Courtesy of Rino.
Audio By Carbonatix
When Rinus Pauel moved from Belgium to the United States, he never expected to be a full-time blues-rock musician.
In some ways, he has John Mayer to thank. While in his late teens, he saw Mayer in Copenhagen with his guitar’s pick guard in hand.
“I was waving my pick guard,” recalled Pauel, a Netherlands native who now lives in the East Valley.
“Then, mid-show, he stopped, signed my pick guard and we went back and forth a bit. He asked me if I wanted to be a musician. I told him I totally want to do this. He said, ‘You have to practice every fucking day for hours and hours and hours.’ He said I needed to write that down.” The pick guard is in his parents’ home in the Netherlands.
Pauel listened, and now his four-piece blues band, Rino, will represent Arizona at the 2026 International Blues Challenge in the genre’s home, Memphis, Jan. 13 to Jan. 17.
Courtesy of Rino
Twenty Beale Street clubs will host the challengers and fans. However, the acts do not know where on Beale Street they will perform until check-in.
In addition to featuring these final rounds of the blues music competition, the International Blues Challenge will offer seminars, showcases, master classes, film screenings, networking events, book signings, and receptions for blues societies, fans and professionals.
“This trip isn’t just about the competition,” said Pauel, who is raising funds on Rino’s website, rinomusic.com, to pay for the trip.
“It’s a chance to share our sound with the world, represent Arizona, and keep the blues alive for the next generation. I moved here from the Netherlands, a tiny country, like 15 million people in total. You hear these things, but it seems like a dream.”
Pauel said Rino could play covers in Memphis; however, the band is scored better when it performs original music. On Jan. 15, Rino — which also includes bassist Aviv Silverman, drummer Antonio Smith, and keyboardist/backing vocalist Jerred Williamson — will release the single “Cold, Cold Feeling.” Three other tracks will be released in late January.
The self-funded Rino released “Bottled Lightning,” a live album featuring seven new songs. He called the artsy album a collectible piece, as the music is on a clever USB drive. The limited-edition physical release will hit streaming soon.
“I designed the whole cover myself,” he said. “I designed the USB because I wanted it to be an art piece. I think it came out pretty cool, honestly.
“I figured it would be a good way to spread our music.”
The writing of songs like “Cold, Cold Feeling” comes naturally, but the process is “a strange thing,” he said.
“I have been writing songs, poems and lyrics for over 10 years, yet I still feel like I am only beginning to understand it,” he said.
“On one hand, it is a skill you can train. On the other hand, it depends on inspiration, timing and being in the right place to catch it.”
He penned “Cold, Cold Feeling” about four years ago, upon his move to Phoenix. His new musical family inspired him to write it.
“I was about to meet an older musician I really looked up to,” said Pauel, who moved to Arizona to be with his now-fiancée.
“I had been carrying an idea for a song in my head for days. Right after leaving, I finally wrote it. After I played it for him, he told me, ‘Hey, you really have something here. You should record it. You could really make it as a musician if you want to, you know?’ That gave me a lot of confidence at the time.”
“Cold, Cold Feeling” reflects Pauel’s longtime love of the genre and is one of the “first true blues songs I wrote that I felt genuinely good about.” Sticking with the genre, the song is about heartbreak.
“A girl left me for another man,” he said. “Generally speaking, I am not a jealous or controlling person. In this case, I had a feeling something was off. She told me there was no need for me to worry, yet this new guy came in so hurriedly. The song’s hook reflects the idea that even though it hurt, I would not let it break me. ‘I may have lost my groove, but I did not lose my control.”
“Sweetheart from Uptown” is one of the first tunes he was truly proud of.
“That is why releasing it feels so special,” he said. “I have played it for people all over the world for years. I remember writing it late at night after work, even though I had an early morning planned.
“It came from frustration with someone who I felt kept playing me. We were playing a game of cat and mouse for months. Some artistic freedom crept into the lyrics, but the feeling was real. It was about someone showing interest and disappearing again, playing ding-dong ditch with my heart. ‘Little miss run-around-your-doorbell, messing with your head till you run right back. You wish you’d never seen her face, instead.’”
Another song, “She’s Got Me Running,” was written in pieces in a rush. He penned the chord structure and some lyrics while hurrying to a college work session. His roommate was “literally trying to take the guitar from my hands because we were about to be late.”
“He left without me, but I stayed and wrote most of the song, which mattered to me more. I had a certain groove in my head that I needed to capture and record on my phone,” he explained about the song, which speaks to the end of a long relationship.
Pauel has lived a world of experiences. He worked overseas as a full-time, self-employed physical therapist specializing in running injuries and pushed music into the evening. His career took him on a run from the South Pole to the North Pole with a well-known extreme athlete.
“We traveled throughout South America and North America,” explained Pauel, who ran occasionally but served as a physical therapist to the runner.
He spent his time listening to music by the likes of D’Angelo, who was a huge influence.
“I was into rap and hip-hop and Jimi Hendrix, B.B. King and Santana,” he said. “D’Angelo really influenced me, too. My first group was called Brown Sugar because we loved his music. He’s one of those geniuses like Prince and Michael Jackson.”
Pauel reiterated his love for the American music scene, especially in Phoenix.
“It’s nuts coming from Europe, from the Netherlands, getting to America, and four years later, I’m here doing this. It’s a dream.”
Information about the 2026 International Blues Challenge is available at blues.org. From 8 p.m. to midnight Saturday, Jan. 10, the band performs at Local Legends, 7303 E. Main Street, Mesa.
