Possessed By Paul James - There Will Be Nights When I'm Lonely
2013 – Hillgrass
Bluebilly Records
Trying to define the roots music that most appeals to me is almost impossible but to call it ‘real music played by real people’ is probably as close as I can get. That is to say, music that is full of passion, conviction, commitment, with absolutely no unnecessary adornment and played by people for whom the art ranks higher than commerce. Now fairly obviously a living has to be earned and no doubt some of the artists I love would ‘sell out’ if offered enough money. They (well most of them) are only human! There are a huge number of albums every year that I listen to and think, this particular person/band has the sort of talent to do well in the mainstream and yet invariably they choose to plough their own furrow and content themselves with ‘cult’ status. Possessed By Paul James, or Konrad Wert as he is sometimes known, in many ways defines this oversimplified statement. The talent is huge, from his virtuosic mastery of banjo, guitar and fiddle, his raw evocative but melodic vocals and his extraordinarily gifted songwriting. He has a day job, as an award winning elementary school teacher, but still finds time to put his musical gifts to good use. His songs and style blend folk, a little blues, country, old timey, all played with a punked up hillbilly sensibility. At times he seems to be almost straining his always melodic vocals to emote the fierce passion and fieriness contained in many of the songs and yet when necessary he is just as capable of warmth and sympathy on a sad ballad.
All of these excellent songs are self written in a variety of styles within a roots sub genre that never gets close to the mainstream, but actually follows the traditional styles far more than any of the big selling ‘superstars’ of roots music. He is helped out by various musician friends including, on steel guitar, the great Lloyd Maines on this, his sixth tremendous album. Whilst the instrumentation is always on the sparse side, there is never a feeling of repetition, in fact on the contrary, there is a diversity of textures and atmospheres on these thirteen songs that few can match. Yet the album holds together better than most thanks to the fact that even after just a few plays the listener becomes aware that overall there is little, if anything else, that can be compared to Konrad Wert thanks to his all round musical ability and unique style.
38 Year Old Cocktail Waitress, presents itself at first as a very good country love song with Lloyd Maines classic steel guitar sound emphasizing the point. It’s only as the song starts to become familiar that the listener realizes that in spite of the lovely melodic guitar intro followed by that gorgeous steel guitar, rather than sticking to the mainstream love song style this story tells of love between a couple who if not on the ‘wrong side of the tracks’ are certainly not rooted in twee sanitized situations. Gives a whole new perspective to the term ‘hard country!’ Songs We Used To Sing has a slow moody acoustic guitar intro before a haunting high lonesome fiddle comes in followed by chiming guitar and percussion and Werts commited, warm vocal accompanied by excellent harmonies on a terrific song of reflections. Back Down here On Earth again has the gorgeous steel guitar of Lloyd Maines with nice chiming acoustic guitars on a sad ballad about lifes ups and downs, whilst Where Does All The Time Go is propelled by a beautifully melodic electric guitar on a haunting tale about the passing of time. Final mention goes to Soy Muriendo a song driven by an excellent propulsive bass that despite the heavy drive, also gives the song a lightness of touch, with acoustic guitar and vocals that blend folksiness with old 1950s rock and roll. This is certainly a song that helps to show his vocal command of any style he chooses, with everything from lightness to a ferocious passion.
I read recently that in a live setting he is a genuine ‘force of nature’ with his charismatic and commited style. On listening to this album I would be amazed were it not thus! A great album that if it could only be listened to by the masses would tip the current mainstream over the edge and replace them with albums such as this. If you don’t get yourself a copy of this tremendous album of roots music you most definitely will be the loser!
http://ppjrecords.com/
Trying to define the roots music that most appeals to me is almost impossible but to call it ‘real music played by real people’ is probably as close as I can get. That is to say, music that is full of passion, conviction, commitment, with absolutely no unnecessary adornment and played by people for whom the art ranks higher than commerce. Now fairly obviously a living has to be earned and no doubt some of the artists I love would ‘sell out’ if offered enough money. They (well most of them) are only human! There are a huge number of albums every year that I listen to and think, this particular person/band has the sort of talent to do well in the mainstream and yet invariably they choose to plough their own furrow and content themselves with ‘cult’ status. Possessed By Paul James, or Konrad Wert as he is sometimes known, in many ways defines this oversimplified statement. The talent is huge, from his virtuosic mastery of banjo, guitar and fiddle, his raw evocative but melodic vocals and his extraordinarily gifted songwriting. He has a day job, as an award winning elementary school teacher, but still finds time to put his musical gifts to good use. His songs and style blend folk, a little blues, country, old timey, all played with a punked up hillbilly sensibility. At times he seems to be almost straining his always melodic vocals to emote the fierce passion and fieriness contained in many of the songs and yet when necessary he is just as capable of warmth and sympathy on a sad ballad.
All of these excellent songs are self written in a variety of styles within a roots sub genre that never gets close to the mainstream, but actually follows the traditional styles far more than any of the big selling ‘superstars’ of roots music. He is helped out by various musician friends including, on steel guitar, the great Lloyd Maines on this, his sixth tremendous album. Whilst the instrumentation is always on the sparse side, there is never a feeling of repetition, in fact on the contrary, there is a diversity of textures and atmospheres on these thirteen songs that few can match. Yet the album holds together better than most thanks to the fact that even after just a few plays the listener becomes aware that overall there is little, if anything else, that can be compared to Konrad Wert thanks to his all round musical ability and unique style.
38 Year Old Cocktail Waitress, presents itself at first as a very good country love song with Lloyd Maines classic steel guitar sound emphasizing the point. It’s only as the song starts to become familiar that the listener realizes that in spite of the lovely melodic guitar intro followed by that gorgeous steel guitar, rather than sticking to the mainstream love song style this story tells of love between a couple who if not on the ‘wrong side of the tracks’ are certainly not rooted in twee sanitized situations. Gives a whole new perspective to the term ‘hard country!’ Songs We Used To Sing has a slow moody acoustic guitar intro before a haunting high lonesome fiddle comes in followed by chiming guitar and percussion and Werts commited, warm vocal accompanied by excellent harmonies on a terrific song of reflections. Back Down here On Earth again has the gorgeous steel guitar of Lloyd Maines with nice chiming acoustic guitars on a sad ballad about lifes ups and downs, whilst Where Does All The Time Go is propelled by a beautifully melodic electric guitar on a haunting tale about the passing of time. Final mention goes to Soy Muriendo a song driven by an excellent propulsive bass that despite the heavy drive, also gives the song a lightness of touch, with acoustic guitar and vocals that blend folksiness with old 1950s rock and roll. This is certainly a song that helps to show his vocal command of any style he chooses, with everything from lightness to a ferocious passion.
I read recently that in a live setting he is a genuine ‘force of nature’ with his charismatic and commited style. On listening to this album I would be amazed were it not thus! A great album that if it could only be listened to by the masses would tip the current mainstream over the edge and replace them with albums such as this. If you don’t get yourself a copy of this tremendous album of roots music you most definitely will be the loser!
http://ppjrecords.com/