Paul Cebar, that natty-hatted, guitar-wielding, tertiary color wearing singer man with the spectator shoes has had a long, illustrious career creating music that travels back and forward across eras, while also drawing on influences from around the globe. Paul is celebrating his new self-titled release with a concert at The Hook & Ladder.

 

Derek Houston (The Iguanas, Clifton Chenier, Antone’s 50th Anniversary Band) is flying up from New Orleans to join the band for this special show.

 

The new album, simply entitled PAUL CEBAR, explores themes of love, loss, resilience, and celebration—woven through with the sonic threads of soul, reggae, Tex-Mex, gospel, rock, and beyond. Cebar, known for decades as a beloved purveyor of R&B gems, world rhythms, and roots music, describes the new album as his most personal yet: “This one’s really where I’m at. This is me.” Produced in collaboration with Alex Hall (J.D. McPherson, The Cactus Blossoms), the album features members of Paul Cebar’s Tomorrow Sound band, along with notable contributions from his extended musical family in New Orleans and Chicago.

Known for his work in the R&B Cadets, Paul Cebar & The Milwaukeeans, and Paul Cebar Tomorrow Sound, Cebar has entertained audiences with infectious, dance-happy, genre-hopping music that has earned a loyal following from the public as well as his peers. Joe Elyhas described him as “an American original,” while Bonnie Raitt proclaimed: “I’ve been a fan of Paul’s for a long time.” Nick Lowe, meanwhile, hailed him as “the real thing: a proper soulful cat with the tunes, the chops and the voice to swing this epoch back to its senses.”

 

“Paul Cebar has been a musicians’ musician for as long as I’ve known him. Nothing wrong with that but how sweet it would be if at last the wider public could finally catch on to what the rest of us have known for all these years (in my case nearly thirty) that Cebar is the real thing: a proper soulful cat with the tunes, the chops and the voice to swing this epoch back to its senses.” – Nick Lowe