Twice As Good

Paul and Rich Steward have spent the better part of the last 12 years perfecting their sound... People love blues. It’s just not out there in the main stream but that doesn’t mean it’s bad music...Though that’s not to say that Twice As Good is strictly blues. They know a wide variety of genres and nothing is off-limits...Twice As Good is blues and soul with a dancing beat, a screaming guitar and some sweet vocals. - Lake County Record Bee

Twice As Good is, at it’s core, a father and son duo from the wellspring of the Indigenous Pomo people of Northern California. Father Rich and son Paul Steward have now released seven albums since their meteoric blastoff in 2003. Told early on that to make it in music, they had to be twice as good, they chose the phrase as their moniker and haven’t looked back.

Rounding out the sometimes revolving Twice As Good lineup currently are three superlative A-list players. James Brown’s last guitar player Robert Watson anchors the rhythm section on bass. Bobby Gaviola, original drummer for Latin Rock group Sapo and protege of Tony Williams and Dave Garabaldi kicks the skins. Robert Reason, producer and former member of the band ConFunkShun aptly handles the keyboards.

In the early years Rich Steward shared his music knowledge with Paul who fast-tracked into an explosive, multi-intrumentalist. Rich plays rhythm guitar and sings background vocals and Paul plays lead guitar, keys, alto sax, harmonica and sings all leads.

Seven of the tracks are written by Paul Steward. The band also covers selections by Alicia Keys, Fats Domino, Magic Sam and Willie Dixon. Their rendition of Harry Dixon Loes children’s Gospel song, “This Little Light Of Mine,” is also included.

Standout tracks include # 10 “Wait So Long,” a slow driving, hook laden ditty with shades of B.B. King guitar and Bobby “Blue” Bland vocal inflections. #12 “These Blues Is Killing Me” with it’s Jr. Walker flavor showcases Paul’s laid back alto sax chops juxtaposed against his staccato guitar solo. Thumbs up as well to #4, their cover of Fats Domino’s “I’m Ready” which stays true to the 50′s feel Rock & Roll vibe including a tad of reverb on the vocal. Track #5 “Dance With Me,” lays a jazzy R&B groove also hearkening back to when records were king.

Twice As Good has good karma going. They work frequently. As Blues Blast goes to press, they have 7 gigs remaining in January. They have played all over including Clarksdale, Mississippi. That gig happened on a tip from the Blues icon Charlie Musselwhite who told them in a personal message after their set, “We were knocked out at how good you all sounded…good real deal blues.”

With another solid album under their belt, their ascent continues. - Blues Blast Magazine

When he was 14, Paul Steward got his first electric guitar, purchased at a pawn shop, as a Christmas present from his father.

It turned out to be a very good investment on Dad's part.

As the leaders of the band Twice as Good, Paul, now 29, and his father, Richard Steward, 62, now play some 120 shows a year across California and the rest of the country.

Many of those performances are at American Indian casinos, including the Graton Resort and Casino, which is gratifying to the Stewards, because they're Native Americans from the Elem Indian Colony in Clearlake Oaks.

“We've received a lot of great praise, help, encouragement and support from the Native American community,” Paul Steward said. “It's been a blessing to us. We're proud and honored.”

The Stewards moved away from the Elem Indian Colony in 1995 but remain active members.

A couple of years ago, Twice as Good — sometimes known as 2XG — performed at the Gathering of Nations in Albuquerque, N.M., drawing tens of thousands of attendees from more than 500 tribes of indigenous people from the United States, Canada and other parts of the world.

The band made its professional debut at a Santa Rosa barbecue restaurant in 2003.

“Since then, we've gone from playing for our friends and relatives at house parties on various reservations, to getting gigs in clubs and working our way up to casino stages,” the younger Steward said.

“We play wherever the work is,” said the father, Richard, who plays rhythm guitar.

The Stewards perform both as a duo and as a quartet, often backed by bassist Rob Watson and drummer Bobby Gaviola, and occasionally by others.

The group plays a mixture of original material, rock, jazz and classic blues. The younger Steward traces his love for the blues to a B.B. King record, brought home by an uncle when Paul was a boy.

“I said, 'Wow! That sounds cool!'” he remembered.

His father taught him how to play, and Paul stepped up front as lead guitarist from the start.

“I taught him blues, because I like blues,” Richard remembered. “When I saw the talent he had, I asked him if he'd like to pursue it, and he said yes, so we went all the way with it.”

Now, when he hears his son play, Richard doesn't try to hide his pride.

“When I hear Paul play guitar, I get chills,” he said.

Even though Paul is the lead singer and lead guitarist, he considers his father a partner.

Paul lives in Santa Rosa now, and Richard lives in Lake County, but they're still a team, traveling together to perform.

“I don't make any decisions without Dad,” Paul said. “We stick together. He's my best friend.” - The Press Democrat

on page 49:

Twice As Good, a blues band led by the father-and-son team of Rich and Paul Steward, members of Northern California's Elem Indian Colony of Pomo Indians, won a Nammy (Native American Music Award) in the "Best Blues Recording" category for their fourth CD, 2010's "If That's All Right With You". Their fifth, the ten-song "Back To Clearlake Oaks", sounds like a winner too. Son Paul, an assertive blues and soul singer and a commanding guitarist in the B.B. and Albert King traditions, shows off his versatility to even greater degree this time around, overdubbing organ and multiple tenor saxophones much of the time, playing bass on two tracks, and thoughtfully programming a drum machine on three. Dad Rich picks propulsive rhythm guitar patterns throughout, while onetime James Brown sideman Robert Watson contributes his bass to seven tunes and drummer Billy "Shoes" Johnson, best known for his work with Santana and Frankie Beverly, lays down the grooves on five.

Paul sets the disc's upbeat tone with the opening track, a fast-driving 12-bar shuffle titled "Good Evening, Good Night", on which he wails, "I got my guitar; I won't let you down. Get on your feet and make a joyful sound." His two-chorus guitar solo is a marvel of fast-fingered prowess, and he even uses strategically placed cymbal crashes to punch the saxophone riffs. It's one of the six original tunes by Paul, including the jazz instrumental "Samba Dos Indios" on which his fluid guitar lines segue nicely into "I Wanna Know", a funky blues featuring his voice processed through a phase shifter and organ and slide guitar solos. Rounding out this extremely good program of music are treatments of Matt Murphy's "The Blues Don't Bother Me", Albert King's "Angel of Mercy", Slim Harpo's "Shake Your Hips", and the Robert Johnson/Elmore James classic "Dust My Broom".
-Lee Hilderbrand - Living Blues Magazine - December 2012

(interviewer) Any artist old or new that we should be keeping our eyes on?

(Jackie Payne) Paul Steward. He plays guitar, bass, keyboards, drums, and sax. He and his dad Rich have a band called Twice As Good from Sonoma County California area. Paul also sings great. - Big City Rhythm & Blues Magazine - Aug/Sept 2012 Issue

"Twice as Good, the popular blues and rock and roll father-and-son duo of Richard and Paul Steward, well-known for their energetic beat, will provide danceable music to conclude the evening’s festivities. Awarded the “Best New Blues Band” in 2010 by the West Coast Blues Hall of Fame, their guitar and vocal talents are widely recognized." - Lake County News Reports

"...I saw sixteen different acts in the twelve hours I was there. Lots of great music, with standouts for me being the father-son team called Twice as Good..."
-Michael Shea - Guitar International Group LLC

...Father and son team Rich and Paul Steward notched up the energy immediately upon taking the stage. They opened their set with their theme song, “2XG,” and followed it with T-Bone Walker’s “T-Bone Shuffle.” Paul lost his porkpie hat while cavorting through the crowd but didn’t miss a lick. The band, featuring Bruce Hodge on drums and Chris Hoke on bass, burned through “Bad Case Of Love,” “Don’t Treat Me Right,” “Shake Your Money Maker,” “Going To Mississippi” and “Shame, Shame, Shame,” among others.

The legendary Charlie Musselwhite joined Twice As Good onstage for the last hour of their set.

Musselwhite, Mississippi born and blues bred, has recorded more than 25 albums and is an elder statesman of the genre. He introduced the crowd to a form of Brazilian blues that he learned on a recent trip there.

The stage marriage of Twice As Good and Musselwhite is seemingly one cast in Blues Heaven. The dance floor was frantic with Lake County dancers and one observer was heard to declare, "Hell, Musselwhite oughta just take Twice As Good on the road with him."

Sounds like a plan to me.

-T. Watts writes on arts and culture for Lake County News, and hosts his own music program on KPFZ 88.1 FM. He's covering the blues festival this week in Upper Lake. - LakeCountyNews.com

...couples left their chairs to dance to the energetic beat of Lake County’s favorite, and indeed only, Native American blues band, Twice As Good, the headliner for the evening... Hailing from Kelseyville, Twice As Good features a father-and-son duo: Richard Steward, 56, and Paul Steward, 22. They have been playing together for almost ten years, and their familiarity with each other and with the music they adore is evident...

Friends of Paul’s manned the drums and bass but Paul was clearly the star, with impressively athletic moves, dexterous improvisations, and a powerful voice. At one point he played his guitar over his head behind his back; during other songs he strutted through the audience, throwing Elvis-style kicks between the tables. Halfway through the set he put down his guitar and grabbed a saxophone, quipping, “The instruments showed up, but not the musicians, so I’ll have to play them all myself!”...

The audience loved it, and the band’s close family and friends formed a tight semicircle in front of the hotel’s makeshift stage. Rich’s aunt, Elvida Gomes, 75, started dancing beside the stage before the musicians struck their first chords and didn’t stop until the set was done...

During the set, Paul introduced his father as his “partner in crime.”... Rich started to teach his son to play guitar when Paul was about thirteen years old. The next year, he bought Paul his own guitar, a hollow-body electric he found in a pawn shop. When he realized how quickly Paul picked up tunes, he started bringing home CDs. “I’d bring home a new CD and say, ‘Play this, learn this.’” As an “old-timer” Rich favored B. B. King, Albert Collins, Freddie King, then later on Stevie Ray Vaughan and Carlos Santana. He doesn’t know how to read music, so he had Paul pick out the chords and learn the tunes from memory... Paul learned to read music later, as a student at Montgomery High School, in Santa Rosa, when he was invited to join the jazz band. Band director Steve Dixon was supportive and encouraging; Paul remembers him fondly, and is still friends with several other band members...

-Margaret Dubin, Managing editor of News from Native California. Vol 21, #1, Fall 2007. - News From Native California

...the way they played Friday night was simply uncut, blistering, high energy blues power. Celebrating the release of their new CD, Live At Pala Casino 2007, Rich and Paul Steward, Bruce Hodge and Chris Hoke really gave it everything they had.

From the new CD, they started off with "T-Bone Shuffle.” From his first duck walking guitar solo, Paul was on fire. They did Jimmy Reed. They did Albert King. From the 1920s they reprised Big Maceo Merriweather. Paul played keyboards, blew saxophone and harmonica, sometimes intermittently within the same song.

They did Elmore James. They did the self-penned "Rancheria" from their first CD. They did Santana, Solomon Burke, Bobby Bland, Ray Charles, Santo & Johnny, Big Joe Turner and a little "Mustang Sally" too.

Their aunt danced nonstop on stage. It was her 400th show with her nephews! The crowd was enthralled and adoring. It had to be seen to be believed.

This writer has heard a rumor that Paul Steward sat in with the critically acclaimed Robert Randolph & The Family Band recently and outplayed Robert Randolph. Mind you, it's a rumor. But I believe it was the great Jimi Hendrix who sang, anythang is possible, with the power of soul!" - Thurman Watts

PALA, CA, October 12, 2010….Twice As Good, the father/son blues duo of Richard James Steward (father) and Paul Anthony Steward (son) and the 2XG band, Jahon Pride on bass and Bryce Hodge on drums, won the $15,000 first prize Saturday night (Oct. 9) in Pala Casino Spa & Resort’s Last Band Standing Competition.

It was Twice As Good’s second major win this year in California band contests. In March, the band won the “Best New Blues Band” Award from the West Coast Blues Hall of Fame in Oakland, CA.

“Their stage presence and the lead singer’s (Paul Anthony Steward) voice just radiated the blues. All three of us agreed they performed best. They capture the real essence of Southern blues,” said judge Mike Davidson, the vice president of Just Cruizin’ Entertainment in Lake Elsinore, CA. Jason Brawner, a record producer with Brawner Music in Los Angeles, CA, and Gail Zigler, the administrative assistant and event coordinator for the City of Temecula, CA, also were judges. Over 85 bands applied for the competition. - Pala Casino Spa & Resort

On Friday the Native American community held the twelfth annual Native American Music Awards. The show was dedicated to the troops, veterans, and teen suicide awareness.

Honouring the best of Native Americans and their music the Native American Music Awards was hosted by actor Wes Studi – Magua in the 1992 “Last of the Mohicans” and Eytukan in “Avatar” – from the Seneca Niagara (Casino) Events Center in Niagara Falls, New York. The NAMMYs honour traditional and contemporary artists in 30 catagories.

Established in 1998, the NAMMYs are the first official awards show dedicated solely to music created by Native Americans. Since its inception, the NAMMYs have presented over 300 awards.

Along with the awards presentations, are performances by Aztlan Underground, Buddy Big Mountain, Dark Water Rising, Digging Roots, Gabriel Ayala, Jan Michael Looking Wolf Band, Joseph FireCrow, Oshkii Giizhik Singers, Papago Warrior, Skylar Wolf, Trevor Jones & Young Gunz, Twice As Good, Victoria Blackie, and Yvonne St Germaine. The awards show was much more than just handing out the trophies; there were traditional drums and dancers who entertained the audience.

...Best Blues Recording of the Year: “If That’s All Right With You”-Twice As Good...

The evening’s festivities ended with a performance by NAMMY Blues Award winners Twice As Good. The father and son duo performed three songs, on one of which they were joined by host Wes Studi. - AllVoices.com

While growing up in the Elem Indian Colony of Pomo Indians on the northwest shore of Clear Lake, Rich Steward often heard the words "twice as good" used as part of an excuse for not trying to succeed. Now, as co-leader with his son Paul of the blues band Twice as Good, the guitarist has turned the phrase on its head.

"We named ourselves that as a reminder that we're gonna work harder and better and do whatever it takes to make it. That is our mantra."

"It means don't be lazy," adds Paul, 26, currently a business major and music minor at Sonoma State University.

Twice as Good has been together seven years... Paul is the front person, a highly animated showman and B.B. King stylistic disciple who sings in a robust soul-soaked tenor and sometimes picks with his Telecaster guitar behind his head. He also blows tenor saxophone from time to time. His dad plays rhythm guitar and supplies harmony vocals.

...Paul boasts that when they appeared at the Chicago Blues Festival in 2009, their bassist was Johnny B. Gayden, formerly with Albert Collins, one of Paul's guitar heroes. His other guitar favorites include the Kings - B.B., Albert and Freddie - Stevie Ray Vaughan, Joe Satriani, Brian Setzer, Carlos Santana, Eddie Van Halen, T-Bone Walker, Wayne Bennett and Chuck Berry. He's studying at Sonoma State with noted jazz guitarist Randy Vincent.

In 2008, on a recommendation from their friend Charlie Musselwhite, The Stewards appeared at the Juke Joint Festival in Clarksdale, Miss... When we told them we were Indians, the people said, 'Ah, that's why y'all got the blues.' "

Paul Steward wrote a song about being in Clarksdale, where, at a crossroad outside of town some 75 years ago, Robert Johnson is said to have had his fabled encounter with the devil. "I went down to the crossroad with a guitar in my hand/All the people looked around and told me, 'Now you're a real bluesman,' " he sings over a steady shuffle beat, punctuating his vocal phrases with electrified Johnson-like guitar triplets. "Clarksdale" is one of nine original tunes on "If That's All Right with You," Twice as Good's fourth self-produced, self-released CD.

In November, the Stewards traveled to the twelfth annual Native American Music Awards in Niagara Falls, N.Y., where "If That's All Right with You" won a Native American Music Award (Nammy) for best blues recording... The Stewards closed the show with a set on which actor Wes Studi, whose many motion picture roles include starring in 1993's "Geronimo: An American Legend," sat in on guitar.

Also in 2010, Twice as Good was named best new blues band by the Bay Area Blues Society.

As a boy, Rich Steward learned basic rhythm guitar chords from his mother, who in turn had been taught by his uncle, a Pentecostal preacher who traveled from reservation to reservation. As a young man, Rich played in a series of bar bands around Lake County. He put the instrument down for a period, until (his sister Lori-Ann) gave him an acoustic guitar. Paul, who was 12 at the time, asked his dad for lessons.

Seeing Bo Diddley and B.B. King on television and the 1998 motion picture "Blues Brothers 2000" initially sparked Paul's interest in blues. And while Rich had played mostly country music in the bar bands, blues had been his primary musical passion.

"What I really like about the blues is the guitar," Rich says. "There's the words and the feeling, but the lead guitar is the sweetest thing I ever heard in blues music. One single note that B.B. King plays can just grab your soul. You might find Van Halen and all of them can play 132 notes, but they'll never sound as good as that one note in blues. It just sticks with you." - San Francisco Chronicle Datebook

Look what Harmonica Legend Charlie Musselwhite had to say about us,

"WE WERE KNOCKED OUT AT HOW GOOD YOU ALL SOUNDED....GOOD REAL DEAL BLUES"

-CHARLIE MUSSELWHITE - www.twiceasgood.org

"Appearing with Musselwhite will be Lake County blues band, Twice as Good, which I had the pleasure to listen to on my recent visit. They were a terrific son and father duo, backed by other talented fellows that definitely removed any blues I might have been feeling that night.

Paul Steward on lead guitar and vocals, together with his father Richard on rhythm guitar, have been playing, recording and touring for a few years. Every single song, whether original ­which many were, or cover songs from B. B King, for example, literally lifted my spirits. Though not a gifted musician myself, I can recognize talent and thoroughly enjoy it! Later at home I discovered their website which treated me to several full clips of their top-notch numbers while I read some amazing things about them (twiceasgood.org).

Hailing from Lake County, Paul and his father Richard are successful in pleasing their audience. And, it has meant hard work, as related in their online bio. When the group formed, someone told them, "You can't make it in the music business, you got to be twice as good." They replied, "Well, all right then. We will be Twice As Good.'"

Proud of their Pomo (Elam Indian Colony) tribal connection, these two men were nominated for an Outstanding Musical Achievement award (contemporary category) by First Americans in the Arts, F.A.I.T.A. In just five years, they have been all over the USA ­ including Hawaii, released three albums, shared the stage with many legends and famous artists, and continue to garner success and praise." -Valerie Warda - The Ukiah Daily Journal-Valerie Warda

As the organizer for the entertainment showcase for the Global Gaming Expo, the leading trade show for the casino industry, and a fan of the blues, I was very excited when Twice as Good submitted to participate in the showcase. When I heard their submission via their electronic press kit I was impressed with their sound and was anxious to see them perform live. When they took the stage at my show, I wasn't just impressed, I was blown away! These guys can really rock and can tear up the stage. My showcases are only about 1/2 hour long so I can only imagine what these guys can do when they really get going. I would highly recommend Twice
As Good for your entertainment needs as they will give you an outstanding show! Great musicians and great guys!

-Brett DeWeese 12/2008 - Brett DeWeese, Director of International Sales: Global Gaming Expo/Reed Exhibitions 2008 Review

"...Twice As Good...is ready to take on the world".

-T. Watts - Lake County News www.lakeconews.com

...Everybody knows that the right band can make or break a party, the four piece band, Twice As Good, definely MADE the social with their unique variety of crowd pleasing with old-time dance music from the 60's to the 90's. They performed selections by legendary artists, including their own original music. This was the perfect mix of ingredients to get everyone up and shaking their hips... - C.R.I.H.B. Newsletter, Tribal Health Advisor

"Twice As Good, originally formed as a duo when father and son team, Richard and Paul Steward started playing blues in the early 2000's. They've earned the reputation of a hard working, hard playing blues band...they're twice as good!" - 2008 Sonoma County Fair Guide

THE NEW JOINT YOU'RE DROPPING IS HEART STOPPIN' AND BODY ROCKIN'...BOOTIE SHAKIN' AND SWEET HONEY MONEY MAKIN'!
WHEN IT COMES TO ENRICHING THE SPIRIT AND TANTALIZING THE SOUL IT'S ALL TWICE AS GOOD, RIGHT DOWN TO THE JELLY ROLL!!

SERIOUSLY... IT'S SO GOOD IT BROUGHT TEARS TO MY EYES, PUT A SMILE ON MY FACE, GAVE ME THE HEAVENLY BLUES, AND SENT ME SOARING INTO OUTER SPACE!

quoting Louis-Virie Blanche - twiceasgood.org

Solid Gold
Announcing the 2016 NorBay music awards winners
BY CHARLIE SWANSON

The polls have closed and the readers have spoken. Here's the full list of the 2016 NorBay winners:

Blues/R&B: Twice As Good The father/son duo (pictured) pull from two lifetimes of music when they play in their weekly residency at Graton Resort & Casino in Rohnert Park and throughout the North Bay. - North Bay Bohemian