The 2023 Yerba Buena Center for the Arts 100 List of Honorees have been selected and this year, Paul Steward will be awarded for his work in cultural and musical promotion and ambassadorship in his community and for serving as a Native American educator.
2XG Records is proud to announce a third single release by the artist Paul Steward, his rendition of the 1968 Soul music classic, "Send My Baby Back" originally performed by Freddie Hughes, an SF Bay Area born and raised singer who passed away in January of 2022. His music, inspiration, and friendship will live on. Please enjoy this track!
Streaming on Spotify, AppleMusic, YouTube, Tidal, Pandora, Amazon, and all major music networks
Register for free here to watch the concert (March 17th 2022, 7pm Pacific Standard Time)
https://sfsu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEpdO6vrDwjHdZH0GXJRSwexWYFVlZCgc5u
Public voting at; nativeamericanmusicawards.com
"Double Down" is nominated for the Best Blues Recording category in the 2022 Native American Music Awards!
Please vote for Twice As Good
Our newest song, "Myanik Xe (Beautiful Music)" by Twice As Good is out now, streaming on all major music websites. It is a blend of contemporary Blues and our traditional Pomo style beats and chants, sung completely in Southeastern Pomo dialect. Myanik (mee-ya-nick) means beautiful and Xe (hey with a grunt) means music.
You can hear the Pomo clapper stick keeping the steady beat, also making a guest appearance is Rich's younger brother / Paul's uncle Leroy Smith singing his own melody in the background of his hand-games gambling song "Way-wen-ah"
Paul's new single, "That's Where You Are," is out and streaming on all platforms. Written by the artist Slam Allen, this Gospel-tinged Blues/Rock song is a passionate vocal and guitar piece with a powerful groove.
Listen now on YouTube, Spotify, AppleMusic, Line Music, Pandora, Amazon, or you can find it on any major streaming platform.
Check out the latest single by Twice As Good, a cover of Jimmy Reed's "Honest I Do" with a unique spin of the 2XG style.
Listen on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OK0SCSXqDsY
Or find it on any of your favorite streaming services.
A new single release by Paul, "Come on Girl" is out and available now on all streaming stations: Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music, YouTube, Pandora, Tidal, Amazon, and more! Listen now
paul2xg.com
thank you everyone, and keep rockin'!
The new album, Double Down, is getting lots of radio play in Italy and charted in the top 25 on Radio Banda Larga network. Grazie!
Our new CD, "Double Down" is getting great reviews from all around the world. Here's what they are saying in Belgium (in Dutch)
https://rootstime.be/index.html?https://rootstime.be/CD%20REVIEUW/2021/FEB1/CD93.html
http://www.bluesblastmagazine.com/issue-15-6-february-11-2021/
A father-son duo who’ve been touring nationally since 2003, Twice As Good have seen more than their share of troubles since releasing their most recent album, That’s All I Need, seven years ago – surviving raging wildfires that charred California on an annual basis before coronavirus struck. But Rich Steward and son Paul are true blues survivors who set the nights ablaze with their own brand of tunes.
Members of the Pomo tribe who call Elem Indian Colony on the shores of Clear Lake north of San Francisco home, the Stewards – aka 2XG — are among the most decorated Native Americans performing today after learning their trade from Richard’s mother and Hank Gonzalez, an older cousin and country music star who enjoyed a large following in the region.
In addition to being semi-finalists in the 2016 International Blues Challenge, two of their previous albums took top honors in the Annual Indian Summer Music Awards, blending the blues of B.B. King, the soul of Al Green and the Indigenous rhythms of the reservation into a highly danceable style of music that’s all their own.
Recorded and mixed at Elevated Studios in Santa Rosa, Calif., and the seventh album in their career, Paul handles most of the instrumentation, switching off lead guitar, bass keys harmonica, tenor sax and drums and Richard on rhythm guitar. He shares vocals with Richard, who handles rhythm guitar. They’re augmented by one-song guest appearances from Kevin Stewart and Robert Reason on keys, Robert Watson on bass and Julius Johnson on drums.
Once the go-to set closer in Chicago, Freddie King’s familiar “Hide Away” kicks off the action, differing from the hundreds of previous covers because of the rapid-fire shuffle triplets from the bottom that drive it and clever turns during lead guitar breaks. The original, “Let’s Fall in Love,” takes the disc in another direction, opening with a brief keyboard intro that hints of a ballad before sliding quickly into a modern soul-blues that urges a lady to take a chance at romance – primarily because the couple are in the same room.
“Come and Get Your Love” — a No. 5 Billboard Hot 100 hit for the rock band Redbone, a mix of Mexican-Americans and members with Yaqui and Shoshone heritage – undergoes a pleasant, percussive update perfect for the dance floor before a sprightly, traditional take on Elmore James’ “Shake Your Moneymaker” and reimagined retelling of B.B.’s “I Like to Live the Love” in which Paul surprisingly eschews King’s familiar six-string runs to make the song far more than a simple cover – a welcome break from the norm.
The original “Walkin’” is a Steward original that’s built on the pattern of Jimmy Rogers’ Chicago blues, “Walking By Myself,” but differs enough in tempo, arrangement and lyrics to stand on its own. It gives way to a fresh, breezy rendering of Eddie Floyd’s ‘60s Memphis pleaser, “I’ve Never Found a Girl (to Love Me Like You Do),” which gets a jazzy update and a son-father call-and-response that would make the creator smile.
The original ballad, “Don’t Give Up on Love,” flows effortlessly to follow as it offers up a bit of hope for the brokenhearted as it urges a romantic partner to give the singer one more chance for redemption. A fairly faithful reading of John Lee Hooker’s “Boom Boom” offers up fresh instrumental breaks before Paul’s “I’m Placing My Bet” – a loping blues delivered by Richard – doubles down in its promise to live life to the fullest to close.
Available as a download from Spotify and other online sites or as a disc from the band’s website (address above), 2XG delivers an understated treat here for anyone with an ear for a good time. Upbeat and welcome in an era of doom and gloom.
Blues Blast Magazine Senior writer Marty Gunther has lived a blessed life. Now based out of Charlotte, N.C., his first experience with live music came at the feet of the first generation of blues legends at the Newport Folk Festivals in the 1960s. A former member of the Chicago blues community, he’s a professional journalist and blues harmonica player who co-founded the Nucklebusters, one of the hardest working bands in South Florida.
It's here! The new studio album we have been working hard on all year.
Releasing digitally on 12/20/20; you can download it through iTunes and Amazon Music or stream it on Spotify, iTunes Music, YouTube Music, and all other platforms.
The CD is in production for release early next year. Follow the link to purchase and pre-order.
four new singles out! During this pandemic shutdown, 2XG has been working hard in the studio to share new recordings for your listening enjoyment.
They are available to listen on Spotify, iTunes Music, YouTube, Tidal, and pretty music anywhere you can find music online. As well as right here on our website music player.
click on the channel names to access:
October 20th, 2019 - Twice As Good will perform at the Crocker Art Museum of Sacramento California as the featured musical artist. The event is called, "We Are Here: A Festival of Contemporary Native American Art"
2XG will be performing their hits and classic show repertoire, as well as presenting some new songs.
We are honored to be referenced in the newly published 'Native American Alamanac' by Yvonne Wakim Dennis, A. Hirschfelder, and S. Flynn; published by Visible Ink Press https://www.visibleinkpress.com/t159/Native-American-Almanac-More-Than-50000-Years-of-the-Cultures-and-Histories-of-Indigenous-Peoples 
Twice As Good has won the North Bay Bohemian newspaper's annual music awards, The North Bay Music Awards, for best Blues/R&B band!!
2XG was founded in Santa Rosa in 2003 and now we are proudly recognized as a revered and well known band of the region.
2XG thanks their fans for their support and friendship through the years and dedicates their achievements to them.
*Paul Steward selected Honoree of the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts YBCA 100 List, San Francisco, March 2023.
*Nominated for the 2022 Native American Music Awards Blues Album of the Year, for the album "Double Down", New York, May 2022.
*Featured Performer at the Native Contemporary Arts Festival "When I See Red" by the Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento CA, October 2019.
*Chronicled in the “Native American Almanac: More Than 50,000 Years of the Cultures and Histories of Indigenous Peoples” as notable performing artists, by Y. Dennis, A. Hirschfelder, S. Flynn, April 2016.
*Winners of the 2016 North Bay Music Awards by the North Bay Bohemian newspaper, Blues/R&B Band category, August 2016.
*Semi-Finalists in the 32nd annual International Blues Challenge, Memphis TN, January 2016.
*Representing the Clear Lake Blues Society, Lake County California, in the 2016 International Blues Challenge, November 2015.
*Nominated for the 14th Independent Music Awards, Blues Album category, for CD "That's All I Need", Clifton NJ, March 2015.
*Featured on SiriusXM-BB King's Bluesville station, album "That's All I Need", September 2014.
*Winners of the Silicon Valley Blues Society Band Challenge, San Jose CA, November 2014.
*Nominated for the 15th Annual Native American Music Awards, "Back To Clearlake Oaks" album. New York, 2014.
*Headlining Band at the Living Earth Festival by the National Museum of the American Indian, Washington DC, July 2014.
*Featured at the National Museum of the American Indian "Native Sounds Downtown" Concert Series, New York City NY, July 2014.
*Featured article in the Press Democrat, TimeOut section (Arts & Entertainment), Santa Rosa CA, March 7th, 2014.
*Winner of the Blues Category at the 10th Annual Indian Summer Music Awards, CD "Back To Clearlake Oaks", Milwaukee WI, September 2013.
*Great CD Review in Living Blues Magazine for album "Back To Clearlake Oaks", USA, December 2012.
*Headlining Band at the Scottsdale Culinary Festival, Scottsdale AZ, April 2012.
*Headlining Band at the Miccosukee Resort & Gaming American Indian Day Festival, Miami FL, September 2011.
*Featured article in the San Francisco Chronicle Datebook (Arts & Entertainment), San Francisco CA, January 9th, 2011.
*Winners of the "Best Blues Recording" Award, 2010, the Native American Music Awards, album "If That's All Right With You", Niagara Falls NY, November 2010.
*Winners of the Last Band Standing Competition at Pala Casino Resort, Oceanside CA, October 2010.
*Awarded the "Best New Blues Band" Award by the West Coast Blues Hall of Fame, Oakland CA, March 2010.
*Showcased band in the River Rock Casino T.V. commercial, Northern California, September 2009.
*Featured Showcase Entertainment for the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas NV, November 2008.
*KBSC-TV Recorded Concert Broadcasts, live at Everett's Bar & Club, Crescent City CA, June 2008.
*Nominated for an "Outstanding Musical Achievement" award by First Americans in the Arts, Beverly Hills CA, March 2008.
*On the cover of "News From Native California" magazine, Fall 2007 issue, Berkeley CA, October 2007.
*Winners of the "Battle of the Bands" at Coyote Valley Casino, Redwood Valley CA, November 2004.
