It’s a freezing January day, the temperature in the mid-teens, and Paul Miles is sitting by the sidewalk on Warren Avenue, singing and playing his guitar.
Dressed in a black and silver suit with a silver tie and black vest, a white fedora atop his head, Miles calls out to passersby in between the signature high-pitched whoops that punctuate his vocals. In his music and appearance, the 57-year-old emulates Robert Johnson and other classic Delta bluesmen of the early 1900s.
“Hey!” Miles called to three women who look his way. “It’s not that cold!”
In his 15 years as a professional musician, Miles has worked with music luminaries like Taj Mahal and Koko Taylor, released nine albums and won five Detroit Music Awards. But he still plays on the street regularly.
“I enjoy that because it keeps me connected to what’s going on,” Miles said. “I don’t ever want to be above what’s going on.”
Miles’ infatuation with music goes back to the '60s. He grew up with a musical taste ranging from Richie Havens to Black Sabbath. As a youngster, he saw bands like The Stooges and Jethro Tull at the Goose Lake International Music Festival in Jackson, Mich., in 1970.
“I wanted to go to Woodstock but I had football practice,” he said.
While studying sociology at Bowling Green State University, Miles said he started performing solo acoustic music at local coffee shops.
“There were no amps, none of that stuff,” he said. “It was just purely acoustic music.”
With the Vietnam War still going on, the self-described “peace activist” also began to develop a sense of social consciousness, especially after his cousin died in Vietnam.
“It’s still the case you have today, with money being made off of someone else’s blood,” Miles said.
In 1995, while working as an actor in California, Miles had a unique experience that changed his life and career. He got a job as an understudy for Grammy-winning blues musician Keb’ Mo’ (formally known as Kevin Moore).
After Moore introduced Miles to the unique Delta blues guitar style, Miles dedicated himself to learning it. He practiced four hours a day for eight months.
“I had 25 years of doing another style,” he said. “It was like a baby crawling.”
He began getting jobs opening for European blues festivals, and in 2000 he brought his music to Detroit and began making connections with Detroit musicians, including the Rev.
Robert B. Jones, who interviewed Miles on the radio show he hosted on WDET.
“He performs with a sense of conscience,” Jones said. “He’s always trying to do something for society as a whole.”
Bill Reiser, project director of the Monroe County Library System’s Black History Month Blues Series, has booked Miles twice before and spoke highly of him.
“His authenticity is such a colossal part of his winning-stage persona,” Reiser said.
Miles credited networking as a major key to his success, especially with the advent of social networking sites like Myspace and Facebook. Miles maintains his own Web site and Myspace and Facebook pages.
“It’s connected me with musicians throughout the world,” he said. “The universal appeal of the music is outstanding.”
Japanese fans came to see him at a recent show he played in Memphis. He’s also making plans to return to Europe this summer, with stops scheduled in France and Switzerland.
Thirty years and an estimated 700 songs after his first coffee shop outings, Miles still maintains a sense of humility. His latest CD is entitled “Blue Collar Man.”
“Blue collar is not specific to gender,” he said. “It’s an attitude that we have to pull ourselves up. I’m pulling for the everyday man.”
More information on Miles can be found at paulmilesmusic.com.
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AJ's Music Cafe, Ferndale