in Colorado. Paul is born at a very young age to the sounds of his father Louie and friends jamming to Johnny Cash tunes in the next room. Growing up, he is subjected to and learns to like music from artists like Hank Snow, Ernest Tubbs, Hank Williams and Red Foley. He and his sister start their first cowboy show using a rocking horse and a Roy Rogers guitar. "The Rawhide Singers, Leroy and Frankie", are a great success with the barnyard cats.
The trouble starts...at age 6, when Paul surreptitiously picks up his father's 1954 Gibson G160 acoustic while Louie is away at work. Soon Paul teaches himself to play, using all of Louie's music books, records and the practice gained from hours of experimenting. Now living in Henderson, Nebraska, he is also taught classical guitar for a few years by family friend Joan Alexander. His repertoire expands from "Red River Valley" to Classical, Country, Funk, Rock and Spiritual, which he plays for anything that holds still.
Things get worse...when Paul "goes electric" under the influence of The Monkees, his and his sister's favorite band and TV show. Louie takes him to a music shop in Grand Island where they pick out a Gibson Les Paul electric guitar. Now the sounds of Deep Purple, the Beatles, the Doobie Brothers, Chuck Berry and Waylon Jennings are floating out of his room.
The plague spreads...as Paul starts the band Sundown at age 14. Sundown becomes a local name and Paul, Randy, Dennis and Kevin play for picnics, community events, parties, festivals and even nursing homes through the rest of high school. He also joins the band Ambush, which plays rock and country music every weekend, gets hired in a country band that plays a gig his parents have to chaperone him to, and covers lead guitar and sax duties in the school stage band.
Fame sets in...in college. He plays guitar and sings in Justin Morgan, which is made up of Paul, Greg Votva, Mike Kornelson, Michael Kaiman and Kevin Hall. In 1982 he leaves and plays lead for the Come Together Singers in Grand Island, going on to form Reason To Play later that year with friend Rod Jost as bass talent and Michael Kaiman from Justin Morgan doing the drum work. Adding Rick Couling as lead singer and keyboard player, they tour and sing through much of the Midwest, stopping only to record "The Real Reason" which garners airplay throughout Nebraska and the surrounding areas.
Things take a turn...in 1989, Paul moves to Siloam Springs, Arkansas for more education, taking his young family with him. He plays for Meribeth Jordan, a local Christian artist. Then fellow bluegrass musician and friend Randy Franz lands him a job singing and playing acoustic guitar and dobro in the Ozarks Jubilee. He returns to Nebraska when the Jubilee folds after one season, settling in the picturesque Farmer's Valley near Henderson. About this time, he falls in love with and acquires a hammer dulcimer, which becomes one of the staples of his sound.
Ground control to Major Tom...1991. The end of the world as we know it. Paul stops playing music to get an education in refrigeration, care for his wife and three children, and start a heating and air conditioning business.
Enter the FurnaceMan...Paul's children grow up, and at the persuasion of friends, he begins to play rock and blues cover tunes in the bars, gaining acclaim and an almost cult following as the FurnaceMan. As he begins to resume interest in music, he lands opportunities to play at festivals, fairs, parties and sundry other places where his talent is met with great appreciation. Starting with the FurnaceMan Blues, where members of the audience participate karaoke style, he begins to develop a simple, appealing style and inimitable air of rapport with the audience.
Stage left...Paul's talent grows stronger, and the interests of his youth return. Incorporating more of the hammer dulcimer, dobro and banjo, he returns to his roots with a heartwarming folksy style. As the demand for his music grows stronger, in 2004 he releases an album that is the fruition of his musical ideas over the years, and re-masters The Real Reason. With the release of his musical talent, he again begins seeking out the nursing homes, community events, and other venues that his style appeals to.
Now what?
late 2004. Paul goes into music full-time. He is free to explore his future and follow his muse, wherever it leads. With the new year will come
Well, now-- That's history that hasn't yet been written. Join me in watching it unfold...