MUSICGenre: Gothic Folk Rock
Recommended If You Like: Leonard Cohen, Scott Walker, Nick Cave
Hometown: New Haven, CT
For some time, Paul has been writing and singing as if from a vantage point far into the future; as though uncovering rather than composing his own body of work. To date, his thirteen releases have ranged broadly across the landscape of the indie singer-songwriter. Early work in folk-pop, recorded while signed with Fairfax Recordings, has found its way into TV and film, but to dip into Paul’s work at random is to discover many different versions of the same artist. This scruffy folk punk, electro-piano torch crooner, analog psychedelian, and, occasionally, strident Neil Young disciple par excellence has crisscrossed the country in concert in support of one project or another, opening for the likes of Angel Olsen and Lou Barlow, selling out the historic Cairo Jazz Club in Egypt. Such peregrinations have concretized Paul’s thematic obsessions of the years: the life, and death, of the Creative; human desire; aging; the follies and false promises of stature and fame.
In his relentless oeuvre-building, Paul has amassed an especially articulate kind of existentialism: what it means to persist, and to create, in a world which dies in the near distance. In No Masters in Paradise, the form of the songwriter’s ballad, in the hands of an expert, is turned inward for comfort, resisting the base lure of worldly approval.
ABOUT ALTERNATING CURRENTS
Alternating Currents festival was founded in 2017 by the Downtown Davenport Partnership (DDP), a division of the Quad Cities Chamber. Now the event is powered by DDP and has expanded to include host downtowns Downtown Bettendorf Organization and Rock Island Downtown Alliance. The event is successful because of the many creative partners and businesses who come together to create an amazing experience for all. This year, AC’s Presenting Sponsors are Regional Development Authority (RDA) and Rhythm City Casino Resort. Programming support is provided by investments from Music Partner GreenState Credit Union and Arts Partner TBK Bank.
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