Paul Filipowicz

Paul Filipowicz - Chickenwire - 2007 - Big Jake Records

"Filipowicz's finger-picked guitar solos come with raw emotion in every crystal-clear note." © Tim Holek - Living Blues Magazine

Paul Filipowicz is Wisconsin's present day powerhouse of the electric blues guitar. His 35 plus years of sweat soaked incendiary no-holds-barred live performances have granted him rave reviews in over fifty publications like Living Blues, Big City Blues, King Biscuit Time, Blues Access, Blues Review, Real Blues, newspapers, web sites, and radio and satellite deejays around the world. His song writing and guitar work has been heralded as moving, direct and to the point by none other than Chicago blues legend Jimmy Dawkins. Paul's five award winning albums are played on the Internet and on US radio and internationally. His recordings have charted #8 Chinatown and #25 Midnight at the Nairobi Room on the prestigious WKNON, Dallas TX, Living Blues Poll. His Chinatown earned Blues Album of the Year and Blues Artist of the Year 2005, Madison Area Music Awards and placed him #8 Chicago Blues New Releases 2004 from Real Blues magazine, plus he has been listed on many other national and international radio and magazine charts. His songs have been used in the movie sound tracks, Night in the Holem (Gila Monster Meidia) and Serlian Blue (Dadda Loco Productions). In print and live, Paul's Hard-Core-Chicago sound has been compared to Buddy Guy, Hubert Sumlin, Magic Sam, Freddy King, Albert Collins, Son Seals, John Lee Hooker, just to name a few. Paul has logged thousands of miles in thousands of venues from roadhouses in Texas, Mississippi, Buddy Guy's Legend's in Chicago, Michigan, St. Louis, New Mexico, Colorado, concerts and festivals state side to gigs as far away as The River Sounds, Ulan Bator, Mongolia. He has been heralded in the press as "One of the Midwest's best blues guitarists, and Madison's living legend". Paul's list of artists with whom he has performed is both extensive and impressive. They include Hound Dog Taylor, Luther Allison, Magic Slim, Clyde Stubbelifield, Jimmy Dawkins, Jim Schawall, Rev. Charlie Edmonds, Lucky Lopez, Milwaukee Slim, Lee Gates, Ken Sadayk, James Solderg, Lefty Dizz, Brian Lee, Madison Slim, Brewer Philips and too many more to list. © 1996 - 2009 CD Universe

Paul Filipowicz has described his music as "West side Chicago guitar with a little Texas sugar on top". "Chickenwire" is a good, no messin' live raw blues rock album. Paul compoded 12 of the tracks on the album, and is a very talented musician. His "Go For The Throat" album is well worth seeking out.

TRACKS

1. Texas Strut
2. OK Buster
3. Most Dogs
4. Chickenwire
5. Fire Fly
6. Guitar Man
7. Metro Line Mambo
8. Chinatown
9. Hot Chili
10. She Used To Be My Baby
11. Serves Me Right to Suffer
12. Mongolian Twist
13. 10,000 Footprints
All songs composed by Paul Filipowicz, except "Serves Me Right to Suffer", by Jimmy Dawkins

MUSICIANS

Paul Filipowicz - Guitar, Vocals
Ray Wright - Bass
Brian Howard - Drums
Calvin Owens & His Houston Horns [ N.B: On this album, the horns were overdubbed at a later date ]

REVIEWS

Honest artist, deeply in love with the music he plays, Paul Filipowicz gives us a courageous album he has recorded live, which is something that could at first sight seem easy but it is not really true, because if any musician or band have instrumental or technical lacks, a live performing makes them evident. But this does not happen on singer and guitar player Paul Filipowicz performing, because he really knows what he is doing, and becomes the leader of the pack, with his powerful flaming guitar skills. His energetic straight rock-blues keeps the intense climax along the whole cd, not only with his guitar solos but also with his dramatical voice he takes full advantage of despite his stylistic limitations. Twelve Paul Filipowicz own songs and a Jimmy Dawkins’ version, complete cd based on terrific electrifying work that will act like an electroshock for the most neurotic brains. VERY GOOD. © www.lahoradelblues.com/index.html

This is Paul's first "Live-No Jive" recording. Smokin' hot blues guitar with solid backing just jumps off the disc. You can feel the Saturday Night Juke Joint July heat sizzle as they bump, grind, slide and shuffle through. © cdbaby.com

SHORT BIO [ "Paul Filipowicz is his music, and that music speaks for itself". © www.paulfilipowicz.com/bio.htm ]

Singer, songwriter, guitar, harp. Born Chicago 3/24/50. He was raised in the Lockport, Ill. corn fields in the 1950’s. "My sisters played piano in church and of course we all sang there. About the only other music we could get was the radio." One night while cruising the dial Filipowicz pulled in a radio station out of Tulsa, OK. They played Wolf, Sonny Boy (II) and Muddy Waters back to back. That was his first exposure to blues. He first witnessed live blues in 64 or 65, while waiting outside a club on Chicago’s South Side “It was boiling hot about 2p.m. and these people were all dressed up and going into this air-conditioned club.” Otis Rush and his band were tearing it up right there in broad daylight. Electric guitar was it! Learning by ear was about the only way to go about a blues education in those days. “I was playing without a pick and the first time I heard Magic Sam it clicked. The phrasing was what I was hearing.” Over the 30 plus years of fronting his own band, Filipowicz has played venues from the mid-west to Denver to stints in Texas and Mississippi. Some of his fondest memories are the shows with “Hound-Dog Taylor “and “Mighty Joe Young” in the 70’s. “That’s where I met Ken Saydak, he was with Joe then, I never thought we’d be working together some day”. Ken appears with Paul on “Chinatown”. After a version of Sam’s “All Your Love” Joe told Paul “That was nice, keep it up”. “Mr. Taylor would even grunt when he’d see me”. Lefty Dizz “Man he just won a thousand bucks playin cards the night before, did we have a time.” Jimmy Dawkins would take Paul aside and give him pointers. Luther Allison was a great friend. He once told Paul “I know you’re a bluesman and you know you’re a bluesman and every time you take the stage you got to prove it”. “That knowledge is always with me, It seems just like yesterday, I am truly blessed” Paul said. He will make a special guest appearance at the “2004 Luther Allison Celebration” August 15, 2004, “Luther’s Blues” Madison WI. With 4 critically acclaimed CD’s under his belt, including two “Top 20 Texas Blues New Releases” in a row (1998 “Never Had It So Good”#14 and 1999 “What Have You Done For Me Lately” #7 Real Blues mag.) Paul’s original slashing guitar style has been established and documented. His latest release “Chinatown” is the logical next-step for a bluesman that has over the years warranted comparisons in such publications as, “Living Blues”, “Blues Revue”, “Soul Bag”, “Blues Access” and “Big City Blues", to such a diverse
group of great’s as John Lee Hooker, Albert King, Buddy Guy, and Albert Collins just to name a few. © www.paulfilipowicz.com/bio.htm