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"... simply better than the
opposition - from whatever side of the Atlantic it happens to come".
(Blueprint)
"Paul Lamb & The King Snakes are a bloody marvellous band".
(Blues in the South)
"They play blues in the same way Brando used to straddle a
Triumph…. lazily, cocksure, coolly and aggressive" (Blues
& Rhythm)
"...sound as American and black....... as white as Brits dare".
(Melody Maker)
"... you certainly won't feel blue at the end of the night."
(South China Post, Hong Kong)
"... can Brits play the blues?.....if the Brits are Paul Lamb
and the King Snakes, a resounding yes, is the answer." (Jakarta
- What's On)
THE BAND:
Paul Lamb - harmonica / vocals
Raul de Pedro Marnero - lead guitar
Chad Strenz - lead vocals / rhythm guitar
Rod Demick - upright bass / vocals
Sonny Below - drums
OK, we all know the stuff that turns up in biographies,
is empty and meaningless because it's all been said before. So,
let's talk plainly about Paul Lamb &
The King Snakes, the best blues band in Britain.
It didn't happen suddenly. It took years of hard work and application,
unfashionable words that signify little in these days of instant
fame. As Paul can tell you, he and his band have done their individual
time, made their mistakes, applied what they've learned, focused
on their musicianship and the results are passed on to audiences
that flock to their gigs. They in turn are guaranteed to enjoy genuine
music performed with skill and mutual encouragement. It's a simple
but sure formula.
Right now, the King Snakes are a refreshing mixture
of (relative) youth and experience. The experience starting at the
top, for Paul Lamb has spent the last
thirty-some years whoopin' and hollerin' in clubs in his native
North-East plus a later move to London, in concert and on festival
stages, creating a personal synthesis of his harmonica heroes and
his own unique and innate talent. His history includes representing
Britain in the World Harmonica Championships, working with his particular
mentor, Sonny Terry, and with any number of other blues artists
who've visited these shores.
The original band Smokestack Lightning started in
1979 and metamorphosed through Barfly, then into the Blues Burglars.
The Burglars made their recording debut, Breaking In, for Red Lightnin'
in 1986. Down in London the next incarnation was as the Paul
Lamb Blues Band, with Rod Demick
on bass and (for a while) ex-Yardbird Jim
McCarty on drums, plus long term associate John
Whitehill on lead guitar . However, it was as Paul
Lamb and the King Snakes that they cut their album for Blue
Horizon (CDBLUH 011). It was this dedication to his craft ,that
began to pay off, for this was the year that Paul was voted Instrumentalist
Of The Year by the British Blues Connection, an accolade
that would be his for six successive years, the band were
UK Blues Band Of The Year for this and the next two years
(and again in 1997 and 1998), while their Blue Horizon album became
1991 UK Album Of The Year, the first of several such awards.
Shifting Into Gear,
an album recorded in Denmark, was issued in 1992 in Belgium by Tight
& Juicy. It was later released in England, as part of the King
Snakes' recording deal with Indigo Records. A remarkable period
ensued, as Paul and the band picked up regular performance awards
from the BBC. Nor were their albums ignored:
Fine Condition (IGOCD 2019) was 1996 UK Album of the Year,
She's a Killer (IGOXCD 503) ditto
'97 and Take Your Time and Get It Right
again in 2001. In between came the reissue of Shifting
Into Gear (IGOXCD 504), John Henry
Jumps In (IGOXCD 512), The Blue Album
(IGOXCD 521) and Whoopin', the reissue
of Breaking In, (IGOXCD 522). Two further releases appeared on the
Sanctuary label, Live at The 100 Club 14th
May 2002 (IGOFCD 2517) and Harmonica
Man (CMEDD 701), an anthology of all that had gone before,
including the title track, Paul's single as 'Bravado' for Pete Waterman's
Peach label.
There's a deal of experience behind vocalist and rhythm
guitarist Chad Strentz, too. He started
out as a rockabilly hound, encouraged by the wilder excesses of
Gene Vincent, Johnny Burnette and Mac Curtis, with some Elvis and
Little Richard in there for extra relish. He was in a string of
bands from the age of 15, including the Skat Katz, Cat Talk and
Shout Sister Shout, all of which broadened his appreciation to include
Bo Diddley and Junior Parker, alongside Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson
and Wilson Pickett. He joined the King Snakes in 1991, in time to
make significant contributions to their award-winning sequence of
albums and to enjoy the acclaim the band received throughout Britain
and Europe. During a sabbatical taken in 1999, he formed Breakout
Blues with Pete Farugia, and then recorded and toured with the Big
Town Playboys. Now, with batteries recharged, he's back centre stage
with the King Snakes.
But if you want to talk experience, take a long listen
to bass player and vocalist Rod Demick.
He formed his first group, the Vibros, when he was eleven and later
graduated to Wheels, the only R&B competition in Belfast for
Van Morrison and Them. That band came to London and cut three singles
for Columbia before breaking up in 1967. For a short while, he and
lead guitarist Herbie Armstrong became the James Brothers. Like
many others at the time, after seeing Eric Clapton, Peter Green
and Jimi Hendrix in short order, Rod switched from guitar to bass,
a move that ultimately served him well. In the ensuing decades,
he's been a major part of Demick Armstrong and a member of Bees
Make Honey, Meal Ticket, Yellow Dog, the David Essex Band and the
Strawbs. He encountered Paul and Johnny Whitehill soon after their
arrival in London and became an early recruit for the Paul Lamb
Blues Band and became a King Snake four years ago.
Being called young when you're in your thirties ought
to be taken as a compliment and both Sonny
Below and Raul de Pedro Marinero
have packed a lot of experience into their years as musicians. Sonny's
father Frank Nazareth was drummer and roadie for the Sunflower Boogie
Band, so he grew up with musicians around the house, Johnny Mars
in particular.
Encouraged by Johnny, Sonny joined in on jam sessions
and rehearsals. He was in his early twenties when he and his friend
Jon O'Brien started Midnight Willie and there have been other bands
like the Guzzle and Root Blues Band and Hoodoo Moon before he joined
the King Snakes in 1998. One of those who passed through Midnight
Willie was lead guitarist Raul. He began playing at the age of 18
and seven years later decided to leave his native Spain to come
to England and join a blues band. The Willies were just one of the
bands with whom he honed his chops and he has the distinction of
being the most recently recruited King Snake, joining the band in
September 2003.
Life constantly renews itself. Paul Lamb and the King
Snakes are beginning a new chapter in their ongoing history. New
challenges will present themselves and new achievements will strengthen
and broaden their appeal to audiences that can distinguish between
the manufactured and the real. In a world where the blues is in
danger of becoming merely a flavor in a mess of potage, Paul Lamb
and the King Snakes stand as a bastion of true blues endeavor
THE BBC ANNUAL AWARDS
PAUL LAMB
BEST UK HARMONICA PLAYER FROM 1990 FOR AN AMAZING SIX YEARS
- now in THE HALL OF FAME to allow other players access
to the awards -
JOHNNY WHITEHILL
BEST UK BLUES GUITARIST 1997, 1998 & 1999
EARL GREEN
UK VOCALIST OF THE YEAR 1996 & 1997 & 2001
PAUL LAMB & THE KING SNAKES
UK BLUES BAND OF THE YEAR 1991, 1992, 1993, 1997 & 1998
"PAUL LAMB & THE KING SNAKES"
UK BLUES ALBUM OF THE YEAR 1991
"FINE
CONDITION"
UK BLUES ALBUM OF THE YEAR 1996
"SHE'S
A KILLER"
UK BLUES ALBUM OF THE YEAR 1997
"TAKE
YOUR TIME AND GET IT RIGHT"
UK BLUES ALBUM OF THE YEAR 2001
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Some European festival apperances: Notodden Blues Festival (Norway),
Bragdoya Blues Festival (Norway), BRBF Peer (Belgium), Bluesfestival
Gaildorf (Germany), Cognac Festival (France), Summermusic Festival
Moscow (Russia), Rawa Blues Katowice (Poland), Viana do Castello
(Portugal), Cazorla Blues Festival (Spain), Getxo Blues & Jazz (Baskland),
Great British R&B Festival (UK), Rauma Blues Festival (Finland),
Unna Bluesfestival (Germany), Breminale Festival (Germany), Athens
Bluesfestival (Greece) a.m.o.
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