Musical Bio Paul

Growing up in the sixties it was very difficult not to be a music geek. We pretty much had it all from Elvis, Tommy Steel, The Beatles, Dylan, Woodstock and early underground. I loved it all.

For my 12th birthday it had to be a guitar. I could play the basics straight away because I’d learned the chords way before from the ‘Play In A Day’ book and I’d just been waiting to put them into practice.

School bands (groups we said then) followed and I was 14 when we did our first paid performance, The Number Nine Club in Stoke on Trent. We even performed a song I’d written (which was unusual for young groups in those days), it was called ‘Sally’.

Several bands followed throughout the 70s until what looked like our big break was around the corner. An appearance on the 1978 TV series of New Faces which we were convinced would catapult us to stardom. Two weeks of ‘local fame’ followed along with considerable disillusionment. By 1980 I felt it was at last time to consider a ‘proper job’.

Fast forward 22 years and a business weary executive returned from London to swap his suit for a new Martin guitar (hence beginning my passion for the Martin brand and the several purchases that followed).

Folk club sing-a-rounds and floor spots by the ton until I was invited to launch what was, at the time, the first ‘open mic night’ in Stoke on Trent. I was now working as a full-time musician again and quickly acquired the tag ‘Mr Open Mic’ as I was hosting four events per week plus my own solo gigs. Songwriting, which had laid dormant for many years, started to re-emerge and resulted in my first solo album 'Someday'.

It was at my ‘flagship’ open mic that a lady called Karen became a regular visitor. She had recently moved to England from Germany and was performing solo, singing and guitar. However, I couldn’t help thinking that by relieving her from the burden of playing the guitar her performance could blossom even more. So, I offered to play guitar for her on a couple of songs. A couple led to a few - and a few led to a relationship. The rest, as they say is… ‘the future’!

And 'the future' now consists of our unique stage show which is built around my continued love for songwriting and which I feel evolves with every new composition. 

Paul’s musical influences:
Over the years influences have proved numerous but they have to include: The Beatles, Ray Davies, Neil Young, Janis Ian, Ralph McTell, Kieran Halpin, Bruce Springsteen. More recently, Luka Bloom, John Spillane, Jeff Tweedy.