This first solo full-length album from John Richard Paul is equivalent to looking out a car window at the scenery of someone else’s life. However, these songs are merely “signs along the way” on this artist’s road, because after listening to all ten tracks I get the feeling that this journey is only beginning. And what a life lived up to this point. John Richard Paul, a self-described “observer” who is “constantly taking everything in” has transformed those inner examinations into a record that not only sounds like an Americana memoir, but also plays like a love letter to the local area.
Grief is a stop along everyone's life road that we all wish we never had to get off at. Paul addresses this theme in the opening song “Across the Lake” and later on in the album in “Sea Shell City”. “Across the Lake” has a bittersweet sound, evoking memories and how ghosts of the past have a way of staying present. “The physical structures may remain, but the people once housed within are gone…their memories remain within the more figurative walls within our minds,” he says. “Sea Shell City” has a more upbeat rhythm and embodies the spirit of oral tradition. Stories shared by Paul’s grandmother are now passed down to us through the song. “Swimming After Dark” is another glimpse into sweet childhood pastimes and really speaks to me of the importance of having closeness with our elders.
“Maybe some day
when you’re grown
you will be far away from home
and you can think of me here”
Family is present throughout The Road of Life in a literal everlasting way. “Worrier’s Hall of Fame” is about traits passed down through familial lines. “Tracing now four generations of Paul boys, all of whom have been afflicted by the worrying gene. Some things never change,” John remarks of the song. There’s more storytelling to be heard here in this track and also in “Our Roots Run Deep”, which is a song about “knowing where you’re from”. “Some places hold greater sway in the lives of folks than others,” says John Richard Paul. This song starts off with an awesome harmonica opener and the melody perfectly presents the “passage of time” both in percussion and guitar work. Its rhythm is a heartbeat.
John Richard Paul turns the lens on himself in the songs “Plus Two” and “Work in Progress.” “I can be kinda hard to deal with,” he says. “Plus Two” is about his role as husband and father. It’s a love song and a testament of a life lived together that doesn’t shy away from including the rough patches. The lyric “I’ve never known much for sure but I know that you’re the one for me” is both appreciative and acknowledges the ways Paul has felt he’s come up short. Truly, a beautiful track.
The penultimate song, “Work in Progress”, is one of my favorites on the album. This song is from the perspective of one who feels they are the “black sheep” of the family, doing all he can to live up to his namesake. A disappointment is the last thing anyone wants to be seen as in the eyes of the ones they love, and John Richard Paul has captured those feelings here. This song is also about being human with a certain level of poignancy.
“I know what it means to be lonely
I know what it means to be sad
I know what it means
To feel a life’s passed you by
And I know what it feels like to cry”
The final, self-titled song “The Road of Life” is a song that came to John Richard Paul in a dream. “John Prine showed up, told me it was gonna be a ‘good song’, and that I should probably wake my ass up and catch it before it vanished into the ether.” I, for one, am glad he did rouse from sleep and write it down because it’s a cliffhanger of an ending for the album. “I firmly believe that everything happens for a reason and it is the sum total of all these experiences that make us who we are, where we are and, ultimately, why we are,” he adds. The road of life goes on. Paul isn’t finished yet, and if we’re lucky, he’s going to bring us along for the next leg of the trip.
With soothingly gritty vocals and a folk-country sound, John Richard Paul sings us speculative highlights of his personal story through The Road of Life. An album that achieves in showing us the soul of the songwriter like this one does is not to be missed. Paul was so kind to allow me an early listen of it before the official release date of June 14th, one day before his birthday (and also my birthday as well). I consider it a gift from the heart of a poet who keeps his guitar close at hand. His tunes are all timestamped with contemplative musings.
We asked John some further questions about his personal and musical life, and about the production of The Road of Life and that interview is as follows:
(This interview has been slightly edited for clarity.)
The Jam Files: Are you a native Michigander?
John Richard Paul: I am a native Michigander, yes. I was born in Grand Rapids in 1981, moved to Traverse City in 1985, moved away in 1998 when my dad got transferred downstate, finished up high school outside Kalamazoo, went to Western for a couple years, transferred to Michigan State, bounced back to Kalamazoo, lived in Chicago for a little over a year, and then moved back to Traverse City in 2007 and have been here ever since.
The Jam Files: When did you first know you were going to become a musician? Did you start playing when you were young?
John Richard Paul: The first time I knew I was supposed to be a musician was in high school when I was rehearsing for the school talent show in the auditorium. There was just this moment where I looked up and out into the empty seats and had this feeling come over me that I can’t entirely describe, but was something along the lines of knowing exactly what I was supposed to do with my life. Granted, it took me a long time to finally get there, having hoped to major in music in college but getting wait-listed in the saxophone studio at Western and rejected by DePaul, kicking around in bands in college at MSU, effectively quitting music for about five years after college, and then getting plugged into the music scene here in town around 2009/10. At the time, I was solely a bass player and my goal was to work my way up to becoming a first-call player in town. I managed to do that within a few years and found myself playing with just about everybody in town, from sitting in with The Accidentals, to doing open mics with Billy Strings, to playing with Levi Britton both solo and in Stolen Silver, Mike Moran, One Hot Robot…I was their bassist from 2013-2018…Miriam Pico, John Pomeroy, David Chown, Drew Hale…I’ve been his bassist since 2016…the Bihlman Brothers, The Wild Sullys, NMC Jazz Big Band…I’ve been their bassist since 2021…Laurie Sears…from whom I took saxophone lessons when I was in high school before I moved downstate…Chris Sterr, Sweetwater Blues Band, and about a million others it seems, I’ve lost track. I could do some mental digging and probably come up with a complete list.
I really didn’t play out much until I was in college. I was in a handful of high school bands, both in and out of school, but there weren’t really any gigs. In college I started playing weekly engagements with a group called Westrin & Mowry, who are still friends and still putting out music. The drummer in that band is Mark Barry, who went on to help found and is still a member of Lord Huron, and with a group called The Farewell Drive. The latter was kind of a second-wave Midwest Emo band that was fronted by Andrew Lutes, who now goes by A.S. Lutes, for whom I still play bass when available. When that band broke up, he asked if I would join The Stationary Set with the drummer from the previous band and two other guitarists in town. We recorded an album at Smart Studios in Madison with Beau Sorenson, who recently worked on the latest Taylor Swift record, and had just wrapped working on Death Cab’s Plans record. That band played around a bit before we all kinda went our separate ways and Andrew and Josh, one of the other guitarists, went to New York and reformed the band after getting attention from someone at Capitol who had heard the Smart Studios record we did, the very emo-titled Don’t Forget In The Darkness What You Saw In The Light. That was in 2006, around the time I effectively quit music for the better part of five years.
The Jam Files: Can you tell us a little about the production of the album? Where was it recorded? Also, how long do you think it took for the whole album to finally come together?
John Richard Paul: The Road Of Life was produced by myself and Philip Parker. Phil was friends with my brother growing up and ended up playing in Gregory Alan Isakov’s band as cellist and keyboardist for the better part of 15 years before he and his wife moved back to Traverse City in 2021. He and I reconnected through the aborted sessions for the A.S. Lutes record, which I hear is back on track to be completed at some point, and I asked if he’d have any interest in helping me out. He agreed and we got to work at the end of April, 2022. It was recorded at his home studio off Hastings, called The Old Mission. It took us awhile to complete as it was primarily just the two of us working around schedules as parents of young kids with all that entails. Between school, sickness, unforeseen circumstances, life, etc. But Phil always maintains that these things take as long as they need to. The other musicians on the record are Erik Deutsch: piano on “The Worriers Hall Of Fame” and “Our Roots Run Deep”. Andrew Dost: organ on “Plus Two”, Rhett DuCouer - vocals on “The Road of Life”, Drew Hale - Telecaster on “Silver Linings,” “No Matter How Hard We Try,” “Sea Shell City” and “The Road of Life”. Will Harris on drums and percussion. Michael Hunter on electric guitar on “Swimming After Dark” and “Sea Shell City". Jim Kremidas - pedal steel on “Across the Lake,” “Silver Linings,” “No Matter How Hard We Try,” “Work In Progress,” and “The Road of Life”. Philip Parker - acoustic guitar on “Plus Two,” cello on “Plus Two” and “Swimming After Dark,” electric guitar on “Our Roots Run Deep,” organ on “Silver Linings” and “The Road of Life,” percussion, vocals on “Work In Progress,” Wurlitzer on “Across the Lake” and “Swimming After Dark”. Suzanne Parker - alto flute on “Swimming After Dark”. I play acoustic guitar, bass guitar, electric guitar on “The Road of Life,” harmonica, mandolin, and piano on “No Matter How Hard We Try,” and vocals. Jack M. Senff is on vocals on “Work In Progress”. Chris Sterr - electric guitar on “Across the Lake,” “Plus Two,” and “The Road of Life”.
Erik Deutsch is a buddy of Phil’s and is currently the keyboardist for The Black Crowes. He recorded his parts at his home and sent them back to us. For “Worrier's”, the only direction we gave was, “Think Vince Guaraldi playing with Paul Simon.” I think he nailed that. Andrew Dost I met through the A.S. Lutes album sessions. I played on an as-yet unreleased track for his Metal Bubble Trio album, which I hope comes out because, rather selfishly, I was really pleased with my playing on the track. I’ve known Rhett for a number of years and we play around as Rhett & John. As mentioned, I’ve been Drew’s bassist since 2016, having played all over with him and on his last couple of records and singles. I’ve known Will through the music scene, being a fellow first-call player. Michael and I were in One Hot Robot together. After I lost that gig, he moved over to bass from electric guitar and he now fills in on bass with Drew when I’m not available. I met Jim at a St. Patrick’s Day weekend gig at Ethanology. He was the only one in the packed bar paying attention to what I was doing. We chatted a bit on my set break. He told me he played pedal steel and I took it as divine intervention. The rest is history and some damn fine pedal steel playing. I mentioned Phil already. Suzanne is Phil’s mom. She and my folks were actually in Orchestra together at Ann Arbor Pioneer back in the early 70s. Everybody knows everybody in some capacity or another. I met Jack through the A.S. Lutes project and have become very good friends with him and joined his band back in late 2022. He has a great record coming out later this summer that I was fortunate enough to play a number of things on. I’ve known Chris for a long time now, another first-call player in town and member of Stolen Silver. I wanted to make sure I was working with people who’ve helped me along the way and whose playing I respect. Because of how the album was recorded, acoustic and vocals first, bass and drums tracked live, then everything else recorded piecemeal over the next year plus, it took about two years.
The Jam Files: What's next for you as a musician? Summer means plenty of gigs I'm sure. Are you already thinking of the next album or just focusing on this one's release for now?
John Richard Paul: Just getting these songs out into the world and the record in front of folks who might enjoy it. I was able to write the next two records in the time it took to get this one in the can, so I’ll be starting work on those hopefully by the end of the year with a 2025 release date. I would like to be able to play the record out in front of people with a full band, but I’ve not been able to find any place willing to book me with a band and, at this point, the bulk of my year is filled with either Rhett & John, Drew Hale, A.S. Lutes or Jack M. Senff & The Heartland Mission dates. Hopefully it’ll be a little different on the next release cycle. In the meantime, I’m just playing my songs where and when I can and plugging the album as I’m able.
As you can see, John Richard Paul is quite a prominent member in the local Traverse City music scene and we caught a solo gig of his yesterday at North Bar which was a delight. (You can also read our write-up of Rhett & John HERE.) I love when musicians sound as good live as they do on their studio records and Paul definitely hits that mark. He sings with soul and as I mentioned in the previous article his guitar strumming is terrific. There’s plenty of opportunity to catch him live around town so don’t miss out.
You can listen to the singles “Our Roots Run Deep”, “Plus Two”, and “Silver Linings” right now wherever you stream music.
John Richard Paul can also be found on Facebook, Instagram, and at his website johnrichardpaul.com
Be sure to pre-order a physical copy of The Road of Life HERE. We can’t wait to hear it on vinyl!
Jennifer Patino lives in Traverse City and loves music. Visit her blog at thistlethoughts.com