Bad Daddy

Bad Daddy’s musical perspective is a geographical brew of Chicago and coastal Maine where he’s a celebrated yacht designer. His style is a gritty, crunchy compression of classic blues and dank, sticky roots rock. That sound anchors the themes in his new record, “It’s a Mad, Mad Bad Dad World” — including its kickoff single, “Pork Pie Hat.” Shaken together it’s a modern cocktail of feel good, soul-filled tunes that groove and move.

In 2005, Paul Waring put a band together and called it The Bad Daddys. Their 2008 self-titled debut contained nine original tracks written and arranged by Waring and Maine brewer, Al Strong. After more than a decade of collaborations in Maine, and playing venues and festivals around the northeast, Bad Daddy released Beautiful Thing, a single and eulogy for a long-loved friend who died of cancer at age 56.

Bad Daddy’s 2022 release is Waring’s strongest work to date. The nine original songs on “It’s a Mad, Mad Bad Dad World” were honed over the last four years and the culmination of collaborations with Chicago friends and musicians the project was recorded during the pandemic. The record also contains a cover of Mighty Sam McClain’s “Where You Been So Long.”

It’s appropriate that Waring’s lead track on the new record is named “Blues at Home.” His new album is about home in a couple different ways. First, it’s the sweet home of the blues itself: Chicago. It’s also about Waring’s heart and his love for his wife and all the efforts they go to for bringing their previous families together with kids both in Chicago and Maine. But most of all it’s from his soul, the place where home is. It’s how Bad Daddy has chiseled his unique place in the blues.