R.P. Boals & the Soals

R.P. Boals & the Soals - Mystic City Mantras - 1997 - Growlin Bare

Like many contemporary bluesmen, Richard P. Boals and the Soals know the road. Richard has drawn heavily on the people side of the blues that he has seen in over 30 years crisscrossing the country. 1997’s Mystic city Mantras and Pieces From The Eclipse from 1998 contain all original music and look hard at the human condition. Many of today’s bluesmen are directing their lyrics towards what they see around them and Richard’s no exception. He explores many of our social problems on Mystic city Mantras. He Used To Be Like You and 10th Street Victory Mission look at the homeless from 2 unique perspectives while Sunrise In East chicago puts a face on despair.Pieces From The Eclipse continues on a similar theme as religion, Get Some Glory In Your Life, infidelity, Get While The Gettin’s Good, and Alcohol, Salvation In A Brown Paper Bag get the "Soals" treatment. While the lyrics will set these recordings apart, the music will definitely keep you interested. Richard is a fine guitar player and never lets you forget that his feet are firmly planted in the blues. These are two discs that make you think while your toes are tapping and your head is bobbing. © Larry Lisk, © 1999, Suncoast Blues Society

Columbus born singer / songwriter Richard P. Boals plays great modern urban Chicago style blues rock and Rhythm & Blues. His guitar playing is very much in the style of Clapton, B.B. King, Jimmy Page, and Jeff Beck. R.P. Boals songs are reminiscent of Michael Hill's blues mob. The normal traditional blues topics of love and relationships are covered here, but the songs also carry serious messages about the social problems of urban city life. This may sound dull, and boring, but the songs, all composed by Richard P. Boals are well written, and very well played by a great back up band. Buy the bands great "That's the Truth" album. For music of a similar nature, listen to Michael Hill's Blues Mob's "New York State Of Blues" album

TRACKS

1 Cat In The Street
2 Ain't No Way
3 Mystic City Blues
4 Sunrise In East Chicago
5 Broadway Shuffle
6 City Soul
7 Rock This House
8 Bed Full Of Blues
9 In The Heat Of The Night
10 That's How Much I Love You
11 He Used To Be Like You
12 Hey Hey Hey
13 10th St. Victory Mission
14 Ride That Train
15 Anywhere That You Are Is Chicago

All songs composed by Richard P. Boals

BAND

Richard P. Boals - guitar & vocals
Mark Yinger - bass
Charlie Cesner - Hammond organ
Dave Nilo - piano
Chris White - drums & percussion
Soni Yinger - background vocals

ABOUT R.P. BOALS

Known to his fans as the "blues guru," Richard Boals has helped to create the blues scene of the American Midwest. Having built his early reputation, between 1974 and 1995, as a sideman for a variety of show bands and country and blues groups, Boals solidified his standing as host of a Monday night jam session at the Dolphin Lounge in Gohanna, OH, from 1984 until 1995. Boals' love of music was sparked by the countless hours that he spent in the back of his father's restaurant, harmonizing with doo-wop records. Together with childhood friends Soni Yinger and Al Peterson, he played his first gig in the basement of a restaurant, at the age of eleven. He continued to play at parties and dances throughout his teens. Graduating from high school in June 1970, Boals enlisted in the U.S. Navy, serving until shortly after the conclusion of the Vietnam War, in January 1973. Within five days after his honorary discharge, he had secured a gig at a pool party and had formed a new band. He continued to be an active participant in the Midwest blues scene for more than two decades. After a decade of balancing his music career with classes at Ohio State University, Boals earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy and moved to Denver, where he took a year long hiatus from music. Returning with an impressive album, Mystic City Mantras, which he recorded at the Musical Rec Studios in Columbus, OH, Boals spent five weeks touring the United States. He released a similarly power-driven album, Pieces From the Eclipse, in June 1998. Boals' musical direction went through a dramatic change when he recorded an all-acoustic album, On a Different Path, in July 1999. Forming a new band, Richard P. Boals and the Soals, featuring Al Peterson, Jack Miller, Cornbread Lyons, Steve Hill, Eddy Wilson, and Boals' wife Beth, he recorded Access Denied in October 1999, and That's the Truth the following year. © Craig Harris, All Music Guide

R.P. BOALS BIO

"The Blues Guru", Richard P. Boals, was born April 14, 1952 in Columbus, Ohio. He spent much of his early years playing in the back room of his father’s restaurant, where he wore out copy after copy of "At The Hop" by "Danny & the Juniors" and sang along with "Doo Wop" hits on the juke box and the radio. Richard still credits one night in 1956 in front of the TV at his Grandparents house, seeing Elvis for the first time, as a pivotal moment in the shaping of his music business career. This early framework of songs by mostly black artists, predominately in twelve bar blues form, set a foundation for music that has followed him until this day. For his Birthday in 1961 Richard conned his parents into taking him to see Ricky Nelson at Jet Stadium in Columbus. ( By this time Richard had been playing broom with Nelson every Wednesday night for a couple of years.) The Next years birthday present was tickets to "The Dick Clark Cavalcade of Stars" Richard's mom was never the same. ( The show included, Paul Anka, Brenda Lee, Clarence "Frogman" Henry, Dwane Eddy, Chubby Checker and Linda Scott.) A guitar followed, then an electric guitar a professional amp then a big Fender amp and then. In 1964, Richard and two of his friends, Soni Yinger (heard on background vocals of "Mystic City Mantras") and Al Peterson (Richard’s close friend), got their first gig, playing a party in the basement of a restaurant in their hometown of Gahanna, Ohio. They received $75 compensation for the gig. Without any doubt, as an eleven year old with twenty five dollars in his pocket, Richard decided then and there he would be in entertainment the rest of his life! Through his teenage years Richard continued to play parties, dances and other functions and was influenced by the great guitarists of the time, Steve Cropper, Eric Clapton, Roger McGuinn and of course B.B. King. By 1967 Richard's band, "The Underground Atmosphere" was working with Local DJ (WTVN Radio) Dave Logan doing Hi-Fi dances sponsored by Coca Cola ™ and being booked by DJ's from WCOL Radio. Parties, Dances, Hops, Swimming Pools, Roller Rinks and every other kind of imaginable venue became a way of life. Throughout Richard's Senior year of High School he averaged 4 nights per week playing music. Richard graduated from Gahanna Lincoln High School, in spite of the music business, in June 1970 and played with local favorites "The Red Pop Four" and "Rusty Nails & the Country Hammers' until entering the U.S. Navy in 1971. He was honorably discharged in 1973 at the end of the Viet Nam War, and within five days of returning to Gahanna, booked a pool party and had to scramble to put a band together to play the gig. Starting with high school friends "Caution" Richard filled the years of 1974 through 1995 with tours, show bands, country bands, pick up gigs and blues gigs, followed by three to six month breaks allowing him to pursue a college degree on the side. (Richard received a B.A. in Philosophy from Ohio State University in 1993, leading to the "Blues Guru" nickname coined by Columbus media during interviews around 1994). In The summer of 1979 Richard and then wife, Susi Wallar put together "Eye to Eye" with old friend Jim Hilditch, Drummer Brad Hinerman and Mike Valentine on Bass. Through personnel changes and entry into the "Urban Cowboy Era" the band became known as "Buckskin" Releasing a single on the "Blue Ash Label", "I Hear Texas Callin' Me" and opening for the likes of Waylon Jennings, Silvia, Billy "Crash" Craddock, Teri Gibbs and Orion. 1982 brought about a divorce for Richard and a tour with a touring funk band out of Detroit, MI and a short stint with Bob Mateo & "Hip Pocket" in Columbus. Going back to his roots in show bands Richard took a position in 1983 with "Sugar & Spice & the Studebakers" a fifties Rock & Roll Show playing Fairs & Festivals throughout the Mid-West and up and down the Eastern Seaboard. In 1984, bored with playing cover tunes and songs that did not speak to life the way he saw it, Richard started the "Monday Night Blues Jam" at "The Dolphin Lounge" in Gahanna, Ohio less than a mile from where he grew up. For the next eleven years, nearly every Monday night, Richard and friends in the music business gathered to grind out set after set of twelve bar blues in the smoke filled bar. Through personnel changes, tour conflicts, college schedules, leaves of absence and moves to a few other locations, Richard built a name for himself and a reputation as a blues man of national touring quality and ability. It was during this time that Richard Joined forces with friend Dave Nilo and "The Paradise Island Band" playing private parties and The Lake Erie Islands and spent a lot of time writing and performing poetry with William Holden, poet extraordinaire. In December 1995, Richard made the surprise announcement that he was taking some time off and moving to Denver, Colorado. It was in Colorado that Richard devoted a year to becoming a scuba instructor something he had wanted to do since he was in the Navy. A little over a year later well rested from the time off and supported by longtime friends Al Peterson, Jack Miller, Cornbread Lyons, Steve Hill and Eddy Wilson, Richard entered Musi-Col Recording Studios in Columbus, Ohio to record "Mystic City Mantras". After a successful concert at "The Newport Music Hall" in Columbus, Richard took a five week road trip across the U.S. to promote "Mystic City Mantras", introducing himself to agents, club owners, DJ’s and important media connections all across the South and then up the East Coast as far as Connecticut. It was in Connecticut that Richard met up with old friend Kim Keller, Kim had owned a music store in Columbus for many years and finally sold the store to take a job with Hamer™ / Ovation™ after a tour of the factory and a short history lesson about the parent company's family of instruments Richard was asked to become an endorser of Hamer™ and Ovation™ Guitars. That hand-shaking tour was followed by an intense booking campaign and the band was off on tour. By June 1998, Richard was back in the recording studio again preparing for the October release of his "Pieces From the Eclipse" CD. Following demands for return engagements in Florida and becoming a regular attraction at the Ft. Pierce Blues festival and The Indian River Grapefruit Festival the band hit the road again introducing the band to Ft. Worth, TX and Albuquerque, NM. There was another trip to the recording studio, this time recording tracks for the July, 1999 release of a special acoustic CD, "On A Different Path" and for the "Access Denied" CD released in October 1999. Making a clean break for the holidays, the band returned to tour on Jan. 30, 1999 with another incredible performance at the Indian River Grapefruit Festival, Ft. Pierce, FL followed by more time in the recording studio and an intense 27 performances in 36 days, throughout Florida, Georgia, Virginia and Pennsylvania. Included in the tour schedule were radio interviews, live on air performances, two very successful fund raising events and "Blues in the Schools" performances in Ocala, FL and New Enterprise, PA. Their third tour of the Southwest broke new ground in AZ, Texas and Utah introducing new audiences to Richard P. Boals & the Soals original blend of Rock and Rhythm & Blues. It made new fans and established that on the national blues scene, they are a force to be reckoned with. October 1, 1999 came and the band went on the road again in support of their new CD "Access Denied". All was well in bluesville and the band was rocking the house from coast to coast. It was during this time Growlin Bare enlisted the help of Sheheshe Promotions and "Access Denied" went into medium rotation on over 1200 blues radio shows in the U.S. including House of Blues Radio & The Blues Deluxe syndicate. During a Florida tour the band was approached by a booking agent friend Geoff Blumenauer. Geoff had always believed in Richard's writing and had sent two different packages to Alligator Records in Chicago for review and consideration. Richard received two very nice rejection notices from Alligator. Geoff pressed on and secured a joint effort between Growlin Bare and JSP Records of London, England. In January of 2000 Richard flew to Los Angeles, California to spend some time at the Hamer™ booth at the Winter Namm show and record "That's The Truth" for JSP with Handy Award Winning Producer Jimmy Morello. The CD is an incredible blend of traditional electric blues and Richard's personal style. Although critically acclaimed all over Europe, Scandinavia and Africa, booking support was at an all time low throughout Europe at the time and plans for European tours never materialized. Personal crisis followed Richard throughout 2000, Richard's mother died in August of that year, between touring, a move to Connecticut and trying to wrap up problems created by his mothers death Richard was forced to spend more time in Columbus, OH. In April , 2001 "Live @ The Dolphin" was recorded utilizing a large cast of players from the incredible array of talent offered in Columbus. Following personal events in June of 2001 it became apparent that life was going to center in Columbus, OH again and Richard began a slow climb back to some kind of normal life. The events of September 11 had dramatic impact on the economy and Richard had been touring, almost without stop, for five years. Upon seeing that he would be spending more time in Columbus, Richard made arrangements to take back his position as Jam Master at the Dolphin on Monday nights. Richard also began working two Sundays a month for the Columbus Blues Alliance as the host of their jam at the Thirsty Ear Tavern in Columbus. Richard continued to play his regular Mid-West haunts. The Slippery Noodle in Indianapolis, IN; Stevie Ray's in Louisville, KY; Huey's in Memphis, TN; B. B.'s Lawnside BBQ in Kansas City KS; Brackens in Urbana, OH; Donahue's in Springfield, OH and Hoot-N-Annie's in Milford Center, OH. His short Western tour included stops at Club Rhythm & Blues in Albuquerque, NM; Cowgirls Hall of Fame in Santa Fe, NM; Alley Cantina in Taos, NM and Wild Hare's in El Paso, TX. Since the Spring of 2001 Richard had maintained a presence in Columbus, OH and began supplementing his own dates doing gigs with long time friend Paul Clark. Paul had been consistently worked around the Buckeye Lake Resort Region in Central Ohio for over 20 years. It was during this time Richard met Angie Porter at a gig one night they started dating. It was apparent to them from the start of their relationship that it was something special and the more time they spent together the more they did not want to be apart. Richard and Angie soon were recognized as a team around Columbus and constantly together at the gigs at Buckeye Lake. During 2003 and 2004 personnel changes in The Paul Clark Band brought together Paul with the former members of "Golden Grove" along with Betty Rhoden on Vocals and Keys. The magic had already begun at The Copper Penney on Buckeye Lake every Thursday night and grew into a party waiting to happen. By the Fall of 2006 Richard & Angie were planning on getting married, both of them being married before they wanted a small, intimate ceremony. With so many friends and fans it became increasingly harder to plan a small ceremony so on November 28, 2006 Richard & Angie took a day off and with the help of a private marriage minister, were married in Columbus, OH. The party that ensued a week later at the Copper Penney is the stuff that Buckeye Lake Legends are made of. Paul not being one to miss an opportunity made arrangements to replace leaving members with members of "Golden Grove" and with the shift of Steve Simpson to Keys from Drums the final move of adding Soni Yinger on Drums took place. "The Paul Clark Band" continued throughout 2006 but by 2007 Soni had left the band for health reasons and Steve returned to the drum seat then Steve died suddenly and was replaced on the drums by Brad Hinerman formerly of "Buckskin" players came and went throughout 2007 & 2008 and by August 2008 Richard decided to part company with "The Paul Clark Band". In January of 2009 Richard signed on with "The Gas Pump Jockeys" to play mostly Fairs & Festivals in the Ohio Valley Region. He continues his role as jam master at "The Dolphin" in Gahanna every Monday night grinding out 12 Barr Blues to die hard fans. Currently Richard is writing new material, working on booking and performing several nights a week with different organizations in and around Columbus. © http://bluesguru.com/