Paddy Boy Zimmerman Band, The
The Paddy Boy Zimmerman Band
The Paddy Boy Zimmermann Band is the new blues rock band of the Monchengladbach guitarist Paddy Boy Zimmermann. Paddy has been working as a studio and live guitarist for various bands and solo artists for many years, regularly touring with them. Many know him as part of the duo Rob Collins & Paddy Boy and as the guitarist for the German blues harp virtuoso and multiple Blues Award winner Chris Kramer. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, he teamed up with his colleagues Rupi Schwarzburger from Meerbusch and Jan Wienstroer from Neuss to jam during the concert-free lockdown months. The three musicians were already familiar from various jobs and projects, and a fantastic band dynamic quickly developed. At that time, Paddy hadn't released any original material for about 15 years, and he started writing songs again. Back to the roots. Blues rock in the style of his heroes like the Rolling Stones, ZZ Top, Jimi Hendrix, or Rory Gallagher-the music that brought Paddy to the guitar as a child. The songs worked very well as a trio, and they decided to produce an album. The album was recorded in 2022 and 2023 in various studios, including Paddy's home studio. The tracks were mixed by Martin Meinschafer at the Megaphon Studios in Arnsberg. Many may know Meinschafer from his work with Henrik Freischlader, Layla Zoe, and Kai Strauss. Paddy produced the album himself. Bassist Rupi Schwarzburger is a seasoned professional who has played for the Weather Girls and Black Fooss. Drummer Jan Wienstroer played in the legendary Harald Schmidt Show Band and is also the drummer for the songwriter Wolf Maahn. The album features tracks from various blues rock styles and is very diverse within the genre. The two singles, the straightforward blues rocker "Scrambled Eggs" and the ballad "Way Too Soon," were released last year and received very positive feedback. The album has become very personal; for example, the song "Platform Two" addresses the meeting of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards in 1961 on Platform 2 in Dartford, the foundation for the formation of the Rolling Stones-the band that inspired Paddy to pick up a guitar as a child. "Alive Shuffle" is a tribute to good times, and "Green Boots" tells stories from the perspective of someone suffering from dementia, the disease from which Paddy's father passed away in 2014. The lyrics to "Spaghetti In The Night" were written the morning after a wild dream.