Paul Sanchez
is a New Orleans-born and based American guitarist and a singer-songwriter. Sanchez is best known as one of New Orleans finest song writers and was also founding member of the New Orleans band Cowboy Mouth. Sanchez was a guitarist and one of the primary singers and songwriters for the band from 1990 to 2006. Sanchez's songs have appeared in films and on television and have been performed by various artists such as Darius Rucker, Susan Cowsill, Kevin Griffin and The Eli Young Band, Hootie and the Blowfish, John Boutté, Shamarr Allen, Glen Andrews and Kim Carson.
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PAUL SANCHEZ TICKETS
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Biography
Paul Sanchez was born literally across the street from the
Mississippi River and grew up in
New Orleans, in the
Irish Channel section, a working class
Catholic neighborhood where his mother Sylvia was grew up. His father, Joseph Sanchez, was
Islenos from
Delacroix Island in
Louisiana who came to New Orleans as a boy after the flood of '27. He met sylvia, fathered eleven children and worked as a longshoreman until his death at 45. Paul was raised by his widowed mother along with ten brothers and sisters.
His first musical endeavor was in the New Orleans band The Backbeats, along with
Vance DeGeneres, Steve Walters and a drummer he was to encounter again in his career named
Fred LeBlanc.
He refined his art in the flourishing “anti-folk” scene during a stint in New York in the late eighties where he befriended artists
Michelle Shocked,
Brenda Kahn,
John S. Hall and
Roger Manning. He signed a deal as a solo acoustic performer with CBS records, but the record company underwent management changes and his agreement expired without producing any releases. Sanchez temporarily left the music business and worked as a production assistant on films
Sanchez ultimately returned to New Orleans in 1990 and helped form Cowboy Mouth along with
John Thomas Griffith (
Red Rockers), Paul Clement (
Woodenhead), and his former drumer from The Backbeats
Fred LeBlanc. The Mouth's popularity and ambitious touring schedule kept him on the road for most of 16 years. Though he contributed to the band’s catalogue, Sanchez was left unsatisfied. His desire to make music that was closer to his heart and better demonstrated his talent as a singer/songwriter led to a solo career that paralleled his day job as he recorded seven solo albums while performing his duties in the band.
When
Hurricane Katrina ravaged the gulf, Sanchez was on tour with The Mouth. Attempting to process the extent of the losses, he stayed on tour and wrote along with Leblanc and Griffith a post-Katrina tribute, “Home”, which was featured in the Starz documentary "
New Orleans Music in Exile" and has since become a staple of his live shows. The song was released on the final album he recorded with Cowboy Mouth called
Voodoo Shoppe.
When being interviewed by
Ellen De Generes on her talk show that year, Sanchez was asked by Ellen what he loved about
New Orleans and he replied, " well, I'm pretty sure we invented a good time so if you ever had one..."
Sanchez's songs have appeared in
The Accused, starring
Jodie Foster,
Homicide: Life on the Street, the
Underneath, by
Steven Soderbergh, and on CMT's Travel America series. His song "
Hurricane Party" is a feature on
NPR every storm season. Sanchez was also music supervisor for, and appeared in, the independent film, At Last, starring
Martin Donovan and
Kelly Lynch. His song "At The Foot of Canal Street", co-written in 1999 with Sanchez's friend John Boutte, appears on the critically acclaimed Shout Factory New Orleans musical history boxed set "Doctors, Professors, Kings and Queens, a Big Ole Box Of New Orleans."
2008 also saw the re-release of a rewritten version of the title cut of Sanchez's first solo release
Jet Black & Jealous. The
Eli Young Band made the song the title cut of their major label debut on Universal/Republic.
Jet Black & Jealous made its debut at number 5 on the Billboard Country Album Charts in September 2008.
His release, "Between Friends", was a project that allowed him to write songs for some of his favorite singers including
Susan Cowsill,
Darius Rucker,
Kevin Griffin,
Mark Mullins,
Theresa Anderson and once again, long-time collaborator John Boutte'.
Soul Asylum’s
Dave Pirner produced his 2008 release of new material, "Exit to Mystery Street" (Threadhead Records). Sanchez also worked with Pirner on John Boutte’s latest album "Good Neighbor" (Threadhead Records), the material for which was a joint effort by both Sanchez and Boutte'. "Good Neighbor" was selected as Best Traditional Album of 2008 by
OffBeat Magazine.
2008 saw Sanchez record a version of the classic song "
If I Only Had A Brain" from
The Wizard Of Oz for a children's record called "Funky Kidz" which features performances by some of New Orleans finest players. Sanchez also made his first appearance on a jazz record singing "
Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans" on Shamarr Allen's release, "Meet Me On Frenchmen Street."
When he does play with a band (Paul Sanchez and The Rolling Road Show), it is a celebration of
New Orleans music and fun. Each member of the band sings and plays their own songs as well as Sanchez's.
Continuing to write with his favorite performers in
New Orleans, he co-wrote "Walking Through Heaven's Gate" with Glen David Andrews. It is the title cut of a gospel album released by Andrews on Threadhead Records at the start off 2009.
Sanchez's new release for Threadhead Records came out in March 2009. It is a duo record with his friend and collaborator John Boutte called "Stew Called New Orleans". It was recorded live at Piety Street Recording in New Orleans with Leroy Jones on trumpet, Todd Duke on guitar and Peter Harris on bass.
In April 2009, he released a book, a collection of essays Sanchez wrote about life, music and love in the new New Orleans. Titled "Pieces Of Me", it was published by Threadhead Records.
Paul resides in the
Treme section of
New Orleans.
Discography
Cowboy Mouth studio albums
- Word of Mouth
· 1992
- It Means Escape
· 1994
- Are You With Me?
· 1996
- Word of Mouth (Remix1)
· 1996
- Mercyland
· 1998
- Easy
· 2000
- Uh Oh
· 2003
- Voodoo Shoppe
· 2006
Cowboy Mouth live albums and EPs
- Mouthin' Off (Live & More)
· 1993
- Mouthin' Off (Live & More) (Remastered)
· 1997
- Cowboy Mouth LIVE! (limited edition 5-song EP issued with Mercyland)
· 1998
- Live in the X Lounge
"Jenny Says" · 1998
- All You Need Is Live
· 2000
- Live in the X Lounge
"Easy" · 2000 & 2001
- Uh Oh (5-song Preview EP)
· 2003
- Live at the Zoo
· 2004
Solo albums
- Stew Called New Orleans
2009
- Exit to Mystery Street
2008, produced by Dave Pirner, (Soul Asylum). Featuring guest appearances by Ivan Neville, Shamarr Allen, Susan Cowsill, James Andrews, Fredy Omar, & Craig Klein
- Washed Away
2007, a compilation of songs from his first 6 recordings, all lost in the levee failure in New Orleans
- Between Friends
2007, featuring guest appearances by Darius Rucker, John Boutte', Theresa Anderson, Jim Sonefeld, & Susan Cowsill.
- Hurricane Party
2000, produced by Tim Sommer. Featuring guest appearances by Susan Cowsill, Vicki Peterson of The Bangles, Peter Holsapple, & John Boutte'
- Live at Carrollton Station
1999, produced by Mike Mayeux
- Sonoma Valley
1998, produced by Mike Mayeux. Guest appearances by Susan Cowsill, John Boutte' & John Thomas Griffith
- Loose Parts
1997, produced by Peter Holsapple. Guest appearance by Susan Cowsill
- Wasted Lives & Bluegrass
1995
- Jet Black and Jealous
1993, recorded by Roger Manning
Awards & recognition
- Named New Orleans "songwriter of the year, 2000" by the Gambit Weekly readers' poll