Earl Thomas with Paddy Milner & The Big Sounds

Album out now on CD Baby and iTunes!

EARL THOMAS WITH PADDY MILNER & THE BIG SOUNDS
Singer Earl Thomas grew up in rural Tennessee and was a British rock & roll fan. Piano player and composer Paddy Milner was born in Scotland, grew up in England and loved American blues. Years later they would meet, realizing their soulful bond had transcended space and time. They, who seemed so different on the outside, harbored a kindred musical spirit on the inside. And it is reflected on their new recording “Earl Thomas With Paddy Milner & The Big Sounds,” a stunning collection of contemporary blues/rock.
“I’ve always thought of the blues as a collaborative art form,” said Thomas, whose lineage is rooted in the blues and gospel traditions of the American South. “But when we got together as a band, I realized that the blues was also truly international art form. After all, it did come from African, European, American, and Asian cultures culminating on American soil.”
Thomas and Milner met, for the first time, in January 2007 on the Caribbean leg of the prestigious Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise. At the late-night jam sessions they found a quick rapport. Says Thomas of the keyboard player, “His music is intelligent, and honest, and daring, and soulful and it really speaks to me.”
Milner, too, was struck by the similarities. “Earl’s voice and way of singing is immediately passionate, soulful, powerful and very importantly, original,” said Milner. “I think the fact we both look for a unique sound with our music, based in tradition but with a whole lot of international and cross-cultural flavors thrown in, is one of the keys to our collaboration.”
A year later, Thomas needed a band to back him on a European tour and found Milner ready and willing. The Big Sounds was a perfect complement to Thomas’ soulful and incendiary vocals. Natural and complementary, the music flowed in rehearsals and at the performances, but it was at a live recording session for the BBC that convinced them, an album was inevitable. The Big Sounds include guitarists Randall Breneman and Marcus Bonfanti, bassist Scott Wiber, drummer Alex Reeves and the horn section, ‘The Horn Stars’, of Ben Somers, Bob Dowell and Jonathan Radford.
To capture the collaboration’s live energy, the CD was recorded live in two sessions at London’s Fish Factory Studios. Milner brought some of his songs (“Right To Your Soul” and “You’ve Got Me”) to the session, Breneman brought three songs (“See It My Way,” “Daylight” and ”Deconstruct The Devil.”) Thomas, at the insistence of the band, brought three previously recorded songs (“Same Old Blues,” “Better To Have Loved & Lost,” and “Lead A Horse To Water”) and a new song “All You Need,” co-written with former Extra Fancy frontman Brian Grillo, plus a brilliant reading of the Steve Cropper-Rod Stewart classic “Stone Cold Sober.”
The collaboration energized and inspired each of the artists. The music depends on a democracy, with each musician bringing his own ideas about songs and arrangements. The joy behind their creations is evident as the horns dart in and around the melody, the piano rolls along, the rhythm section is tight, and the beat changes to the needs of the songs.
“I think we as a band can agree that the blues wants to evolve, and we want to be leaders in that artistic evolution,” Thomas said. “Instead of going back over old ground, we want to break new ground. We create the blues that is contemporary but representative of, not only of the cultural exchange that created the art form, but of the cultural exchange creating the art form today.”
While there is an evident respect for tradition, ‘Earl Thomas with Paddy Milner & The Big Sounds’ is a story about moving the music forward.
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