Home Cookin'

Home Cookin' is a small ensemble that's big in talent. The lineup tends to shift a bit in terms of personnel but never in the quality of talent represented. Vocalist Brenda Boykin can be heard on the combo's albums Home Cookin' and Afrobilly Soul Stew. The former, a Blue Dot Records release in 1997, features a number of hot classics, among them "Since I Met You Baby" and "She'll Have to Go." It also includes a few Boykin-penned numbers, such as "The Road I Choose" and "Tickle Me." Like Boykin, highly regarded blues guitarist Anthony Paule appears on both albums. So, too, do bass player Tim Wagar and drummer Tyler Eng. Pianist Jim Pugh, who has worked with both Chris Isaak and Robert Cray, appears on all but two of the self-titled album's 14 tracks. He, too, returned for the 2000 Blue Dot release Afrobilly Soul Stew, which also featured saxophonist Charles McNeal. Like its debut, the band's sophomore effort also included a number of songs written by Boykin, among them "Zydeco Gumbo" and "Brown Sugar Baby."

In 2000, Home Cookin' played Belgium's Ecaussinnes Spring Blues Festival. The band also performed throughout Italy that same year. In 1998, the Mean Street Blues compilation featured a cut from the combo's debut album. Guitarist Paule and singer Boykin previously performed together for almost a decade as members of the San Francisco-based Johnny Nocturne Band. Boykin also frequently performs with guitarist Eric Swinderman, and has spent time in an outfit dubbed Brenda Boykin & the Bad Boys. The Bay Area Music Awards (Bammies) honored her in 1997 with a nomination in the category of Best Vocalist. In addition, both Boykin and Paule have put out solo albums.