Legendary Muddy Waters Blues
Band Member & Multiple Blues Music
(W.C. Handy) Award Winner,
Paul Oscher -blues singer, songwriter and multi- instrumentalist (harmonica, guitar, piano, bass harp and melodica) was the first caucasian musician to become a member of the great Muddy Waters blues band (1967- 71). He was Muddy’s harp player and recorded with Muddy for the legendary Chess label. Paul lived in Muddy’s house on Chicago’s Southside and shared the basement with the great Otis Spann.
His last release Down in the Delta 2006 won two (WC Handy) Blues Music Awards for “Acoustic Album of the Year” and “Acoustic Artist of the Year.” Paul’s Album Alone with the Blues was nominated for four W.C. Handy awards.
Paul's new album “Bet on the Blues”, which is expected to be released later this year (Oct 2010), was recorded live and in the studio. This album contains performances from his acclaimed solo show “Alone with the Blues” and includes a great story about how Paul met Little Walter for the first time. The album also features a bass harp rendition of the jazz classic Round Midnight
Oscher’s been playing those low down blues for over four decades. Besides Muddy, Paul has performed and/or recorded with a who’s who in the world of blues including John Lee Hooker, T-Bone Walker, Big Mama Thornton, Otis Spann, Buddy Guy, Big Joe Turner, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Jimmy Rogers, Hubert Sumlin, Johnny Young, Johnny Copeland, Keb Mo, Mos Def, Victoria Spivey, Louisiana Red, Levon Helm, the list goes on.
In 2000, Paul Oscher moved to L.A. with his wife, playwright and novelist, Suzan-Lori Parks (the first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer prize in the drama category, for her play Topdog/Underdog. Urged on by his wife, Paul is also trying his hand at writing down his experiences in the blues. Excerpts from his almost finished book “Alone with the Blues” have already been published in the companion book to
the PBS series Martin Scorcese Presents the Blues.
Paul Oscher has lived such a rich and adventurous life, yet he is humbled by those experiences. “I always try to thank the high power. The real gift of talent is not the ability to be able to play, it is the gift of the love you have for the music. That’s what takes you over the hurdles.”
He learned the blues from the Masters and doesn’t play anything but the real, unadulterated, down-in- the-alley, gutbucket, stump jump blues. He is not a retro player. He just plays the blues the way he learned them…low down and lonesome and has been doing so for the last forty years. Deep Blues !
For info ,tour dates, bookings and more stories visit
check out Paul’s website at WWW.PAULOSCHER.COM
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