs has hammered out Americana tunes with the Seattle-based Paula Boggs Band. [On] the band’s latest EP, ...Boggs and the band tackle “Get Together”, made famous by psychedelic-rock band The Youngbloods...Boggs’ version is born out of her “soulgrass” tones, rich with her distinct vocals, obvious passion for the track’s subject of peace, and the hypnotic pulses of instrumental repetition courtesy of the talented multi-instrumentalists backing her.”
“A new, original song was premiered days ago, when the Paula Boggs Band took part in a commemoration of the victims of 2015’s church shooting in Charleston, S.C., and was joined by the Mother Emmanuel Gospel Choir. “‘Benediction’ was inspired by that massacre,” Boggs says. She describes the song as “an example of the music activism we find in our life today.” The song will appear on the band’s next record, Elixir: The Soulgrass Sessions, scheduled for release in September.”
“Songs of Protest & Hope from the Paula Boggs Band is one current release that feels both fresh and dated at the same time because of the overall messages that are contained within it. But because of the political climate of the world today, it’s great to see someone from today creating the same type of messages that would have been welcome fifty years ago. With this release, Paula Boggs proves herself to be a strong singer-songwriter as well as an individual that cares about very strong issues that haunt today’s youth. Songs of Protest & Hope from the Paula Boggs Band makes good use of two sides of Paula Boggs’ personality as the singer-songwriter side and the activist side come through in this release.”
“Paula Boggs, an army Veteran, and lead vocalist of the Paula Boggs Band, found solace in music after a family tragedy in 2005. She played her guitar to grieve, and shortly after, met three members of the Paula Boggs Band at an open mic. Ever since then, they have been rocking crowds and igniting conscious conversations within diverse communities.”
“It was a very special and memorable evening of music performed by the incredible Paula Boggs Band from Seattle, WA”
Now available on CD Baby, Amazon, ITunes and Spotify.
Us playing at NAMM Show 1/19/17.
Yoo-hoo‼️🎶🎵
“'Semi-Finalist' is the highest placement [after] the one winner and four finalists from each category. (Lyrics Only Category for Song BENEDICTION)”
“The Paula Boggs Band becomes an international act this week when it plays Vancouver for the first time...[soulgrass] best captures the elements of bluegrass, rock, folk, blues, jazz and even a little bit of gospel in some songs.”
“The band returned to the studio and recorded “Carnival of Miracles,” released in March 2015. It’s a blend of what Boggs calls “soul grass,” and the 10-track disc is filled with folk, Americana and even a little gypsy jamming. Since the release of that album, the band has had a lineup change, with [Alex] Dyring replacing original bassist Jarrett Mason. Dyring has brought with him a new voice adding to their harmonies and the sound of an upright bass. ”
Boggs Media, LLC, Teams Up with My Brother's Keeper Alliance and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund
Medleyville.us, 11/7/15
From Passion to Profession: Paula Boggs Shifts Gears to Make Music Her Latest Career
ONSTAGE MAGAZINE, by Kath Galasso October 27, 2015
Paula Boggs: A Taste of Seattle Brewed Soulgrass
GUITAR GIRL MAGAZINE, Oct. 7, 2015
Interview with Paula Boggs on Business, Music and Finding Your True North
HSU UNTIED: A Podcast on Lawyers and Their Hobbies; Paula Boggs, Starbucks Ex-General Counsel Turned Musician
“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.”
“Just a couple days ago, Paula and her band performed to [a] packed house at LA’s Genghis Cohen. Learn more about this incredibly impressive woman in the following All Access interview.”
TRANSLATION:
Album Review
By Richard Wagonaar
Head Editor, The Next Gig (The Netherlands)
August 1, 2015
Photo Paula Boggs Band - Carnival of Miracles is "Soul Grass," as the Paula Boggs Band describes its music. The band from Seattle featuring singer Paula Boggs rocks with influences of jazz, blues, soul and gospel in its new album "Carnival of Miracles." The album has a fine diverse and accessible palette made with smooth compositions that lean on Boggs' beautiful dark voice. Boggs is at her best when she sings beautifully, quiet and carefully. She has a very attractive voice and on songs like "Grateful" it comes into its own. When she sings rougher or slightly overwrought on such moments as "Someone Else" that power sometimes falls away. Luckily though, Boggs on most songs sings perfect for the day. The jazzy "Edith's Coming Home" is a beautiful song with a catchy chorus. Boggs dares her beautifully constructed songs with messages -- "Look Straight Ahead" relates to police violence in the wake of the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson and "Carnival of Miracles" is a call to bring people together mostly focused on the United States. This is a catchy and upbeat album and nicely varied with one song searching a more rock side, an Americana feel dominating others, while jazz influences in a way that stays cohesive. This is an album with many feeling, beautiful songs and strong musicianship produced by Trina Shoemaker who has previously worked with Sheryl Crowe, Emmylou Harris, Queens of the Stone Age and the Dixie Chicks. Paula Boggs Band is not yet familiar to Dutch listeners but "Carnival of Miracles" is a promising introduction. Besides the actual album, the CD also includes "The Making Of Carnival of Miracles," a separate DVD.The Next Gig Webzine (The Netherlands)
June 21, 2015 Seattle Times Story. Photo by Alan Berner.