Paul Oscher, Former Muddy Waters Blues Band Member, To Play Rare Saint Georges Delaware Performance
“…his blues has the bite and gravity of the tradition he upholds.” (Jon Pareles/The New York Times)
“…Paul Oscher plays the soul I feel” (Muddy Waters)
WC Handy Award winner, Blues Singer and Multi-Instumentalist (harmonica, guitar and piano) Paul Oscher is scheduled to play Saint Georges Country Store 1 Delaware St on May 12, 2015 at 7:30PM He will be accompanied by Johnny “Ace” Acerno on the bass and Walter Shufflesworth on the drums.
This rare east coast tour was prompted by the loss of Paul’s dear friend great blues pianist David Maxwell and as Paul will be attending the memorial for Dave in Boston he decided to put together an east coast tour traveling to Delaware, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts as a trio.
These performances are rare because for the last fifteen years Paul has been performing here and abroad only as a solo artist in blues festivals and art centers exclusively- with a very limited number of club dates. The last time he played Boston was a 15 minute duo with James Cotton at the tribute to James Cotton at the opening of the new House of Blues near Fenway Park. Before that he hadn’t been in Boston since the nineties and he hasn’t been in New York in many years. He played the Wilmington Riverfront Festival last summer and Gene Fontana,The promoter of the festival, invited him to play at the St Georges Country Store so that fit right in with this tour.
Paul Oscher first came to national attention as a member of the great Muddy Waters Blues Band from 1967-1972 and was the first caucasian member of the band. He lived in Muddy’s house on Chicago’s South Side sharing the basement with Otis Spann. Paul played the
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Chitlin’ Circuit, recorded for the legendary Chess Records Company and traveled the world with Muddy.Besides Muddy, Paul has performed and/or recorded with T-Bone Walker, Otis Spann, Johnny Young, Johnny
CopeIand, Louisiana Red, Big Mama Thornton, Victoria Spivey, and others. In 2003 he was featured on harmonica, guitar and vocals on Hubert Sumlin’s album “About them shoes” along with Keith Richards, Eric Clapton and Levon Helm. In 2006 he collaborated with Mos Def and recorded the song “Bed Stuy Parade and Funeral March” on Mos Def’s album New Danger. He recorded with Keb Mo’ in 2008 on the soundtrack of the Film about the Blues ” Who Do You Love ” and also recorded on Keb Mo’s suitcase album. Paul is also a winner of multiple W.C. Handy Blues Music Awards. His latest recording “Bet on the Blues” was nominated for three Blues Music Awards. In Paul’s show, besides playing and singing the blues, Paul tells stories of his life in the blues and about the legends he knew.
As Muddy Waters harp player Paul Oscher inspired a whole generation of blues players, Rick Estrin, Jerry Portnoy, Paul Delay, and William Clark. Paul Oscher is the real deal- he learned his blues from the masters. He plays only the real, unadulterated, down-in -the –alley, gutbucket blues. He is not a retro player; he just plays the blues the way he learned them… lowdown and lonesome and has been doing so for the last fifty years.
Paul Oscher now resides in Austin Texas and when he is not on the road, he has a weekly residence gig there with his five-piece band which includes a second guitar and saxophone.
Paul will be performing with his trio this year at the Chicago Blues Festival and will also be headlining the festival’s 100 year tribute to Muddy Waters along with Bob Margolin, Jerry Portnoy, John Primer and other Waters’s alumni and family Mud Morganfield and Big Bill Morganfield.
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