Paul Boddy – Soul Gone Blu’
Paul Boddy – Soul Gone Blu’
Format: CD (EP)
Label: Independent
Release: 2026
The regional blues artist has a tough go of it, often playing in bars and small venues in front of sparse audiences, though developing a faithful core following along the way. The music, though a passion, doesn’t pay the bills, forcing the artist into a “day” job to make ends meet
Yet, a break may come once the artist widens his network. This is the essence of Doylestown, Pennsylvania-based Paul Boddy, accomplished vocalist, guitarist, and slide guitarist, founder of the SlideWinder Blues Band, a running institution for the past ten years. They are a high-energy band, renowned for Boddy’s robust guitar tone and dazzling slide. His break came when The SlideWinder Blues Band won the Jersey Shore Jazz and Blues Foundation’s (JSJBF) International Blues Challenge (IBC) in 2022.
Boddy‘s band and Boddy in particular impressed one of the judges, two-time Grammy winner, songwriter/ producer Marc Swersky, who co-wrote and co-produced several songs for Joe Cocker, including “Trust In Me,” as well as several of Whitney Houston’s contributions, to the soundtrack for The Bodyguard. Swersky has also worked with blues artists Eliza Neals and Misty Blues. Boddy and Swersky began a series of conversations, resulting in Swersky saying, “We need to make a record together.” That was over two years ago, when the first discussions for this EP – Soul Gone Blu’ began. Boddy’s long-dreamed-of vision – to record the soul music heard from the ’60s and ’70s while growing up in both England and the U.S. came to life. While these may be relatively obscure soul-blues covers to many, they are foundational to Boddy’s artistry. He says, “These are songs that mean something to me because they take me back to a time and place that is familiar, yet untouchable in some ways. These particular tunes were the catalyst for my love of soul, gospel, and the blues.”
Producer Swersky assembled a first-rate class of veteran session musicians, and Boddy recruited special guests for recording at Dug Deep Production in Asbury Park, NJ. The core band is drummer Aaron Comess (Spin Doctors, Joan Osborne, many others), bassist Jack Daley (Spin Doctors, Prince, Lenny Kravitz), keyboardist Rob Clores (Black Crowes, Jesse Malin), and background vocalists Jessie Wagner and Lynn Lockamy. Paul Boddy is, of course, on lead vocals as well as electric lead, rhythm, and slide guitar. Special guests include slide guitar wizard Sonny Landreth, the celebrated blues triple threat Early Times, charismatic harmonicist Mikey Jr., and Marco Cinelli and Tom Jones from the London-based band, The Cinelli Brothers.
The core band often works with Swersky. Boddy commented, “They are experienced record makers, intuitive, collaborative, and not shy about expressing themselves.” Regarding the guests, Boddy has a relationship with Sonny Landreth’s manager, Brad Hunt, who has previously arranged for SlideWinder to open for Landreth at the Sellersville Theater and Philadelphia’s World Cafe Live. Boddy and Landreth got to know each other, conversing backstage, with Landreth sharing a few guitar techniques with Boddy. Through Hunt, Landreth had agreed to guest on the record, eventually ‘flying in’ his part from his studio in Louisiana. Since then, Landreth and Boddy have talked regularly.
The presence of the Cinelli Brothers is due to sheer coincidence in two ways. First, they were sitting at an adjacent table at the 2023 IBC when Boddy asked, “Are you guys Brits?” He learned that they were based ten minutes from where Boddy grew up in London. Those conversations continued on the second night, and Boddy stayed in touch since. As fate would have it, The Cinelli Brothers were playing in New York the night before the recording session in Asbury Park, and agreed to guest on “So Is the Sun.”
Mikey Jr., the harmonica ace, is a bandleader, recording artist and has a frequent presence at festivals and blues jams in Bucks County and Philadelphia. This is not the first record Boddy and Mikey Jr. have collaborated on. Swersky invited Early Times, a recording artist and DJ on Sirius Radio’s Bluesville. Times was familiar with Boddy, having played Slidewinder tracks on the radio, but the two had never met before the session. They developed a good rapport and now converse frequently.
‘Soul Gone Blu’ has six tracks, all arranged by Boddy. “One Hundred Years” is a remake of Freddie King’s 1963 song that appeared on the Federal label. Boddy, in a slight British accent, duets with Early Times, propelled by impressive keyboards from Clores and guitar riffs from Boddy and Times. “So Is the Sun,” the lead single, is buoyed by an infectious sing-along chorus, and as Boddy put it, “a bunch of Brits doing an American song.” It was recorded by The World Column in 1969, released on Tower Records, and used in many film soundtracks since. Boddy says that it evokes childhood memories every time he hears it. “Cussin’, Cryin’ and Carryin’ On” is an Ike and Tina Turner song, also released in 1969. Given the original lead vocal by Tina Turner, Boddy turned to Jessie Wagner and Lynn Lockamy for the vocals, with Wagner, from Little Steve’s Disciples of Soul, in the lead. They render this potent soul/gospel tune with unbounded energy and enthusiasm.
“Need Your Love So Bad” was first recorded by Little Willie John in 1955 as ”I Need Your Love So Bad,” and later by Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac in 1969 as “Need Your Love So Bad.” Boddy based his arrangement on the latter. This is the primary guitar song of the six, with Boddy playing rhythm and lead on the front end, Landreth soloing in the middle, and then in an extensive outro. “Chonnie on Chon” is from James Brown and His Famous Flames, circa 1958. This rocking jump blues features two searing harp breaks from Mikey Jr. and two incisive slide solos from Boddy. “Every Dog Has Its Day” was recorded by New Orleans R&B artist Eddie Bo in 1960 on Ric Records. Boddy powers his funky version with incendiary guitar, teeming B3, and wailing blues harp by Mikey Jr.
With a middle-aged start to his career, Boddy knew from an early age that he was destined to be a musician. He grew up in a family of them. His earliest memories as a child include hearing his grandmother sing the blues in London clubs and at family gatherings, attending BBQs with The Bay City Rollers, and watching his Uncle John’s band rehearse on Saturday mornings in his father’s London warehouse. (No, that was not the subject of the famous Grateful Dead song, if you are wondering). The guitar player in Uncle John’s band eventually joined Judas Priest. Uncle John himself now performs in Spain as part of a Neil Diamond tribute act. Boddy’s dad, Victor, was in business with Mark Stevens of The Dovells (The Bristol Stomp) and the late Don Kirshner (Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert). Taking cues, in 1999, Paul founded Cayman Records and produced Bob Lowery’s Yellow Light.
Paul Boddy began taking guitar lessons at the age of eight, having moved to the States in 1976. Boddy’s early band, Brew Dog Molly, specialized in classic rock with heavy doses of Led Zeppelin and other British blues bands. A marriage and raising a family sidelined his career for several years before fate intervened. When he saw the band, Little Red Rooster, performing at Doylestown’s Chambers, he soon learned that the venue also hosted informal blues jams. Those were relatively short-lived, but Boddy seized the momentum to start a blues jam at Puck Live (also in Doylestown) in 2016. Four years later, Thursday “Funk n Blues Jam” continues at Havana, in New Hope, PA. It was through these jam sessions that Boddy met his bandmates, who now comprise the SlideWinder Blues Band. The band has supported Boddy’s friend, Sonny Landreth, several times and has also shared the stage with Marcia Ball, Coco Montoya, and other leading national acts. They have performed and continue to perform at several major festivals in the Northeast, including Musikfest, Blast Furnace Blues Festival, and the Jersey Shore Jazz & Blues Festival, as well as local venues. Look for a new album from The SlideWinder Blues Band in 2026.
Website: https://paulboddy.com/home
01. One Hundred Years (Feat. Early Times & The High Rollers) (2:59)
02. Chonnie-On-Chon (Feat. Mikey Junior) (2:48)
03. Every Dog Got His Day (Feat. Mikey Junior) (2:38)
04. Cussin’ Cryin’ & Carryin’ On (Feat. Jessie Wagner) (3:08)
05. So Is The Sun (Feat. The Cinelli Brothers) (3:27)
06. Need Your Love So Bad (Feat. Sonny Landreth) (5:25)