| INTERVIEWS |
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| INTERVIEW WITH PAUL JAMES (JULY 2004) (Also published @ Blues on Stage - October 2004) |
| Paul James began his illustrious music career in the �blues mecca of Toronto� when he was still a teenager, back in the mid-�70s. Miraculously showing little or no signs of aging, he has variously shared bills and performed with numerous high-profile artists (e.g. Bo Diddley, John Hammond, Muddy Waters, Lighnin� Hopkins, Buddy Guy & Junior Wells, Spencer Davis). A chance meeting with Bob Dylan in 1986 led to reciprocated onstage guest performances with the legendary figure in 1996 and 1999 and VIP passes to his 2003 concert. Paul is hoping Mr. Dylan will eventually make good on a suggestion that the two players record together. Who knows? Perhaps they still will. Not one to hang on the coattails of others� fame, Paul forged ahead with his own talent, winning a Juno award in 1991 for �Best Roots & Traditional Album�, as well as Toronto music awards for �Best Club Band� and �Best Blues Artist�. On the Juno award, he says, �Call me whatever you want. The kind of rock�n�roll I do, I suppose, is from the �50s and �60s. Now the �60s stuff is 40 years old...I still call it rock�n�roll�I don�t know, they got names for everything, like Hip-Hop, Heavy Metal, so�whatever.� While he�s certainly got a Rock�n�Roll heart, his soul lies in the Blues. INTERVIEW QUOTES Our conversation began with the good ol� days of attending Blues gigs in Toronto: �The great thing about it was that they would all play [a particular gig] for at least a week, with a matinee on Saturday. You were in an intimate setting and you could go out a couple of nights a week if you liked what you saw, and the cover charge was, like, two bucks�. On his website picture with Leon Russell and Edgar Winter: �I opened for Leon and Edgar at the �Phoenix of the Diamond�� (referring to the venue�s name change). I opened for Johnny Winter, too, but his health is not good these days.� On the legally-contentious �Blues Idol� (and TV music stations in general): �I should try for that [�Blues Idol�]�I think they should be able to do that...really�that would be good. TV stations go up to 200 or 300 and you get the same thing on every one. I mean, even the Muchmusic�you know, there�s MuchMore Music�it seems to be much more of the same stuff. It�s supposed to be a little bit different. (continued on next page) |