Paul Bergen & Friends at White Squirrel Bar (Sep 10, 2025)

On a cool and beautiful late summer evening, the live music inside a very dark The White Squirrel Bar was cool as ice with local guitarist Paul Bergen performing “with friends”.

Paul Bergen is a rock/blues/R&B guitarist who has been performing solo and in bands in the Twin Cities for decades. A good starting point is the album Puddle of Tears, re-released in Bandcamp in 2023 from a late 90’s album featuring his own original songs. Bergen appeared on stage leading a quintet (guitar/vocals, guitar/harmonica/backing vocals, guitar, bass, and drums) and immediately went into a bluesy sounding number with a long instrumental introduction before Bergen’s deep, husky vocals entered. That R&B rock sound kicked in soon, even as more audience members drifted into the bar. Bergen was a no nonsense performer, choosing to let the music do the majority of the talking. Quick discussions by the band between numbers showed they were deciding songs on the fly. A change in lead vocalist gave a more conversational singing style before heading into the instrumental section. I was intrigued by the way all three guitarists got to take lead duties, and really, vocals seemed very secondary to the guitars.

One of the things I’ve come to watch is how much the lead of a band feels the need to control the spotlight. Bergen was a sharer, happily and routinely giving the center of attention to his backing band. An amusing mock up of Walking in Memphis was a lot of fun. The first real bit of banter included Bergen saying, “some of you know this, others may not, but we’re making this s**t up as we go”, before another blues rock instrumental kicked off. Bergen’s gruff voice was perfect for the genre, and a song with slide guitar effect only cemented that impression. A surf rock number was an excellent curveball to end the first set. The second set picked up where they had left off, starting with T for Texas, a Lynyrd Skynyrd cover and quite the jam (the way Bergen went vocally all the way down on the lyric “like a dirty dog” was terrific). We got a guest musician on the drums who Bergen had run into for the first time in a while (seemingly years!) between sets. With the original drummer moving to tambourine, it highlighted the ease with which the musicians were playing. Nearly thirty minutes into the set and just finishing the third song told you everything you needed to know about the improvisations the band was taking. An unreleased song, I’m Coming Home, for an upcoming record was a late entry and was a good capstone for the evening. One more song and Paul Bergen and band wrapped up their time on stage, with a happy bar crowd either ready to head out into the night or staying for another drink and the next performer.