Ain't Got a Worry

You Zoo Freaks out there know a good groove when it rolls across the airwaves, and right now the Zoo Crew is laying down that easy, freewheeling feel with Paul Val's "Ain't Got a Worry" off the Steady Rock and Roller album. This one sits deep in the Texas blues rock pocket, the kind of track that makes you want to kick back on the bike or just let the wheels turn without a care. Paul Val, the Austin-based guitar slinger who goes by the full name Paul Val Hernandez, cut this as part of his debut EP back in 2020, and it captures that genuine, heartfelt delivery the band was chasing from the start. Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Omar Vallejo at 512 Studios right there in Austin, the whole EP carries an old-school sound that plenty of blues and rock players would envy, with Rich Baur on drums and JD Seguin on bass locking in the groove. The band even put word out that a chunk of the proceeds from Steady Rock and Roller would go to support the Austin venues keeping the live music scene alive, places like Antone's, the Continental Club, and C-Boy's. That's the spirit of it, looking out for the rooms that give the music room to breathe.

What's wild about "Ain't Got a Worry" is how it lives on the road and in the clubs. Paul has been known to stretch it out live, turning the studio cut into a full medley that weaves in pieces of other rock and soul classics. Down at the Continental Club in Austin, the same legendary room that once hosted Stevie Ray Vaughan and has seen everyone from Leon Bridges to Jack White, he took the song and rolled it into a medley that pulled in bits of Ozzy Osbourne, Kansas, Sister Sledge, and even Pantera. It shows the roots he came up with, that mix of heavy rock energy and the blues that stuck with him. Fans who caught those nights talk about the heat in the room, the way the band would heat it up and get the crowd moving, with Paul calling out to the rock and rollers in the house and making sure everybody felt that carefree roll. The song itself is built on that simple, rolling idea of not having a worry, just letting the music carry you, and when he stretches it live it becomes this celebration of the road, the venues, and the people who show up to keep it going. Over on his socials and in interviews he has shared how the music is about staying true, about pouring heart and soul into the live experience, and how the fans who come out or share the tunes help keep an independent artist moving forward.

Paul Val got his start far from the Austin clubs that now pack out for him. Born in Riverside, California, out in that desert stretch, he picked up music early and has been at it since he was about nine years old. His first concert was a Gwar show, the kind of wild, over-the-top scene with the fake meat shredders and the mosh pits, and that raw energy stuck with him. He came up on punk rock, the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, Black Flag, that whole angry, emotional wave, before moving into heavier rock and roll. Then around age fifteen he discovered the blues and never looked back. In one of those Austin Artist Spotlight interviews he talked about how the Texas blues greats pulled him in hard, names like Lonnie Mack, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Freddie King, Johnny Winter, Albert Collins, W.C. Clark, and Jimmie Vaughan. He would think about what Gary Moore would do if the groove was slipping, and he carried that fire. Growing up in Riverside he always felt the pull of Texas music, even dressing the part, and when he could not find other kids his age into that sound he said screw it and headed for Austin. First stop was the Skylark Lounge on the east side, where he befriended Soul Man Sam. Sam would let him sit in, put him on stages he might not have reached so quick, and that mentorship opened the door. Paul has said those early gigs were just another person to play for, another dollar to put away, but it built into something bigger.

From there the music took on its own life. He started on Fender Stratocasters, moved through Gibson Les Pauls looking for his own voice, and settled into a groove-oriented, roots-inspired style that renews the traditional blues. People hear that Texas blues, rock and soul blend and some even call him the next Stevie Ray Vaughan for the way he handles the Strat and commands a room. He has sold out nights at the Continental Club, C-Boy's, Antone's, and other Austin spots, opened for folks like Jonathan Tyler, Band of Heathens, Black Joe Lewis, and Walter Trout, and hit festivals from SXSW to Texas Music Fest. In recent years the European tours have come through, packing rooms in Spain and France with that same power trio energy. On the Steady Rock and Roller EP he was already talking about keeping the music real and true, and that carries through. You can catch more of the story and the tunes over at his official site paulval.com, where he keeps the updates rolling. Follow along on Facebook at Paul Val and on Instagram at @paulval for the gig announcements, the live shots from those Continental Club nights, and the word on new music. The Zoo Crew digs spinning this one for the Zoo Freaks because it feels like the open road and the late sets at the clubs, the kind of record that fits right in with the freeform album rock we love here at THE ZOO. It is the sound of somebody who found the blues, stuck with it, and keeps carrying that legacy forward one show at a time, no worries in sight.