IN CONCERT
What: St. Paul and the Broken Bones with Impulse Response
Where: Royal Theatre, 805 Broughton St.
When: Thursday, June 28, 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: $53.50-$68.50 at or the Royal McPherson box office (250-386-6121)
St. Paul and the Broken Bones were performers with something to prove during their infancy, and with the skills to do it. The soul-revival act, bursting with electricity, took on all comers in concert.
鈥淲hen we first started, it was full-on all the time, like a punch to the face,鈥� singer Paul Janeway said during a tour stop in Portland, Oregon. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what it was.鈥�
Fans who see the band from Birmingham, Alabama, in concert tonight are getting still getting the real and raw deal 鈥� albeit with a touch more subtlety to the band鈥檚 set. 鈥淚 learned to pick my spots,鈥� said Janeway, who speaks with a soft southern twang. 鈥淚f you punch people in the face for an hour and a half, there鈥檚 no nuance. There鈥檚 no peaks and valleys to the show.鈥�
Once the eight-piece outfit put some miles on their tour bus, the accumulated stage experience enabled them to flex new musical muscles. Janeway embraced with a bear hug the band鈥檚 growing maturity, growing from a constantly contorting ball of energy into a frontman with the occasional coiled-spring outburst.
鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 sing the way I did on the first record for the rest of my life,鈥� he said with a laugh.
鈥淚 became a better singer. There鈥檚 definitely spots where I鈥檓 kind of crazy, and I get to have a moment, then I leave it alone.鈥�
The bookish-looking singer, who accents his Buddy Holly visage with a rotating wardrobe of sharp-cut suits, got his start singing at age four in his neighbourhood church in Chelsea, Alabama. He thought seriously about becoming a preacher, and even made plans for a career in accounting.
That changed when he met bassist Jesse Phillips at a Birmingham studio. Janeway and Phillips (from Fernie, sa国际传媒, of all places) paid dues in another group before settling upon their current sound 鈥� an amalgamation of Otis Redding and Al Green, complemented by some funky horns and southern boogie.
From the jump, music came pouring out of Janeway, Phillips, guitarist Browan Lollar, drummer Andrew Lee, trumpeter Allen Bransetter, and then-trombonist Ben Griner, who has since been replaced by Chad Fisher (saxophonist Jeronne Ansari and keyboardist Al Gamble round out the group). The band self-released their first EP, 2013鈥檚 Greetings from St. Paul and the Broken Bones, before they had played live. Their first full-length album, Half the City, arrived less than a year later, in 2014, with production by keyboardist Ben Tanner of Alabama Shakes.
Though highlights during the tour to support the recording included two dates with the Rolling Stones, Janeway said he almost doesn鈥檛 recognize the group that wrote and recorded Half the City. 鈥淭he first record was that way because that was our past, and we had only been a band for three months when we recorded it. You鈥檙e going to go with what you know.鈥�
Their second album, Sea of Noise, broke the group worldwide in 2016, thanks to the band鈥檚 expanded sonic palette and Janeway鈥檚 inward-looking meditations on faith and family. What started as a 鈥渓ive鈥� band, according to Janeway, has now become a dual-pronged beast, both in the studio and on stage.
鈥淭he live show is our bread and butter. There鈥檚 no two ways about that. I roll around on the carpet and basically set myself on fire every night. But the recording process has become something I聽genuinely enjoy. It鈥檚 part of the DNA of trying to understand us.鈥�
Janeway was careful to repeat his belief in their abilities. Fans expecting the from-the-pulpit, fire-and-brimstone chaos of their early performances won鈥檛 be disappointed as the band makes a rare foray into sa国际传媒 tonight 鈥� not by a mile.
According to Janeway, the group has found a balance between the live setting and the studio, without sacrificing its dexterity. 鈥淪ometimes [in concert] it鈥檚 about hitting people over the head. With the record, you can tell a story. That has changed over time. Initially, it was about seeing us live. I enjoy the recording process almost more than I do the live process now, and that was probably not the case when we first began.鈥�
Young Sick Camellia, the band鈥檚 third album, will arrive on Sept. 7 with yet another stylistic shift. The band worked with hip-hop and R&B producer Jack Splash for the new record, whose experience on recordings by Kendrick Lamar, Diplo and Alicia Keys rubbed off on the group, Janeway said.
Retro-soul, a tag once inconspicuously attached to the group, has become less of a talking a point as time passes. It could become irrelevant by the time Young Sick Camellia is released. 鈥淚t was a fair term for the first record, because that鈥檚 what it was,鈥� Janeway said.
鈥淏ut for us, it was pigeonholing. That鈥檚 not all we did. It鈥檚 not that it bothers me, the problem is that if someone hears that and is expecting that, they are going to be disappointed. And I don鈥檛 want anyone to be disappointed.鈥�
For a band that has covered everyone from Radiohead to Sam Cooke in concert, fans would be wise to adjust their expectations about St. Paul and the Broken Bones. Janeway 鈥� who calls his time on stage 鈥渁n hour-and-a-half of therapy鈥� and 鈥渕e trying to release some sort of demons鈥� 鈥� has been toying with his onstage persona. He鈥檒l bring the fire and rain when the lights go down, but he鈥檚 hoping to make the sun shine a little bit brighter, too.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important to expand your horizons. Don鈥檛 lose who you are or the essence of you. I think we learned as long as my voice is on it, it鈥檚 always going to be us. We鈥檝e got some weird stuff on this record, and we鈥檙e going to stretch that boundary a little bit.
鈥淲hile I love the Otis Reddings of the world 鈥� and I do love Otis Redding 鈥� I also love Portishead and David Bowie and Kendrick Lamar. It would be disingenuous to continue making soul records. I聽don鈥檛 think that would be true to our nature.鈥�
