St. Paul and the Broken Bones

On 31 October 2026 St. Paul & The Broken Bones will play at TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht. The band from Birmingham, Alabama builds on the Southern soul tradition and casts it in a contemporary light: a tight rhythm section, keyboards that outline the contours, and a horn section that drives the songs, with influences from R&B, gospel and a touch of funk. Around singer Paul Janeway and bassist Jesse Phillips the group sounds like an ensemble live: the songs revolve around Janeway’s expressive voice, tight grooves and arrangements that stretch the dynamics and then pull them back in.

From Half the City (2014) to Angels in Science Fiction (2023) they have widened their palette from retro soul to more psychedelic and atmospheric hues. That thread runs through the set: direct and rhythmic, with room for texture and layered horns. What began as a studio project was honed in clubs, theaters and festivals across the US and Europe; you can hear that experience in the band’s sense of tension and release and in the way they listen and change gears. Soul with an edge, where horns and grooves carry the story and the song remains central.