Paul Sachs: NEWS

Hi and Greetings from New York City-

I’d like to thank the kind folks at The Buttonwood Tree Performing Arts Center in Middletown CT for having me last week. I had a great time playing my songs and it was nice to make some new friends. Somebody even made this very nice Ad on a door I loved it. Talk about folk art

This Saturday, I’m playing at Jitters coffeehouse in Southington CT.

This coming Wednesday, I’m doing some final tracking on the last song for the New CD. I may have a couple of new pics up for it.

Also there’s a song I posted for free download called “the Blues of Mary” in the “No Trouble Here” section. I hope you enjoy it.

Hope to see you again soon.

Paul

Greetings from New York City

I had a great time playing last night at the Roots Cafe in Brooklyn. Jamey and everyone there treated me and their guests with great hospitality and great food.


In a couple of weeks I’ll be performing two sets at the button wood tree community center in Middletown CT.

Take care and stay healthy!

Paul

Greetings from New York City

The CD almost finished and now I’m putting the final touches on a few things before it gets mastered. Tonight I’m heading into the studio to lay down some tracks on one of the last songs. I think, if all goes as planned, The CD, which will be called, The Refuge, will be ready for sale by mid April or May. It will contain 12 songs.

You can hear three of the tracks in the music section.

I’ll be playing in Brooklyn tomorrow night at a place called The Roots Cafe . So come on down. I’ll be updating the site as I get closer to finishing “The Refuge” and will keep you informed of any changes to the release date. But at this point things are looking real good. It’s about time.

See ya soon and stay healthy

Paul

Hi folks

Tonight's show at Lucky Seven Tavern in NJ has been canceled by the club owners due to the weather.

That said almost all the songs have been mixed.
Last session

Just two more songs and the new CD will be finished.

Rob Meador recording.

Harold Weg

The song, "Tiny Graveyards" is available for download from my first CD No Trouble Here in the music section.

Take care

Paul

Greetings from New York

I'll be playing today in upstate NY at a place called the Tastebuds Cafe in Redhook from 2-4. It's supposed to snow so the scenery should be pretty.

There a new song called "When the Longing Begins" posted in the music section. It's off the new CD. All the songs have finally been recorded, except for one, and a few things here and there.

Take care

Paul

Greetings from New York City and a Happy New Year to all.

A new song is posted for your streaming pleasure in the music section from the upcoming CD called "When the longing begins." I wrote it after my mother died a couple of years ago and I thought of all the people who’ve come in and out of my life. I hope you like it.

The New CD is moving along and I'll be in the studio this week putting the final touches on a couple of tracks.

Take care and stay healthy

Paul

Greetings from New York City.

I’ve posted some new pictures in the photo section of the great recording session I had with Paul Kuzik the other night. We recorded everything live and so far so good.

Mark Dann the engineer, and me

One of the new songs recorded is called, “Stolen Bicycles” and I posted a video of me playing it live at the Postcrypt coffeehouse here in NYC. It was taken a couple of weeks ago on a Saturday night. It’s one of my favorite places to play in NYC. See the video here.
Come down to the Parkside Lounge on Monday night at 8pm here in NYC. I’ll be playing with Claudia Mogel-Violin and Rob Meador-Mandolin. We’ve known each other for awhile and they’re the folks who played on the “ No Trouble Here” CD. Which I’ve posted another song from. Download it free.

My CD, “These Quiet Streets," would make a great stocking stuffer for Christmas or any holiday. Buy it now here. It’s also on I-tunes.

Happy Holidays to everyone.

Take care and stay healthy

Paul

Greetings from New York City.


The Harmonica playing is getting better. Last night at the Postcrypt Cafe when I played, “Stolen Bicycles” my Harp solo had no mistakes as far as I could tell. “Stolen Bicycles” really calls for Harmonica because of it’s Huck Finn lyrical adventure debris. It’s a new song about, well, stolen bikes during the bad ol’ days when New York was less Sex and the Cityish.

This Wednesday I’ll be in the studio recording some more songs for the new CD. Paul Kuzik will be laying down bottom on that wonderful fretless bass of his. I’m gonna try and remember to take some pictures and post them of the session. Though taking pictures is not the first thing on my mind when recording. What is on my mind is how it’s sounding and how much is it costing? The latter trying not to influence the other.

There’s a song posted called, “The Moon is Always Full” in the, No Trouble Here music section of this site. Ready for your downloading pleasure.

I’ll be playing at the Parkside Lounge in the city on December 15th, just in time for the holidays. So I hope to see you there. Sign the mailing list and leave a comment in the comment section.

My CD, “These Quiet Streets," would make a great stocking stuffer for Christmas. Buy it now here.

Take care and stay healthy

Paul

Greeting from New York City

At the last minute I have a gig at the Postcrypt Coffeehouse tonight thanks to my buddy Tim Robinson. Just thought I'd post it here in case anyone at the last minute could drop in.


Hey, ya never know.

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/postcrypt/coffeehouse/newsite/main3.html
Thanks again Tim.

Greetings from New York City.

I’m heading into the studio this Thursday to record some of the more acoustic songs slated for the new CD. The big production ones are nearly all done and mixed. Hopefully I’ll be over this cold by then.

In the meantime I’m going to post songs from my first CD, “No Trouble Here.” A song every couple weeks will be added and available for download. I’ve had them posted before, but for sale and in samples. “Henry” and “Better Man Than Me” are now available for download and so is the title track. check out, from the CD No Trouble Here and enjoy. If you do download a song or two please leave a comment and let me know what you think. I’d love to hear from you and don’t forget to join the mailing list.

To download a song it’s, right-click or shift-click on a mac. Or option-click.

I also came across pics of my cats that are hanging around me all the time. Marshall and Bladen. I’m a big lover of Cats. I’m nursing a cold and there’s nothing like having a 100 year old cat, (human years) lay on top of you.

Music cats

Cat in a Violin case



Take care and Happy Holidays.

Paul

Greetings from New York City

Hi Folks. If anyone noticed I’ve taken a few songs off this site. One of them being, “The Bastard from Washington”. Seeing how the election went I had to. Hopefully the days of that song are gone. For a while at least. In the meantime I think the world has a little more hope and the stupidity that this administration has spread is in it’s final days. That song doesn't need to be here anymore.

On the night of the election I had that passage from Jack Kerouac’s go through my head and I figured I’d post it. It’s so full of hope and longing of an America that was, is and could be...

Take care

Paul

From, On the Road,
Jack Kerouac

''So in America when the sun goes down and I sit on the old broken-down river pier watching the long, long skies over New Jersey and sense all that raw land that rolls in one unbelievable huge bulge over to the West Coast, and all that road going, all the people dreaming in the immensity of it, and in Iowa I know by now the children must be crying in the land where they let children cry, and tonight the stars'll be out, and don't you know that God is Pooh Bear? the evening star must be drooping and shedding her sparkler dims on the prairie, which is just before the coming of complete night that blesses the earth, darkens all rivers, cups the peaks and folds the final shore in, and nobody, nobody knows what's going to happen to anybody besides the forlorn rags of growing old, I think of Dean Moriarty,...

So here’s one tune called , “Crying Without Tears”, off the CD slated for next year. Rob Meador on Mandolin, Claudia Mogel, Violin, Ned Strough , percussion, Harold Weg, keyboard and Paul Kuzik on Bass. We recorded it in the apartment. Folks would come in and lay down a track come back and lay down some more. That’s how it’s been going. My Friend and great songwriter, Amy Allison, came over and sang on the back vocals on a couple of tunes and this is one of them. Thanks again Amy and all the rest of the musicians. Go to the music section and it’s there. Feel free to download it. Enjoy! It's option right click for Mac's to download tune.

Here's some pics of the recording.

Claudia
Paul
Harold on keyboards

More songs and pics on the way!

See ya.

Paul

I bought a Harmonica when I was fifteen thinking it may come in handy if I ever wrote a song that needed it. I never did. So the Harmonica and its holder sat for many years collecting dust. The holder literally rusting.

At fifteen I thought it had a Dylanesqe image. At fifteen that’s what it’s about.

I also loved to smoke, a lot, and playing the harp requires breathing. Unless the air was filled with puffy white clouds I found oxygen boring. Last year I quit for the umpteenth time and wrote songs that I thought would sound good with the Harmonica. Maybe it’s true that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks because when I play it sounds like a cat falling from a tree hitting the windshield of a car.

So the other night at the gig I pulled out my Harmonica and placed it in its rusty holder and commenced blowing. From the look of the audience I could see I needed practice. The Harmonica is a very deceptive instrument. Didn’t Huck Finn or Tom Sawyer walk along Mark Twain's’ river banks blowing a tune with a kitbag on their back? Where and how did they learn to play? That is the image I always get. Or someone sitting under an elm tree playing a melody as the afternoon sun sets after a long day of work.

I’ve bought books on how to play, but they’re boring. In fact playing the harmonica in a room alone I find stagnating. I miss smoking. Maybe it’s a rural thing and I’ve always been an urban dweller.


The rusty harp holder

Greetings from New York City:

It’s been a while since I wrote on this thing, but we've made a lot of progress on the CD. Over the past year more than about half the songs have been mastered and are ready to roll. We’ve been recording in the apartment and while it has it’s benefits of saving me money some of the amenities of a recording studio are to be missed.

I asked my drummer, Ned, if he had a very small bass drum and he said he did. Now, the definition of small when applied to a bass drum has to do with the proximity of its surroundings, where it is played, and who owns it. When Ned walked in it looked as big as any bass drum I’ve seen.

Ned and his “small” drum kit

If you want to know how how loud a drum kit is play it in a New York City apartment. While recording I kept expecting neighbors and police at my door reminiscent of the old horror movies like, Frankenstein, where they go after him with pitchforks and torches.

We got away with it and it came out sounding great. After the tunes are recorded here I take the files over to a real studio where they’re being mixed.

I’m playing at the Parkside Lounge on August 12th and I’ll be doing some new songs along with the others. The new CD should be ready by mid 2009. In few weeks or so I’ll be posting a track or two.

Stay healthy

Paul

Hello and greetings from New York City:
Bonjour et salutations de New York City :
Hallo und Grüße von New York City:
Hola y saludos de New York City:

Happy New Year. It’s been awhile since I’ve sat down and written anything on this thing. Which brings me up to date to say that the CD is being worked on and coming along. People that have been playing with me on and off for the past 20 years have been lending their time and energy to it. I’m doing what a lot of musicians are doing these days and recording it at home. It’s free and it gives the musicians and me time to really indulge in the music and not be confined by the parameters of monetary constraints. That’s important when you're doing any art I think. Though this project is taking longer than I expected in the end it’ll be worth it. Last Year was a rough one and it changed the direction of the CD I’d had in mind.


In the meantime I've uploaded a song entitled, If I Ever Get to Paris Again." It was recorded live last year with a band called, “Roots and Grooves” at the The Nuyorican Poets Cafe here in New York. It has Colin Dean on Bass, Beck Burger (keys),Tomo Kanno (drums), John Cave (guitar). Hope you like it.

Happy New Year

More on the way!

Greetings from New York.

On Saturday this past weekend I did a gig at the Huntington Folk Festival. I was part of a song swap that was hosted by Richard Cuccaro, the editor and publisher of AcousticLive! It’s a magazine that lists where all acoustic acts are playing in the NYC area and other boroughs. On stage with me sharing their songs was Meg Braun, Anthony da Costa and Lara Herscovitch. It was great to meet and hear all of them. One of my all time favorite songwriters, Steve Forbert, was the headlining act . To have been on the same stage as him the same day was very gratifying. He’s also a real nice guy!

I’d like to thank Richard for having me play there and to all the wonderful folks I met from the Folk Music Society of Huntington Long Island.

PS

Greetings from NYC

I have a few gigs planned in the month of April . The first of which will be as Amy Allison’s guest at Banjo Jim’s this coming Sat in NYC. On April 22nd I'll be playing at the Brooklyn Lyceum, so I’m sure I’ll play everyone’s favorite arson song, “Fire in Brooklyn”. To see where these gig’s are Click here or go to the calendar section.

I’m going into the recording studio in May to begin laying down the basic tracks of the new CD. Some of the new song titles on the CD are, “Beware of Surprise,” “Crazy Ivy” and “Crying Without Tears”. I’m looking forward to it. It will have Colin on Bass and Rob on Mandolin and a few surprise guests. I’ve switched gears as far the direction of the recording’s, but, “68 Skylark” will still make it on.

In the music section I posted a short sample of the song, “Crazy Ivy”. It’s the demo and was recorded in the living room of my apt on a Tascam 4 track.

And there's a new video of Rob and I at The Sidewalk Cafe in NYC taken a couple of years ago. The song is, "Packing Ashtray's". Since I wrote that tune I've quit smoking.

I Hope to see you at one (or more) of the shows. A song ain’t a song unless somebody hears it!

Paul

Greetings from New York City

I’m Listening to Simon and Garfunkel as I write this. It’s their debut album, “Wednesday Morning, 3 Am.” Simon sings:

“Last night I had the strangest dream I ever had before
I dreamed the world had all agreed to put an end to war.”

Words that have the same relevance today as they did 43 years ago.


It’s times like this when art comes in handy.

I got a couple of tunes posted that were recorded back in 1992 with my old band The Contenders, “Ghost Parade” and “The Bastard from Washington”. Which is available for download and as video. Even though these two tunes don’t have the same sentiment as Simon and Garfunkel’s song, they may strike a chord in somebody.

I remember one night the Contenders were playing in this Irish bar in Queens and we started playing “The Bastard From Washington.” By the time the chorus came around my microphone went dead as did all the amps. It seems we pissed off the owner of the establishment as he shouted at us to get out. Obviously he and the rest of the bar at that point in time was patriotic. The first Gulf war was on and Bush 1 was President.

Even though the song lags lyrically I can’t help but smile at the chorus and wonder if the owner of that bar is still feeling the same pride about this president. I hope not.

See you soon.

Paul

Greetings from New York City

I just wanted to let you know that the Longtown Podcast and their affiliates BzoO HomeGrown Radio have made me Artist of the week. Thank you so much for supporting independent artists like me. I wish them all the best. Longtown Podcast is hosted by Uncleshag and you can hear him at both these internet sites. Thanks Uncleshag. A big thank you to the folks who have purchased my CD, These Quiet Streets Your support of this New York artist goes a long way.

All the best to my fans from NYC and beyond.

Paul Sachs

Hi folks-
Thanks for checking out the new web site. Please sign the guest list and listen to some tunes. We played last night at the Parkside Lounge, a really cool club. Thanks to all the fans that showed up! I'll be updating this thing so please bookmark this page and return soon. !