Paul Lamb (born 9 July 1955, Blyth, Northumberland, England) is a British

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

harmonica player and bandleader. He has had a four-decade long career as a blues harmonicist and bandleader, with fans around the world.

Biography

Lamb started playing the harmonica during his childhood, inspired by

Sonny Terry Saunders Terrell (October 24, 1911 – March 11, 1986), known as Sonny Terry, was an American Piedmont blues and folk musician, who was known for his energetic blues harmonica style, which frequently included vocal whoops and hollers and oc ...

, and he was fortunate to meet and collaborate with him after beginning to perform in

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by the age of fifteen. Lamb played only acoustic blues until about 1980. Lamb also played alongside his heroes such as Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, and Brownie McGhee. He formed the Blues Burglars with guitarist Johnny Whitehill in the early 1980s, a formation that eventually became Paul Lamb & the King Snakes. They released an eponymous album with Ace Records in 1990, followed by several others, each building both Lamb's personal reputation as a harmonica player and the band's prestige. He was awarded the British Blues Connection's annual award for the best local harmonica player several years in a row while the King Snakes frequently took the title as best band.Larkin, Colin (1998) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Blues'', Virgin Books, , p. 219 As a consequence, his own harmonica skills have been in demand, and he had a

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in 1994 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

with the track, "Harmonica Man" (under the pseudonym of Bravado) with Pete Waterman. Lamb has also worked with Mark Knopfler,

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and Jimmy Nail, played on

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and film soundtracks, and various

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in the UK. Lamb was more recently inducted into the

British Blues Awards The British Blues Awards were inaugurated in 2010. The prize was awarded in various categories, such as 'Male vocals', 'Female vocals', 'Guitarist', 'Bass player' and 'Keyboard player', 'Blues band', 'Young artist', 'Blues album', 'Blues festival' a ...

Hall of Fame.
'' Blues & Rhythm'' magazine described his band as "lazily cocksure and coolly aggressive". In 2011 he recorded a session for Paul Jones'

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

show. Members of the King Snakes band have included singer/guitarists Johnny Dickinson and Chad Strentz, bassists Jim Mercer, Dave Stevens, and

Rod Demick Roderick Demick (born 17 March 1947) is a British guitarist and bassist who has played with many leading musicians. Life and career Born in Prestatyn in north Wales, Demick moved with his parents to Belfast, Northern Ireland, aged 5. He learned ...

, drummers Mike Thorne, Martin Deegan, Alan Savage, Daniel Strittmatter, and Sonny Below, and Paul's son Ryan on lead guitar.Rhodes, Graham (2008)
Review: Paul Lamb & The Kingsnakes in Warrington
, ''

Chester Chronicle ''Chester Chronicle'' is a local weekly newspaper distributed in Chester, Cheshire and North Wales. The first edition was published by founder John Poole on 2 May 1775. Editions are published every Thursday. In 2018, it had a circulation of 7,023. ...

'', 5 October 2008, retrieved 6 October 2012 In 2018 the band includes Paul Lamb, Ryan Lamb, Chad Strentz, Rod Demick and drummer Mike Thorne.

Discography

*''Paul Lamb & the King Snakes'' (1990) *''Fine Condition'' (1995) *''She's a Killer'' (1996) *''Shifting into Gear'' (1997) *''John Henry Jumps In'' (1998) *''The Blue Album'' (1999) *''Blues Burglars Whoopin (1999) *''Take Your Time and Get It Right'' (2000) *''Live at the 100 Club'' (2002) *''I'm on a Roll'' (2005) *''Snakes and Ladders Live'' (2007) *''

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'' (2010) *'' The Games People Play'' (2012) *''Hole in the Wall'' (2014) *''After Hours'' (2016) *''Live At The Royal Albert Hall'' (2017)

References

External links

* *

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Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lamb, Paul 1955 births Living people British blues musicians British harmonica players Blues harmonica players Harmonica blues musicians People from Blyth, Northumberland