By Denny Dyroff, Staff Writer, The Times
Paula Boggs
Paula Boggs, who will bring the Paula Boggs Band to the area on August 16 for a show at the World Café Live (3025 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, 215-222-1400, www.worldcafelive.com), is an artist who smashes stereotypes.
Here are some of them.
Bluegrass bands come from the South – Boggs and her band are based in Seattle, Washington.
Bluegrass bands are predominantly male and led by a male musician – Boggs is a strong female fronting her own group.
Females in bluegrass usually are singers or fiddlers who also frequently dance (clogging or step dancing) while they perform – Boggs stands at the microphone while she sings and plays guitar and ukulele.
Females in bluegrass usually are white – Boggs is an African-American musician.
People who look for a career in music are dreamers and “need to get a real job” – Boggs is much more than just a musician…just look at her CV.
Boggs is the founder of Boggs Media, LLC, a business that manages her music, speaking, and other creative business activities. She is a philanthropist, fundraiser, public speaker, and musician. She is also a Board Member of numerous for-profit and non-profit organizations.
She served as Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, Law and Corporate Affairs at Starbucks Corporation from 2002-2012. Boggs served as Vice President, Legal, for Products, Operations and Technology at Dell Computer Corporation, and as a partner at the law firm of Preston Gates & Ellis, LLP.
She served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, and in various capacities as an attorney for the U.S. Army, the Department of Defense and the White House Office of Legal Counsel.
The musician/lawyer served as a Regular Officer in the United States Army, and earned Army Airborne wings and a Congressional appointment to the US Naval Academy. Boggs also served on the Iran-Contra task force during the Reagan administration.
She has been recognized by NASDAQ and Fortune as one of the best legal minds in the United States. She has repeatedly shattered glass ceilings and broken gender and cultural molds throughout her life.
“Not adhering to stereotypes is part of my DNA,” said Boggs, during a phone interview last week after arriving on a red-eye flight from Seattle to New York City.
“I had the good fortune a year ago to be on a panel with my brother Cornell Boggs, who is also a lawyer. Siblings had to introduce their siblings. He said – the thing you have to know about my sister is that you can’t contain her in any box…she’ll break out of it.”
Boggs’ first order of business in New York was to attend the American Bar Association Annual Meeting.
“In addition to participating in the meeting, I’m playing with my band at the ABA Ceremonial Opening — performing the song ‘Benediction.’ A few days after the meeting, I’ll start the tour with my band at Rockwood Music Hall in New York.
“I think people – especially lawyers — are surprised at my combination of careers. I was Starbucks’ top lawyer for 10 years. For many, that’s a pinnacle. They can’t understand why I’d leave. There’s a cognitive dissonance.”
Fortunately for Boggs, her fans and bluegrass music, Boggs has found a way to comfortably handle both careers.
The Paula Boggs Band features Mark Chinen (acoustic and electric guitar, banjo), Isaac Castillo (acoustic and electric bass, vocals), Paul Matthew Moore (keyboards, accordion, melodica, vocals), Tor Dietrichson (percussion, vocals), Sandy Greenbaum (drums, music director) and Boggs.
“With this band, most of us have been together for 10 years,” said Boggs. “There is a tightness. People can sense our love for each other when we perform.
“The first time we played the World Café Live in 2010, there were three of us and when we came back in 2012, there were five. This will be the first time with a six-piece.
“We’ve always had great shows at the World Café Live. After playing the World Café Live four times in the last few years, Philly feels like home for us.”
The Paula Boggs Band’s latest EP, “Songs of Protest and Hope,’ was an expression of a concept that Boggs and her band have been thinking a lot about in recent years — what it means to be a citizen-artist, making music that entertains, but also enlightens and inspires.
The band’s next album “Elixir,” which will be released on September 15, continues the group’s exploration into making statements with its music.
“I recorded ‘Elixir’ November last year at Robert Lang Studio in Seattle,” said Boggs. “The studio overlooks Puget Sound and it’s easy to take short walks to the Sound. The whole experience was artistically sound for all of us.
“When we get to Philly, we’ll be playing at least two songs from the new album as well as older songs. We’re also doing three covers – ‘Woodstock,’ ‘Get Together,’ and Neil Young’s ‘When You Dance.’”
Video link for Paula Boggs Band – https://youtu.be/ViJvHen6llM.
The show at the World Café Live will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $14.
In The Valley Below
In The Valley Below, which is headlining a show on August 16 at Boot & Saddle (1131 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, 215-639-4528, www.bootandsaddlephilly.com), has been around six years but has recorded just one album.
The band’s discography includes the debut album “The Belt” (2014) along with four EPs — “In The Valley Below” (2011), “Man Girl” (2014), “Peaches Remixes” (2014) and “Elephant” – and three singles – “Take Me Back” (2013), “Peaches” (2013), “Neverminders” (2014), and the just-released “Bloodhands (Oh My Fever).”
In The Valley Below, which is a duo featuring married couple Angela Gail and Jeffrey Jacob, released the new EP, “Elephant” on July 14.
“We recorded the EP at Stone House Recording in Grand Rapids, Michigan,” said Gail, during a phone interview last week as the band traveled from Dallas, Texas to a gig in Memphis, Tennessee.
In The Valley was formed in 2011 in the duo’s former home base – Los Angeles’ Echo Park. Two years ago, the couple uprooted and relocated in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
“We were on the road a lot – most of the year,” said Gail. “So, we wanted a quiet place to go home to and we chose Michigan. I don’t know if it has had an effect on our songwriting. I imagine it did.”
There is definitely a difference in environments.
According to Gail, “We found Grand Rapids to be a city full of creative energy, fresh air, and rough edges. It’s been inspiring. A lot of people we’ve met here migrated at the same time we did from the West Coast. Maybe it’s some kind of human instinct.”
In The Valley Below’s musical evolution has been steady and productive.
“Six years ago, we decided that we wanted to start a band,” said Gail. “Our songwriting was horrible at first. Songwriting is such an intimate thing so it took us a while to get over the hump.
“We were friends for three years and playing in other bands. Now, we’ve been together for three years as a couple and in our own band. It’s great because we get to be on the road together.”
The “Elephant” EP continues the pair’s thematic concerns – sex, relationships, power, temptation, paranoia, existential angst and mortality. The two musicians took advantage of the freedom of having their own studio to expand their songwriting and production capabilities.
“Making the EP took a while,” said Gail. “We tour a lot so we record songs as we go – write and then record.
“We do demos and then live with them for a while and see what survives. There are five songs on the EP and we started with about 25. There was no theme. We just went with songs that were our favorites.
“We’re playing three of them in our live show now along with a couple new ones that aren’t on the EP. And, we go back and play songs from all our EPs.”
Video link for In The Valley Below — https://youtu.be/P5TCBwhjdSI.
The show at Boot & Saddle, which has Flagship as the opening act, will start at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $15.
