The Lava Blue Band
Red Hot Rhythm and Blues
Charlie Gombar
Charlie started playing guitar at age 11 in his native New York City. He was soon in bands playing in and around New York. Early influences were Harrison, Clapton, Paige, etc., but he soon discovered the Blues guitar giants. He was heavily influenced by the Kings - especially BB and Albert. He took a break from music to concentrate on his education eventually getting a PhD in Pharmacology (his day job!). In the early 90s he started playing seriously again, learning more jazz and swing and forming the Cellar Dwellars who played mostly around the Philadelphia area. Scott and Charlie then formed Lava Blue in 2001. In addition to playing with Lava Blue, Charlie has recorded with the Paris-based musician Gerard Emilien. http://www.emilien-music.com
Paula Skutnick-Henley
Classically-trained pianist and theatrical composer Paula Skutnick-Henley was first introduced to the Blues as a kid through early records of the likes of Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith, Blue Lu Barker, and Meade Lux Lewis. Since then, she has been heavily influenced by the incomparable Dr. John, Johnny & Edgar Winter, Marcia Ball, Katie Webster, Professor Longhair, Lavay Smith, Maria Muldaur, Paco de Lucia, and Roomful of Blues. In addition to her “day jobs” as a psychologist and a piano teacher, Paula likes to write any kind of music that moves or grooves. She has played or sat-in with Bob Dorough (in NYC), Peter Ecklund (of the David Bromberg Band), The Rivers (Rockabilly), The Blackbird Society Orchestra, The Juke-Rockers, and the late great guitar legend Danny Starobin. When not playing, you can find her swing-dancing the night away. She joined Charlie and Scott (and sometimes Seth) in 1999; and in 2001 Lava Blue was born. 
Bob Lombardo
Bob has played guitar since he was a teenager living in New York. He joined his first band as a rhythm guitar player, and then progressed to bass guitar player in the soul band “East Coast West”. He has played in various soul/funk bands around New York and the southwestern U.S. Bob was influenced by jazz/fusion bassist Jaco Pastorius and Stanley Clark which accounts for his style of blues bass.Like many teens growing up in the 70’s, Bob’s first exposure to blues was through the blues-rock songs played by bands of that era. His interests in getting to the roots of Rock and Roll led him to playing classic blues songs. While living in the Chicago area, Bob paid many visits to the downtown Chicago blues clubs where he heard the finest blues musicians around. He has since become a student of the blues music he loves so much.
Bob contributes to the rhythm of the Lava Blue sound. You can hear his voice singing high harmonies in the Lava Blue arrangements, or as lead vocalist in selected songs.
