Paul “Bad Dad” Waring Photo by Chris Monaghan
Sometimes problems arise during an interview and that’s exactly what happened on April 26 when I chatted with Paul Waring (aka Bad Daddy) on the phone from his studio in Belfast. It was an informative conversation that went well until I hung up and discovered that I hadn’t pressed “record/start” on my tape recorder. Needless to say, the air turned blue as I hastily dialed my phone again to see if the singer/songwriter/guitarist was still available. Luckily he was, and after I explained my blunder, he laughed and we started over.
Q: I think we discussed your upcoming performances at Bruno’s and Hydeout at the Wharf on May 27 and 28, respectively, and I asked if you had ever played there at Hallowell before.
Warning : And the answer to that is “No”. I’ve never played at Bruno’s so we don’t know exactly how it’s arranged which is good because we often find ourselves in that situation at the various clubs we play here in Maine – many of which are restaurants.
Q: What will your show be about?
Warning : We’ll definitely cover all of my discography and a handful of covers that we do, and there’ll be merchandising and CDs and all kinds of stuff available. I would invite anyone to come chat with us – and meet with us – anytime.
Q: Speaking of CDs, you’ve released two albums, right?
Warning : Yes, it’s true.
Q: When did the first one come out?
Warning : The first one I did in 2008, and was sort of the product of work that a good friend of mine and I did when we were working together at the time. He’s since moved on and opened a brewery and has less time to focus on music, but we’re good friends and certainly music mates – we’re kinda simpatico into the same kind of styles within the genre blues that we like – so that comes out in our music and, certainly, I think that generally reflects pretty well on this first album that we did.
Q: What was this album called?
Warning : It was a self-titled record for the band I had then called The Bad Daddies… but that was a while ago and I’ve actually wanted to come up with this record for a while, probably since 2015 or so, but operating as a musician here in Maine offers many challenges, including staff.
Q: How so?
Warning : I went through a few years struggling to find the right mix of people to work with; it’s common for people who produce original music, you want to find people who like it, who want to engage in this process. So it wasn’t until a few years before the pandemic that I started working with the team I have now; it’s a good group of guys, but the pandemic situation has certainly really interrupted us. I thought I was gonna do the new album here in Maine, (but) I ended up in Chicago for a bit and decided to do it there with some friends I made there at course of the last decade. It was cool, a lot of fun, and it was really great to make a record in Chicago, actually.
Q: And since travel restrictions during this time kept you in Chicago, you could say the pandemic made your new album possible.
Warning : Yes, it’s true. It was literally January 2021 and I just felt like there was no end in sight and I was in the wrong place personally; emotionally I just felt drained, not happy, and then I realized, “Well, I’ve got all these songs written, what can I do here to bring it all together?” That’s when I turned to my buddies in Chicago and said, “Hey, how about I hire you guys to work on a project with me?” And they were excited to have something to do musically, and they liked the material, they thought the songs were good, I played them all my demos, and they were on board immediately. Then it became a real collaborative session to put everything in place.
Q: Since you made the album in Chicago with these musicians, will it translate here to Maine with a whole new group of musicians?
Warning : Well, the songs might be a little different from the album, but the message will come through clearly, and in a way it’s nicer to have a little more fluidity between different bands like that, the people playing what they hear rather than trying to copy, say, note for note; I agree with that.
Q: Well, I think it lends itself to the blues, doesn’t it?
Warning : Oh that’s right, yeah that’s a good point, and like any form of music, really, it’s a form of communication, regardless of genre, we all share similar ideas. But the beauty of blues, jazz, rock or soul, any of those genres, is the idea that there can be spontaneity.
Q: As we wrap up our discussion, is there anything, Paul, that you would like me to pass on to people reading this article?
Warning : Yes, I think it’s important to push my roots here in Maine as a musician doing blues and blues/rock, which is what I play. One of the things that I thought I could do with this album was just to step out of the fray a bit and bring some attention to myself.
Epilogue: As the author of this column, I have to say that after listening to “It’s A Mad Mad Bad Dad World”, what Waring and his team wrote in these 10 tracks is as solid and accurate as anything I’ve heard. heard on Beale Street in Memphis. . This album and the guy who made it are the real deal – if you love the blues you have to listen to them both!
Lucky Clark, winner of the 2018 “Keeping the Blues Alive” award, has spent more than 50 years writing about good music and the people who make it. He can be reached at [email protected] if you have any questions, comments or suggestions.
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