Joe Paulson

Check out this blogtalkradio interview with host Holly Stephey from Hollywood, CA. - Red Velvet Media

Here I introduce you to Joe Paulson! This Indianapolis native has already released an EP in 2007 titled The Neverending EP, which was a collection of 7 great piano ballads. Now Paulson released his debut album, This Fine Evening, on August 30th (and is now available on iTunes and Amazon). Looking at the artwork you can tell that the piano plays an important role throughout the entire album, which is exactly what I love. I am crazy about songs with piano, especially ballads :) My favourite song isLovestruck USA, just love the lyrics, the melody, his voice... pretty much everything. Recommended tracks are Beauty In Her Eyes, Expectations, New York Highway, etc. It is a pretty good album, great lyrics, great melodies, what more can we ask?? I strongly recommend this album!!! - Caesar Live N Loud

Vivoscene rating 7.0

Joe Paulson‘s debut, full-length album This Fine Evening comprises solid pop tunes benefiting from Paulson’s emotional, understated voice, his bouncing piano riffs, and some surprisingly extended instrumental jams from his band. It’s easy to tell he’s listened to Elton John and Ben Folds Five. Paulson writes about love and the themes you’d expect in pop music, but it comes off as honest, not contrived. He sounds vulnerable, as if he’s writing this album to fend off emotional pain he’s suffered. In the end, Paulson perseveres, but it can be mopy at times. His lyrics would profit from a tougher outer shell, or a sense of humour, to soften the longing. Sometimes joking about love, or singing about it tongue-in-cheek (a la Cee-Lo Green) is a more convincing assertion of confidence and satisfaction. However, the music is bolstered by musical chops that exceed standard fare in this genre. Paulson has some jazzy chord movements, and there’ s some good, fluttering passages that accompany his singing. Despite what Paulson has said himself in interviews, he has a good voice that suits his music well. The instrumental line-up changes to give the album a good pace and a couple different musical looks. Each song is crafted with care and there’s consistency all the way through the record.

The single “Beauty in Her Eyes” is a bouncy pop tune with romantic lyrics that doesn’t feel cliche. No small task. Even if it doesn’t veer far from the standard pop formula, it’s a charming song. Anyway, other tunes on the album go beyond what you’d expect from pop. Many crooners are content expressing themselves in words, but Paulson has musical ideas that seem just as important. Songs like “Questioning Love” demonstrate he’s more than capable of carrying a tune with just his piano and voice, and songs like “Expectations” make it clear his band has chemistry. There are several musical sections after verses that come unexpectedly, but the music is tight and enriches the album.

Paulson definitely has raw talent. The Indianapolis native who’s been playing piano since the age of six can be proud of This Fine Evening. It’s a commendable effort and a good musical achievement that definitely shows the artist’s promise. Paulson could write fantastic songs if he develops a thicker skin, and writes about his emotions from different, more wide-ranging vantage points to add dimension. - VivoScene

Like the cover beckons and the simple outline of the piano, Joe Paulson entices you with his musicianship…and enticing he does. His piano skills are impressive. When you hear “Cinderella,” you get glimpses of Bruce Hornsby-like influences tucked in there. When the guitars and drums kick in, you realize what a great alternative rock number he has just created.

Even with the electronic piano on “Beauty In Her Eyes” you feel its warming sound waves wrapping around you. While we are on ballads, “Lovestruck USA” is tinged with soft hues and Sunday afternoon contemplation, feeling like that great love song from Cold Spring Harbour.

This Fine Evening is an album that gradually keeps getting better with every listen. When I first played through these tracks, I took them for what they were. But something kept me coming back to re-visit its whimsical allure. And a song like “All that I Know” becomes that much more meaningful.

Paulson’s knack for ‘70s rock introspection bursts forth in a glowing glory as you get visions of Ambrosia in your head as equally as you can imagine him next to Semisonic.

And then we return to the country folk jam “New York Highway” or the bouncy urbanized “Expectations,” both two different styles of Paulson’s musical spectrum, but both that wanders off without striking as many notes as say Hornsby likes to do, but has that same pop-like departure into a pianoesque daydream.

It’s a positive album that will affect you positively. - ZapTown Magazine

Q&A: Meet the artist
JOE PAULSON
Joe Paulson remembers recoiling
every time he looked at a piano.
After his family
signed him up for
lessons against
his will, he
despised going
near the instrument.
The weekly
instruction was
torturous; and
even though he
complained,
Paulson was
stuck plunking away at the keys.
“I hated the entire piano experience
for the first few years. I didn’t like
to practice or prepare at all,” he
said.
Eighteen years later, Paulson can
look back at the experience and
laugh. His difficult introduction to
piano gave way to a love of freestyle
jazz performing. The
Greenwood resident is now an
emerging artist in the central
Indiana music scene, using the
once-hated piano to produce rollicking
songs and heartfelt ballads.
Paulson had a change of heart after
switching teachers. He learned to
add fillers and jazz chords to his
playing, which made the music
much more interesting.
While attending Taylor University, he
started writing songs and singing
his own lyrics. Artists such as Ben
Folds Five and Elton John showed
him how he could use the piano to
make a rollicking rock song.
Since graduating in 2010, Paulson
has been touring and performing
around the country in small clubs
and state fairs.
His debut full-length album, This
Fine Evening, was released in 2010
and contains 10 tracks that break
down everyday life for the listener.
“I walk around just like everybody
else, but I try to notice and take a different
perspective on the conversations,
the movie lines, the music
beats, the interactions that are occurring
all around me,” he said. “All of
those experiences help me in writing
the lyrics or the melody of a song.”
Paulson will perform at the Indiana
State Fair at 5:30 p.m. Aug. 18.
He’ll be at the Main Street Stage.
Admission to the fair is $8 for
adults and free for children ages 5
and younger.
For more information, go to
joepaulsonmusic.com.
How does the piano seem to
click with your music?
The piano has been my main
instrument for years. It wasn’t until
recently that I added the vocals
with it. I think the piano really
clicks with the music in that it
complements the vocals well. I’m
the first to be honest and tell you
that I’m not the best vocalist in the
world. But I think the combination
of my piano playing with the
vocals really helped create and
develop a unique piano rock style.
Who have been your greatest
influences as a musician?
There is a two-fold answer to that
question. With regard to my piano
playing and composing, my piano
teacher, Roger Gale, has influenced
me the most. His unique freestyle
playing built with fillers and jazz
chords has really affected how I
approach piano composition. With
regard to lyrical writing, I would
say a songwriter named Mark
Cawley from Nashville (Tenn.). He
has really challenged me to dig a
little deeper into the art of songwriting
and start to tell my story in
a way that connects with listeners.
What approach do you try to
take when writing a song?
People always ask what comes first
— the lyric or the melody? To that
I answer, it depends. Sometimes a
melody pops in my head, and I
take it from there. Sometimes a
line or phrase stays with me for a
while or I revisit a line or phrase,
and it connects with a melody. To
me, at the foundation of songwriting,
the fundamentals if you will, is
experience. I have experienced
love, joy, pain, heartache, frustration.
Everyone has experienced
those things in some way.
What do you hope the audience
takes away from every
one of your performances?
I hope to bring energy and showmanship
to the stage. There are
tons of good musicians in this
world. There are better singers in
this world than myself. The question
is: Can you put it all together
and perform it in a way that makes
the audience leave impressed? I
hope I impress the audience with
energy, musical showmanship and
just a plain old good time. I hope
that families, husbands and wives,
boyfriends and girlfriends, a group
of college friends, whoever it is,
can leave the show thinking to
themselves, “That was awesome,
we have to go again.”
What challenges have you
experienced trying to break
into the music industry?
The music industry is extremely
competitive. As I’ve said, there are
so many talented musicians and
singers, most of them way better
than I may ever be. In this day and
age, with the Internet and all kinds
of social media, it’s difficult to get
heard through all the “noise.” All
sorts of musicians of all levels of
experience are trying to make it,
that it is very difficult to get heard
by the right ears.
You can ask any real professional
musician, and they can vouch that
the music is the easy part. It is the
business of music that is difficult.
Even here in Indianapolis, it is
extremely difficult to convince a
venue to let you play there unless
you have an established fan base
that the venue can draw.
— Ryan Trares
Visit dailyjournal.net for more Q&A. - Daily Journal Newspaper

Watch this performance of Joe Paulson on Indianapolis' IndyStyle morning show! - IndyStyle