Paul Loiodice

We have a true Belly Up legend to feature for you this week. Paul Loiodice, along with his band the Funky BSA's was the first musician to ever be featured in this column, and since that fateful day in June of 2007. Loiodice has been hard at work in the Clemson music scene.
Although the Funky BSA's are no longer together; Loiodice spends most of his time performing all over Clemson with his band Singular Muse, and also acoustically as Acoustic Muse. Singular Muse will appear at Backstreets this Friday, with Loiodice and company providing their signature blend of rock, reggae, dub, blues and jam music.
"We have a ton of different influences within the band," Loiodice said. "I am a huge Phish and early Metallica fan, while other members like hip-hop and our rhythm section loves reggae."
The rhythm section Loiodice mentioned is comprised of Drew Corontzes on drums and Britt Barker on bass, while John Bowling handles keyboards and Nick Collins shares guitar and vocal duties with Loiodice. The members formed Singular Muse almost a year ago from the remnants of different local bands.
Loiodice said the band's strength comes from sharing songwriting duties with Collins. Loiodice feels this adds diversity to the band and keeps the music from ever getting stale. He also said the experience shared by the band in the Clemson music scene afforded them an easy start.
“When you already know most of the fans at your first show as a band, it helps,” Loiodice said. “We all combined to have a very large audience right from the beginning and we’ve built it since then.”
One Singular Muse original that Loiodice feels particularly proud of is “Los Cacti,” a song about a vehicle he used to drive all over the Southeast and Midwest. The song is a Singular Muse staple as it combines two different genres. According to Loiodice, the song starts with a reggae feel, delves into rock territory and then finishes with more reggae.
“Morning Whiskey” is about waking up after spending too much time with a bottle and “Asleep at the Wheel” is about former President Bush. Loiodice said Singular Muse fills the rest of its sets with cover songs the band can transform into something new.
“We like to jam covers in our style,” Loiodice said. “But these guys have played together so long I try to throw them off with genre switches. It’s almost impossible; they’re too good.”
With school behind him and a desire to pursue music full time, Loiodice is now weighing his options for where Singular Muse will relocate. Loiodice hopes the band can move together and continue their success in other areas of the state and beyond.
“Right now we’re planning on doing more shows in Columbia and Charleston,” Loiodice said. “We think our music will go over well in other areas, but we’ll always find time for Clemson no matter where we are.”

- Anderson Independent - Michael Staton