St. Paul and the Broken Bones bring Alabama soul to Rohnert Park

Your first glimpse of Alabama soul singer Paul Janeway doesn't really prepare you for what you're going to hear once he starts to sing.

At a glance, you might guess that this pale, slightly stout man, wearing dark-rimmed glasses and a gray suit, is an accountant or a math teacher. Then come twitching gyrations worthy of the late Joe Cocker and searing, soulful vocals that are Janeway's own, but with a fire stoked by decades of Southern blues history.

You can hear it for yourself soon enough. The Birmingham soul ensemble St. Paul and the Broken Bones - touring continuously since the release last year of its second album, “Sea of Noise” - will perform Thursday, Aug. 24, at the Green Music Center's Weill Hall and Lawn.

Growing up in Birmingham, only 90 minutes from Muscle Shoals, home of the unique “Swampers” horn section sounds that dominated soul music from the '60s on, Janeway is steeped in the lore. One of his band's most popular recordings is a cover of Otis Redding's ‘I've Been Lovin' You Too Long.”

“We started out heavily influenced by classic soul, in the Swampers or Booker T and the MGs kinda vibe,” Janeway, 32, said by phone from his home in Birmingham. “By now, we've been influenced by anything from David Bowie to Prince to Tom Waits.”

The band's first album, 2014's “Half the City,” was produced by Ben Tanner, keyboardist for another contemporary Southern soul and blues band, Alabama Shakes.

“Alabama's a small place,” Janeway said.

But don't get the idea that the Broken Bones band's scope is narrow. It has performed at the Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts in Virginia, and has toured as an opening act for star pop duo Hall and Oates.

St. Paul is a nickname given Janeway by his bandmates because he neither drinks nor smokes.

The band name was inspired by a lyric from one of their earliest songs written by Janeway and the band's co-founder, bassist Jesse Phillips: “... broken bones and pocket change is all she left me with.”

In track after track, nothing sounds forced about the band's sound. It seems to bubble up naturally from a lifetime of being immersed in soulful music.

“Being from Alabama, it's something that I grew up with,” Janeway said.

“We're not playing a style that we're not familiar with. It's still us.”

So if lightning were to strike Janeway during one of his frenzied vocal solos, would his soul go to heaven or hell? He answered with a hearty laugh.

“I don't know at this point,” he said.

“Probably, I was little more sure of that when I was younger. I've always thought I was singing my way out of hell to get to heaven.”

You can reach staff writer Dan Taylor at 521-5243 or dan.taylor@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @danarts.