Paul Wood - Pirate Radio (2003)

1952, Oakland, California, USA. The son of beat poet Paul Tulley, Wood took up the guitar at the age of 11, soon turning to the blues. At 20 he was with John Lee Hooker as a member of the leading bluesman’s Coast To Coast Blues Band, touring with him for two years. In this band, Wood’s fellow sidemen included Elvin Bishop, Don ‘Sugarcane’ Harris, Van Morrison, Charlie Musselwhite and L.C. Robinson. Among recordings with Hooker was 1972’s Never Get Out Of These Blues Alive. After the Hooker tours Wood settled back in the Bay Area where he developed a strong local following for his band, the Bridgeburners, regularly playing and singing at the Monterey Blues Festival and also playing with rock-orientated bands. He toured Europe in the mid-90s from a base in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and towards the end of the decade, back now in the USA, he relocated to Memphis, Tennessee.

Woods began recording under his own name in the late 90s, and during the next few years greatly expanded his fanbase. During this period, he also began writing his own material, which echoed his deep interest in and knowledge of traditional blues. Sidemen in Wood’s own bands have included Al Gamble (keyboards), Jack Holder and Dave Smith (guitar), Lyn Jones (blues harp) and Richie Hayward and Steve Potts (drums). In 2004/5 Wood won first place in the JBL Blues Icon Contest.