Biography
Richard Boals earned the nickname “blues guru” among devotees for his foundational role in shaping the blues community throughout the American Midwest. Between 1974 and 1995 he first gained recognition playing sideman duties across an array of show bands, country acts, and blues ensembles. From 1984 onward he strengthened that standing by hosting a weekly Monday-night jam session at the Dolphin Lounge in Gahanna, Ohio, a role he maintained until 1995. His musical interest began in the back room of his father’s restaurant, where he spent countless hours harmonizing to doo-wop records. At age eleven he played his first gig in a restaurant basement alongside childhood friends Soni Yinger and Al Peterson, then continued performing at parties and dances through his teenage years. After graduating high school in June 1970 he enlisted in the U.S. Navy, serving until January 1973, shortly after the Vietnam War ended. Five days following his honorable discharge he booked a pool-party engagement and assembled a new band. He remained an active figure in the Midwest blues circuit for more than two decades. While balancing performances with coursework at Ohio State University for ten years, he completed a bachelor’s degree in philosophy, after which he relocated to Denver and stepped away from music for a full year. He returned with the album Mystic City Mantras, recorded at Musical Rec Studios in Columbus, OH, and spent five weeks touring the United States in support. In June 1998 he issued the similarly forceful Pieces From the Eclipse. His direction shifted markedly in July 1999 with the all-acoustic On a Different Path. He then formed Richard P. Boals and the Soals, whose lineup included Al Peterson, Jack Miller, Cornbread Lyons, Steve Hill, Eddy Wilson, and his wife Beth; the group recorded Access Denied in October 1999 and followed with That’s the Truth the next year.
Albums