St. Paul and The Broken Bones

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.

St. Paul and The Broken Bones
Paul Janeway at Bonnaroo 2018
Background information
Origin	Birmingham, Alabama, United States
Genres	Southern soul soul
Years active	2012–present
Labels	RECORDS Single Lock
Website	stpaulandthebrokenbones.com
Members	Paul Janeway Jesse Phillips Browan Lollar Kevin Leon Al Gamble Allen Branstetter Amari Ansari Chad Fisher
Past members	Ben Griner James Brangle Andrew Lee Jason Mingledorff

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. 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. They performed "All I Ever Wonder" live on BBC2 from the Glastonbury Festival on June 25, 2016.

In May of 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]

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.

Discography

Albums

Title	Details	Peak chart positions
		US [14]
Half the City	Released: February 18, 2014 Label: Single Lock Records Format: Digital download, CD	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	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. 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

• Official Site