Paul Moeller

Like many songwriters, music entered Paul Moeller’s soul when he was a child. Moeller’s family embarked on many road trips – which included singing along to Beatles songs during the drive. “Or I’d make up my own songs,” Moeller said, “much to the dismay of my family.”

Moeller learned to play guitar during his early teen years; his initial interest in heavy metal gave way to more traditional influences, however, as he learned the instrument by playing songs by B.B. King, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters and Bukka White. He began writing his own songs, he said, “As soon as I could string three chords together. But it was something I was passionate about; it was a learning process, and it still is to this day.”

Moeller began performing his music with a band called 100 Acre Wood in the mid-1990s in the midst of an “alternative rock” revolution marked by grunge and a conspicuous turn away from melody. 100 Acre Wood began as an interesting amalgam of folk, pop, blues and rock, and would evolve into the successful power-pop quintet Digby, which in 2005 released a well-received album on Toucan Cove Records titled Falling Up.

But an evolution in Moeller’s life eventually led to evolution in his songwriting. Following the divorce from a 15 year marriage, and finding love again was “a bit like opening the flood gates creatively.”

“I allowed myself to be a kid again,” Moeller said, “and oddly enough, I never felt more grown-up.”

As such, Moeller’s new generation of songs are of a more personal, and gentler nature; inspired by songwriters like Elliot Smith, David Gray, Mark Kozelek, Bob Dylan and bands like Coldplay, Iron & Wine and Arab Strap, Moeller gives us more introspection, emotion and gentleness than his rocking Digby counterpart. “I’m Sorry” is soul-baring honesty at its best – few songwriters display such vulnerability the way Moeller can.

Similarly, “Waking Up Next To You” peels away the layers to an emotion so strong that listeners may find their own deepest longings hidden within the melody. “They say that life is too short / You know I believe those words are true / And I can’t stand the thought / Of anyone passing on without knowing you,” Moeller sings with the conviction of a person who has been there, breathed this emotion in, and let it surround him completely.

Interestingly, Moeller had long eschewed using the word “love” in a lyric; but “Could it Be,” one of the most gripping and emotional songs in Moeller’s new repertoire, tells us about stumbling upon the greatest love of a lifetime, and the crash of incredible emotion that goes along with such a discovery. All of these new songs explore the wonder that is emotion, life and love – if this is indeed Paul Moeller’s coming-out party, be sure to make plans to attend.

For booking, call 502-345-8547 or e-mail digby_moeller@yahoo.com. To hear Moeller’s music, visit www.myspace.com/paulmoeller, or to hear digby go to www.itunes.com, or www.godigby.com.