His songwriting chops were shaped by his appreciation of a wide variety of styles from early folk & blues - to Paul Simon, John Hiatt, Ry Cooder - to local heroes Graham Wardrop, Luke Hurley, Andrew White, etc..
Paul grew up around music, as his Ma was & still is a piano teacher of great repute in rural Taranaki. Learning to play right through school ( & sometimes instead of school..) he spent the early to mid '90s travelling the length of NZ in his vintage Bedford school-bus: living the life, playing on a never-ending circuit of gigs in pubs, music clubs, parties, festivals, motorcycle rallys & plenty of dives; shaping him into the versatile player & entertainer he is today.
Along the way he held down jobs as dump-truck driver, oil rig worker, groundsman, painter, sawmiller, wharfie, & builder, adding rich experience to can-do kiwi attitude.
His debut album the bluesey "Spaceman" was released early 2005 to a great reception & has just gone into its second run. Recorded, mixed & mastered at the great Braeburn Recording Studio by acoustic music Jedi Master Robbie Duncan in Wellington.
These days Paul lives in rural West Auckland, near the wild West Coast. He is writing music & playing with a wide variety of musicians in all kinds of settings. He plays flat-top guitar & pedal-steel in the "Too Far Gone" alt country band; electric slide guitar with Westy power-trio "the Valvedogs"; he's in a dymanic-duo with Lott in F3 "The Fickle Finger of Fate", as well as providing backing on bass & guitars for other local artists. Paul is continuing to write his own music and work towards his second solo album. Watch this space-man!
The more I listen to Missing You, the more I absolutely LOVE it. I have been singin along at the computer...i think it should be 3 times longer. No wait, 7 would be better...
