St. Paul and The Broken Bones

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St. Paul and The Broken Bones
Paul Janeway at Bonnaroo 2018
Paul Janeway at Bonnaroo 2018
Background information
OriginBirmingham, Alabama, United States
Genres
Years active2012–present
Labels
Websitestpaulandthebrokenbones.com
MembersPaul Janeway
Jesse Phillips
Browan Lollar
Kevin Leon
Al Gamble
Allen Branstetter
Amari Ansari
Chad Fisher
Past membersBen Griner
James Brangle
Andrew Lee
Jason Mingledorff

St. Paul and The Broken Bones is an American eight-piece soul band based in Birmingham, Alabama, United States, that formed in 2012. The band is composed of Paul Janeway (vocals), Browan Lollar (guitar), Jesse Phillips (bass), Kevin Leon (drums), Al Gamble (keys), Allen Branstetter (trumpet), Amari Ansari (saxophone), and Chad Fisher (trombone). They have released three albums and two EPs while touring internationally.

History[]

Vocalist Paul Janeway and bassist Jesse Phillips met in the mid-2000s while playing in Birmingham as part of the alternative soul outfit The Secret Dangers.[1] In 2012, Jesse and Paul met back in Ol' Elegante Studios in Birmingham to start a new project. Janeway says of the project with Phillips, "It was going to be our last hurrah" before focusing on other careers, "but then something just clicked and we walked out of there with something."[2] As the two began working around Janeway's voice, they realized they were forming a soul outfit. As the project progressed, the pair brought in Browan Lollar, formerly of The 400 Unit, Andrew Lee, Ben Griner, and Allen Branstetter. Here, they recorded their first EP, Greetings from St. Paul and The Broken Bones before ever playing a live show.

After releasing Greetings from St. Paul and The Broken Bones, the band gained attention from managers and labels alike. In January 2013, they began recording their first full-length album, Half the City, at the Nutthouse Recording Studios Sheffield, Alabama and Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. While recording the album, the band brought in Al Gamble to play keys. Gamble continued to play with St. Paul and The Broken Bones and has been a full-time member since January 2014. Half the City was produced by Ben Tanner of the Alabama Shakes.

In February 2013, St. Paul and The Broken Bones gained the attention of Traci Thomas of Thirty Tigers, who signed on as their manager. Shortly thereafter, they began weekend touring on their Greetings from St. Paul and The Broken Bones EP, waiting for the horn players to graduate college before embarking on more extensive touring.[3]

On February 18, 2014, the LP was released under Single Lock Records, a Florence, Alabama-based record label owned by Ben Tanner, Will Trapp, and John Paul White of The Civil Wars. Immediately, Half the City received critical acclaim from many national journalistic outlets including Paste magazine,[4] Garden and Gun,[2] Southern Living,[5] Rolling Stone,[6] and NPR.[7] In its first week of sales, Half the City reached #62 on the Billboard 200 charts. After major stories by NPR Morning Edition[8] and a national television debut on CBS This Morning: Saturday,[9] St. Paul and The Broken Bones' debut album reached #56 on the Billboard 200. St. Paul and the Broken Bones has also made television appearances on Late Night with David Letterman, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Conan on TBS, Later... with Jools Holland, Late Night with Seth Meyers, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Austin City Limits, and Bluegrass Underground. In addition to their own tour, the band opened for The Rolling Stones' Zip Code Tour in Atlanta, Georgia on June 9, 2015, and in Buffalo, New York on July 11, 2015. The group also made appearances at marquee festivals like Coachella, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Newport Folk, Lockn' Festival, Outside Lands, North Sea Jazz, Rock En Seine, Pinkpop, Hurricane festival, Roskilde, Osheaga, Hyde Park London, and tons more. On top of that, they performed "All I Ever Wonder" live on BBC2 from the Glastonbury Festival on June 25, 2016. Some of the groups more notable events played are Elton John's AIDS Foundation Oscar viewing party in Los Angeles, Philip Glass' Tibet House Benefit in New York, The Equal Justice Initiative's 30th Anniversary celebration, and a Carnegie Hall series curated by Rosanne Cash.

St. Paul and the Broken Bones songs have also featured in movie and TV spots such as NCIS Los Angeles, Grey's Anatomy, Big Little Lies, Suits, Black Lightning, ESPN, Fifty Shades of Grey, Life of the Party, The Gambler, Mob Wives, Stitchers, and Switched at Birth,

In May 2015, trombonist Ben Griner left the group[10] to work on personal projects.[11] Their second album Sea of Noise was released in September 2016.[12]

In 2017, they were nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Musical Performance.

The band released a single, "Apollo", in June 2018, and announced an album, Young Sick Camellia, released in September.[13]

Paul Janeway was featured on the title cut of Sigala's 2018 album Brighter Days.

Since 2014, the band sold over 355,000 album equivalents across three records.

The band has a star on the wall of historic music venue First Avenue in Minneapolis.

Discography[]

Albums[]

Title Details Peak chart positions
US
[14]
Half the City 56
Sea of Noise
  • Released: September 9, 2016
  • Label: RECORDS
  • Format: Digital download, CD
 44
Young Sick Camellia
  • Released: September 7, 2018
  • Label: RECORDS
  • Format: Digital download, CD, vinyl
 56
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

EPs[]

  • Greetings from St. Paul and The Broken Bones (Self-release, 2013)
  • St. Paul and The Broken Bones - Live and In Person (Single Lock Records, 2013)

Singles[]

Title Year Peak chart positions Album
US
AAA
[15]
"Call Me" 2014 6 Half the City
"All I Ever Wonder" 2016 16 Sea of Noise
"Apollo" 2018 3 Young Sick Camellia
"GotItBad" 2019 31
"—" denotes singles that did not chart or were not released

References[]

  1. ^ "About The Secret Dangers". Sonicbids.com. Retrieved 2016-12-18.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Hendrickson, Matt. "Homegrown Soul: St. Paul and The Broken Bones". Garden and Gun.
  3. ^ Murrell, Sarah (April 2, 2014). "St. Paul and The Broken Bones get by with a little help from their friends". NUVO.
  4. ^ Orr, Dacey. "The Best of What's Next: St. Paul and The Broken Bones". Paste Magazine. Archived from the original on 2014-04-07.
  5. ^ "St. Paul and The Broken Bones: Don't Mean a Thing". Southern Living.
  6. ^ "48 Best Things We Saw at SXSW 2014". Rolling Stone.
  7. ^ Powers, Ann. "First Listen: St. Paul and The Broken Bones, 'Half the City'". NPR.
  8. ^ "From Preacher to Grass Cutter to Earth-Shaking Soul Singer". Npr.org. Retrieved 2016-12-18.
  9. ^ "St. Paul and The Broken Bones perform "Call Me" off of their album "Half the City"". CBS.
  10. ^ "Trumpeter Allen Branstetter on St. Paul and the Broken Bones' New Album and Working with Alabama Shakes". reverb.com. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  11. ^ "Birmingham Events Weekend Roundup: Dec. 28-31". Happenin's In The 'Ham. 2017-12-28. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  12. ^ "St. Paul and the Broken Bones Plot New Album 'Sea of Noise'". Rollingstone.com. May 23, 2016. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  13. ^ "St. Paul & The Broken Bones Announce New Album, Share First Single". Jambands.com. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  14. ^ "St. Paul & The Broken Bones - Chart History". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
  15. ^ "St. Paul & The Broken Bones - Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved October 30, 2018.

External links[]

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