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Songs of the Open Heart

Friday, December 4, 1998

MUSIC PREVIEW

By DAN ARMONAITIS
Special to The Record

After three critically successful albums, Ellis Paul decided to tinker with his
songwriting approach when it came time to record his latest release,
"Translucent Soul." The 33-year-old folk singer and songwriter, struggling to
overcome the pain of a recent divorce, dipped into his experiences to create
his most personal work to date.

"I was a little paranoid that it would be too personal," Paul says from Boston.
"But people seem to be connecting to it even more so than the other records. I
think that's because when you tell stories about other people, sometimes
people hear it as stories about other people. But when you tell stories about
yourself and you speak in the first person, they associate themselves with that and they feel like you're telling their story."

Paul points to current folk stars such as Patti Larkin and Bill Morrisey as
influences, but claims Woody Guthrie as his greatest inspiration. Paul says he
became interested in Guthrie about six years ago, after reading the Joe Klein
biography, "Woody Guthrie: A Life."

"I think that if you want to do something long-term, you've got to learn
everything you can about what you do," Paul says. "That only makes for a
better artist."

Paul's interst in Guthrie led to his being the only American performer filmed
with British singer-songwriter Billy Bragg for a BBC/PBS documentary about
Guthrie. He was also the only performer asked to play all three nights at the
Woody Guthrie Free Folk Festival in Guthrie's hometown of Okemah, Okla.,
this summer. Althought Paul takes inspiration from Guthrie's music, he doesn't try to mimic his work.

"I just want to be the best me that I can be," Paul says. "The issues that I'm
dealing with are a lot different than the issues he dealt with in his music. That's because we're alive at a different period of time, and the world's a different place now. But I just want to be honest like he was. He wrote about what he saw and what he felt and what he thought. He wrote regardless of aiplay or royalties or any commercial influence."

Paul, who has seven Boston Music Awards to his credit, didn't start playing
guitar until he was 21 years old. Before that, the northern Maine native was
involved in athletics and attended collect in Boston on a track scholarship.

"I guess because I was an athlete when I was a kid and involved in so much
other stuff, I didn't have a chance [to play guitar]," Paul says. "By the time I
was free of those other things, I was 21 and it was just me and the guitar. And
then there was this avenue for me to step into in Boston, where there were
clubs where a guy with just his guitar would actually be heard."

Paul attributes much of his quick rise in the folk ranks to the booming folk
community in New England, which has also spawned the careers of artists
such as Dar Williams and the Nields.

"I think the main thing is that there's a network of support for us here, so we
don't have to starve to do our art," Paul says. "We can just focus on it. It's
probably the best place in the country to be a singer-songwriter. There's a lot
of clubs, a lot of radio support, and a lot of people who listen to this kind of
music."

Paul's overall goal is to get his music heard by as many people as possible.

"Art's in the eye of the beholder, and I just hope people like it," he says. "But if they don't, I understand. It's not for everybody.

"I just want people to feel like I moved them or I changed their attitude or I
entertained them. I just want to affect the world in a positive way, that same
way any artist or person should."

Copyright © 1998 Bergen Record Corp. 

Reprinted with permission.

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