Paul Boddy & The SlideWinder Blues Band

Paul Boddy & the Slidewinder Blues Band

Friends of Tuesday

Slide Records

The Slidewinder Blues Band was born solely for the purpose of starting the “Every Tuesday Funk ‘n’ Blues Jam” originally held at the “Puck Live” in the Philadelphia suburb of Doylestown. The weekly open blues jam, now in its fifth year, continues to play at Club Havana in New Hope, Pa.

Heard here, the core band includes Paul Boddy, guitar and lead vocals; Glenn “The Wizard” Hale, keyboards and accordion; Lori Gaston, backing vocals; Chuck Hearne, bass; and Jim Bowman, drums. Guesting are harp ace Mikey, Jr. and saxophonist Tim Shay.

The five songs on this EP were all written by Boddy who co-produced the sessions with recording engineer Joe Nicolo. The band opens with “Over The Hump” a humorous tale of an aging man “when I was a young boy, I could run like Forest Gump, now I’m over the hill, but I’ll never get over the hump”, as his mind plays host to the thoughts of a much younger man. Boddy’s rhythm guitar sets the pace before soloing, while “The Wizard’ Hale conjures up some Jimmy Smith type organ.

“Love Me Darlin’” continues the relationship theme with Gaston singing the backing vocal before Boddy ends the fling with “please leave me alone”. Boddy’s slide opens “Money on Love” before he declares “I hear that work bell ringing, five o’clock come on, it’s time to go out drinking and spend some money on love…find myself a lady, sweet as a little white dove…can’t seem to close the deal…that’s why I spend my money, I spend my money on love”.

“Knock My Boots” is another play on words, featuring Boddy’s slide and lead guitar fills, with some great drumming from Bowman, and Shay on saxophone. “Pretty Kitty” is a sexy song filled with innuendo with The Wizard on the B-3, and Mikey Jr. on harp.

Bowman has since been replaced by the band’s newest member Dave Hollingsworth. Of note, both Hearne and Hollingsworth have played with Leslie West, and toured internationally with The Todd Wolfe Band. This is a way too short glimpse at an up and coming blues band. Paul Boddy & The SlideWinder Blues Band are a promising unit.

Richard Ludmerer - Making A Scene Feb 3, 2021 Issue 300

Paul Boddy and the SlideWinder Blues Band
Friends of Tuesday
Slide Records

From the downbeat of the first song on this EP – “Over the Hump” – you know you’re in for a bumpy, but fun, ride. And while this is the first album for Paul Boddy and his irreverent SlideWinders, it sure ain’t their first rodeo.

The band from Doylestown, Pennsylvania  — just outside Philadelphia – takes its name from a weekly open blues jam (“The Every Tuesday Funk ’n’ Blues Jam”) that started at a club in their hometown. But all the members of the band have earned their own names by years of hard work and paying their blues dues:
 
The British-born Boddy (vocals and guitar) grew up listening to his grandmother singing in London blues clubs, enjoying family barbecues with the Bay City Rollers and sitting in while his uncle’s band – which included a guitarist who went on to join Judas Priest – rehearsed in a warehouse. And Boddy’s dad worked with Mark Stevens of The Dovells and the late Don Kirshner. In addition to founding Cayman Records in 1999 and producing Bob Lowery’s “Yellow Light” album, Boddy has put in 40-plus years of performing, writing and recording music in multiple genres.

Lori Gaston, whose vocals wrap nicely around Boddy’s, started singing in a funk band at 16, and she hasn’t stopped moving since. She’s jumped in and out of disco and R&B bands until joining the SlideWinders three years ago.

Organist and pianist Glenn “The Wizard” Hale, uncle of Lzzy and Arejay Hale of rock’s Halestorm band, has played music across the country for half a century.

Bassist Chip Hearne, a SlideWinder since 2018, adds another half-century of performing experience, including two decades with the Flamin’ Harry Blues Band and the Craig Thatcher Band. He also laid down the bass line for Leslie West’s “Mystic Fire” album.

And drummer Dave Hollinsworth, who joined the band last year has toured with Todd Wolfe, performed with Leslie West and Geoffrey Whitehorn of Procol Harum, and sat behind Dickey Betts, John Mayall and Wishbone Ash’s Andy Powell.

With Boddy’s bawdy vocals leading the way, the Slidewinders roll through five songs that’ll have you turning up the volume and hitting replay more than once.

The album is full of the time-honored blues tradition of all-in-fun double-entendre lyrics (“I might be over the hill, but I’ll never get over the hump”) and titles (sorry, kids, but “Pretty Kitty” isn’t really about a cat), and the polished, lively sounds jump right out of the box.

Tight rhythms, cinched up with the steady hands of some seasoned pros, make this one an out-of-the-chute champ.

Count us in as some of Tuesday’s closest friends.

Total Time: 20:18

Over the Hump / Love Me Darlin’ / Money On Love / Knock My Boots / Pretty Kitty / Makin’ Me Cry - Cascade Blues Association Nov 2020

Q&A with Paul Boddy & The SlideWinder Blues Band hits hard with its own brand of Texas and Chicago driven contemporary blues
by Michael Limnios Blues Network
Nov 2, 2020
"Music is like the great equalizer. It brings people together, no matter the shape, size, backgrounds, orientation or color. You rarely hear people fighting over music. It Is something that is shared, and it bonds us all together. I think we need more music everyday. More unity."

Paul Boddy & The SlideWinder Blues Band
Paul Boddy & The SlideWinder Blues Band hits hard with its own brand of Texas and Chicago driven contemporary blues. For those times when the 1, 4, 5 just isn't enough, the bands red blooded live shows are full of vigor and offer a sonic pallet indicative of the Mississippi Delta and New Orleans. Hailing from Doylestown, PA, a suburban town just north of Philadelphia, SlideWinder is comprised of several regulars of “The Every Tuesday Funk n’ Blues Jam”, a weekly open blues jam originally born within the venue walls of Puck Live in Doylestown and continues to this day at Club Havana in New Hope, PA. (Photo: Paul Boddy & The SlideWinder Blues Band)

Now in its fifth year, SlideWinder isn’t just a band, it’s a community. Inductees of The PA Blues Hall of Fame, winner of the Bucks Happening List for two consecutive years for best band category, and a debut record, all position SlideWinder to expand it's aural footprint. The core members of the band include founder Paul Boddy on lead vocal and guitars. Backing Paul are the glorious pipes of Lori Gaston. Organ and piano are delivered ardently by Glenn “The Wizard” Hale. The brick wall bottom is provided by bass-man Chuck Hearne and the drums are hit with authority by the go-lucky Dave Hollingsworth. Five tracks new EP, ‘Friends Of Tuesday,’ from Paul Boddy & The SlideWinder Blues Band released on October 2020.
Interview by Michael Limnios
How has the Blues and Rock Counterculture influenced your views of the world and the journeys you’ve taken?
I've always marched to the beat of my own drum. I am not sure if blues or rock music influenced me in this regard, or if it is more that I gravitated toward these genres simply out of common ground. Chicken and egg kind of thing. One thing is for certain, I have learned to question everything, and I believe blues and rock music gave me the foundation to do so.
How do you describe your sound, music philosophy and songbook? Where does your creative drive come from?
I would like to say our sound is fun. I am thinking "fun" when I write. Passion is another word that comes to mind because I play guitar passionately and my band mates are the same. So long as we are making people feel like they are having fun and doing so passionately, I feel we've done our job.
Are there any memories from gigs, jams, open acts and studio sessions which you’d like to share with us?
My band mates and I met at a local blues jam. I can't point to a particular single memory, but there have been many magical nights that have culminated and led us to where we are today. I think the highlight to date has been opening for Sonny Landreth at The World Café. (Photo: Paul Boddy on stage)

"I would like to say our sound is fun. I am thinking "fun" when I write. Passion is another word that comes to mind because I play guitar passionately and my band mates are the same. So long as we are making people feel like they are having fun and doing so passionately, I feel we've done our job."
What do you miss most nowadays from the blues of the past? What are your hopes and fears for the future of?
Blues was fresh way back when. There wasn't as much of it available. Nowadays its only a few keystrokes away but at the cost of sonic fidelity. Fortunately, vinyl is coming back into vogue, which is a start. If we could just get back to recording in analog, the vinyl would really be something. I hope we can find a way to make digital sound better and that music becomes more meaningful and less of a commodity.
If you could change one thing in the musical world and it would become a reality, what would that be?
I’d like to see physical media come back. Records, CD's etc. I like to see a rebirth in the art of making records.
What would you say characterizes Pennsylvania blues scene in comparison to other US local scenes and circuits?
The philly sound from the 70's was globally influential. Though a different genre, I hear it in philly blues today.
What are some of the most important lessons you have learned from your experience in the music paths?
Play, play play. There are no short cuts. You have to cook in a pan hundreds of times before you can truly say it's seasoned. Music is the same thing. The more you play, the more natural and fluent you become. The more believable you are.
"Blues was fresh way back when. There wasn't as much of it available. Nowadays its only a few keystrokes away but at the cost of sonic fidelity. Fortunately, vinyl is coming back into vogue, which is a start." (Photo: Paul Boddy)
What is the impact of music on the socio-cultural implications? How do you want it to affect people?
Music is like the great equalizer. It brings people together, no matter the shape, size, backgrounds, orientation or color. You rarely hear people fighting over music. It Is something that is shared, and it bonds us all together. I think we need more music everyday. More unity.
Let’s take a trip with a time machine, so where and why would you really want to go for a whole day?
I would love to go back to the late 60"s and spend some time writing and playing with Jimi Hendrix for half the day. Then I'd spend the second half of the day on the road with Robert Johnson, learning his stories and perhaps the so-called soul selling at the crossroads. - Blues.gr

Paul Boddy and the SlideWinder Blues Band hail from the Philly burb of Doylestown, PA and the boys have decades of musical experience mixing the sounds of the Texas and Chicago into their brand of blues rock. The SlideWinder Band is a five plus year effort of these seasoned musicians and this is the debut recording effort for them. Pennsylvania Blues Hall of Famers, Boddy and the band are a tight and fun band to listen to. All original music is offered up here.

“Over the Hump” is the big single from Boddy and company and starts the album with some fun and with a nice funky groove. ( CLICK HERE for video.)

The guitar (Paul Boddy) and organ (Glen Hale) lay it out and the humorous lyrics sell this one as Boddy bemoans being old and broken and not being able to do what today’s young folks can do. Relationships gone awry is the topic for “Love Me Darlin,” a blues rocker with lots of guitar and organ as Boddy and backing vocalist Lori Gaston sing about a failed love life.

Every young, single guy can relate to “Money on Love,” a song about hanging out in bars trying to find the love of one’s life. Boddy slips and slides on the guitar as he sings about spending some money on love. “Knockin’ My Boots” is another tongue in cheek cut where Boddy says his date can knock his pants but apparently draws the line when his boots are being criticized. More cool slide, Hale switches to the piano and Tim Shay plays some nice sax here.

Double entendres abound in “Pretty Kitty” and Mikey Jr. adds his greased up harp to this one. The song drives along with a good beat and Boddy wails sweetly on guitar. The harp is excellent and the organ also shines. “Makin’ Me Cry” closes the set with more failed love life lyrics. A dark, soulful, slow blues, Boddy sings with emotion as Carol and Jeannie Brooks back him on vocals. We get our final dose of wicked slide and organ as the EP closes.

All in all, this is a cool effort. Boddy has a great tone and plays some excellent slide. Chuck Hearne and Jim Bowman are apt on the backline and support the music on all tracks with their bass and drum work as they have for decades for many a fine act. Hale handles the keys with aplomb and the guest and backing musicians add depth to the music. If you like some rocking blues with hardcore slide and talented musicality all around, then check out the SlideWinders! - Blues Blast Magazine