Five years after discovering the power of the Blues, Paul jammed with and was hired on the spot by none other than JOHN LEE HOOKER himself. He stayed with John's COAST TO COAST BLUES BAND, which included two of Chicago's finest and most in demand sidemen of the era, LUTHER TUCKER and GENO SKAGGS. During Paul's tenure with the band, he recorded three albums with JOHN LEE; "Never Get Out Of These Blues Alive", "Born In Mississippi Raised In Tennessee" and the live offering, "Kabuki-Wuki". Through his association with JOHN LEE, PAUL's guitar style matured quickly. While building his road-tested steelbelted vocabulary of Blues licks, PAUL was also afforded rare and unique pleasure of meeting and jamming with the legends and near legends that populate the Blues Universe. While JOHN LEE and MUDDY WATERS reminisced on the occasion of MUDDY's 54th birthday, PAUL was thrilled to experience the rare pleasure of playing slide guitar with MUDDY's early 70's road band which included MUDDY's legendary piano man, PINETOP PERKINS. PAUL's grasp of and appreciation for the incredible intimate experience of soul to soul communication, possible through the Blues, was immeasurably heightened by meeting and playing music with such Blues luminaries as JIMMY REED, CHARLIE MUSSELWHITE, VAN MORRISON, ELVIN BISHOP, L.C. Good Rockin'" ROBINSON, JOHNNY WINTERS and ROBERT CRAY. PAUL's inimitable Blues and Rock interpretations, as well as his original compositions and arrangements were tapped by THE TUBES to open for The Band at gigs in San Francisco, Marin, Oakland and Santa Cruz. PAUL's accoustical prowness was acknowledged when he opened for JAMES BROWN at the Circle Star Theatre in San Carlos, and, for the well known STEPHEN STILLS of "Crosby, Stills & Nash", in Santa Rosa. PAUL was on tour in Europe, recording his second album, featured in "Guitar Player Magazine" as a participant in the JBL sponsored festival in Amsterdam, with the band, "Liquid Fire", and worked the club circuit in Hamburg, Germany. Blues Master Paul Wood, is back in his hometown of Oakland, California kicking off the Blue Monday Sessions at Oakland's glamorous new Nightclub, The Uptown...(check his website for dates).