Paul Janeway might need a daily dose of hot tea and honey, but it’s all for a good cause.

Janeway, frontman of Birmingham’s St. Paul and the Broken Bones, is using his most valuable asset -- his soul-stirring voice -- to help unemployed members of the band’s crew. In a project called “Paul Sings 2 U,” Janeway is creating 100 videos for fans, singing one song in each video and adding a customized message.

Fans paid $50 per video, selecting a tune from St. Paul’s catalog -- “Apollo" and “Broken Bones and Pocket Change” have earned the most requests, Janeway says -- or choosing a cover in the band’s repertoire. (Examples include “Controversy” by Prince and “I’ve Been Working” by Van Morrison, both featured on St. Paul’s latest tour.)

All proceeds from the project -- $5,000 total -- will go to the hard-working folks who toil behind the scenes when the soul-rock band performs in concert.

Like most professional musicians, the members of St. Paul & the Broken Bones have been greatly affected by the coronavirus pandemic. St. Paul’s live shows, a primary source of income, were canceled when the virus took hold in the United States and large public gatherings were deemed unsafe.

“I think our business will be one of the last to get back to normal," Janeway says. "Live music and touring is the lifeblood of 95 percent of bands working right now. We do make a little bit of money from record sales and things like that, but a lot of bands don’t.”

St. Paul hasn’t performed in public since March 6, when they played a set at the Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival in Florida. The band has taken a financial hit, Janeway says, but its crew members have been slammed even harder.

“We’re trying to figure out ways to get people paid,” Janeway says during an interview with AL.com. “We’re going to have to get creative. It’s as simple as that.”

At first, Janeway says, he thought about reviving the time-honored concept of singing telegrams.

“People would pay a certain amount of money and I would go sing to them at their door,” he says. “I thought that would be fun and lift people’s spirits. But the problem is security and people not touching."

A safer route, Janeway decided, would be to create one-of-a-kind videos that include customized messages: a birthday greeting, perhaps, or anniversary congratulations. When he announced the “Paul Sings 2 U” project on April 7 via social media, the response was immediate. The first batch of 50 videos sold out, and a second round of 50 followed suit.

Janeway says the videos rely on a simple concept -- he performs solo, singing directly into a cell phone -- and the intention behind them is heartfelt.

“What we try to do is bring a little light,” Janeway says. “The purpose is twofold: to raise money and make people feel better. At first, (the beneficiary) was going to be MusiCares. Then we thought: Why don’t we just help our crew? Our crew, that’s our road family, the people I get really concerned about."

Over the past week or so, Janeway has been exercising his pipes during the video performances, singing a cappella or accompanying himself on guitar. In some cases -- for the song “Dixie Rothko,” for example -- the singer had to relearn a St. Paul original that’s fallen off the band’s setlists.

“We haven’t played ‘Dixie Rothko’ in five years,” Janeway says. “I had to go online to look up the lyrics. We quit playing it live because it shredded my vocal cords."

Janeway’s not complaining, though, just explaining the need to pace himself as he powers through the project. (The videos are scheduled to be completed and emailed by April 27.)

“Actually, it’s been a little harder than I thought it would,” Janeway says. “The first day I buckled down to do it, I did 23 and thought, ‘OK.’ The next day, my throat was really sore.”

Now Janeway’s taking a slower approach to the videos, making sure his voice stays strong for repeat performances. Eleven renditions of “Apollo” are on his agenda, for instance, and Janeway says he’s making sure each person receives a video that’s unique.

“It’s been kind of fun to see what people are picking, and fun to relearn these songs,” he says. “Obviously, we can’t get too high-tech, but I’m trying to give a different performance each time.”

Janeway says he’s not sure how the $5,000 raised by “Paul Sings 2 U” will be divided among seven or eight crew members, but need is likely to be an important factor.

“This isn’t going to change our crew’s life or anything, but they are so vital and so important," Janeway says. "You just follow your moral compass and do what you can. Is it enough? I don’t know. But you try to take care of the people who take care of you.”

Janeway says he’s willing to continue with the custom-video concept, but “it’ll be a second before I can do more.” He’s not ruling out the singing telegram idea, either, but says safety comes first.

In the meantime, St. Paul & the Broken Bones covered Radiohead’s “Lucky” in a video that features artwork by guitarist Browan Lollar. It’s the first installment in a new series of covers on the band’s social media platforms, Janeway said on Instagram.

“Our recording setup at home, everyone’s is at least decent,” Janeway says. “We’ve got a few ideas. We’re going to do a live stream and things like that, too. If I’m sitting at home through the fall, you can bank on it."

St. Paul & the Broken Bones planned to release a new album in 2021, and that hasn’t changed, Janeway says. If nothing else, the touring hiatus has given him extra time for songwriting, and Janeway expects to have a significant stash of material when he returns to the studio with his bandmates.

“There’s so much uncertainty ahead,” Janeway says. “You can feel the weight of that. If we knew how to treat this thing, or a vaccine was nearby .... I do my best not to get too bogged down. I try to stay in perpetual motion. We’re going to have a lot of music at the end of this."