Paul Rivers Bailey

Paul Rivers Bailey


Photo: Jennifer Esperanza ©

musician

By Gabe Gomez

Paul Rivers Bailey is as relaxed on stage as a seasoned music veteran.

At a recent gig at the Santa Fe Brewing Company, his face fills with an easy smile as he presses the button on his music player to reveal the bass-heavy groove of a track titled, “The Beginning” from his new and independently released record, Innerchild. Bailey enters the song gingerly, above the recorded music. He closes his eyes and begins to lift and bind a towering melody with a controlled and crafted voice. This singing stops all movement in the room, save for dancing and bobble-head neck thrusts. His next song, “Guardianship” is a punchy groove-heavy jam, but it’s not until his sixth song, “Salvation,” the one he nails after another tune “Human Family,” (a ringer for Curtis Mayfield’s Roots-era vocals) that Bailey draws a collective gasp from the audience as he expels an assured, crystalline and howling voice that can drill right through you.

The music Bailey creates is soulful, restless and ready for audiences that stretch well beyond the Santa Fe music scene. With an impending tour and a clear and undeterred focus, Bailey is poised to claim his spot on the national stage.

Bailey, 29, who is originally from Queens, NY, moved to Albuquerque as a senior in high school and eventually enrolled at the College of Santa Fe in 2001. There, he earned a degree in—surprisingly enough—film.

“I’ve always loved film and television,” Bailey says with a laugh. “I had the TV schedule down, man. I would be the type of kid who would stop playing outside to come in and catch a show.”

His father, Seta Majkia, a music producer in New York, exposed the young musician to the inner workings of making music.

“I grew up in a recording studio,” Bailey notes of his father’s home studio where he tracked demos. After moving to New Mexico with his mother, who served as his informal vocal coach, Bailey’s passion for film began to take shape and his musical inclinations began to take root. “I think of music visually,” Bailey says as his mind trails off into distant thought. He’s pensive, affable and has lived well beyond his years. At the age of 20, he married and had two daughters, Mikayla, age 9, and Nalani, age 4. He divorced a few years later and is now engaged to Mizahn Jackson, a dancer and the choreographer of his live show.



“It’s life music. It’s music about how people live. The message is more important to me than a certain sound or a niche market, because it can resonate in people’s lives.”
Bailey is optimistic about the future and his new album and is equally excited about his adopted home.

“I want to be able to do something musically for this region of the country as an artist that came from here,” Bailey says. “If an opportunity arises to live in other places then great, but home is here. I would always find a way to get back to Santa Fe.”

Releasing records isn’t new territory for Bailey. His former hip-hop group, Duality, a partnership he had with Josef “JD” Branch, released a self-titled record in 2005 after Bailey graduated from CSF. The duo performed around town, worked in youth programs and quickly made a name for itself in the small but vibrant local hip-hop scene. Through a meeting with Seattle music producer “Buddo,” Bailey decided to head in a new creative direction, “I wanted to create a sound that sounded nothing like Duality,” Bailey says.

Although the sound for Innerchild isn’t that distant from the soul-infused hip-hop of Duality, it’s enough of a departure to be considered a reinvention. The album blends a variety of styles with a soul and R&B foundation and gives Bailey the opportunity to flex his vocal talents. In fact, his vocal range is the component of his music that is most striking.

“I have inspirations from a lot of different artists from the past, but the sound is updated. It’s hip-hop based, there’s some jam band kind stuff, a popish ballad and hip-hop. It’s all over the place, it’s like eclectic soul,” Bailey says, as he struggles to define his music.

In the end, Bailey is most concerned with the message behind the music and it is that on which he focuses. He uses his experiences as a basis for his songs and hopes to positively impact the lives of young people. According to Bailey, the album’s title reflects his youthful optimism.

“It’s life music. It’s music about how people live. The message is more important to me than a certain sound or a niche market, because it can resonate in people’s lives.”

The migratory patterns of musicians leaving New Mexico for greener pastures would rival any gaggle, flock or clutch of birds, so it’s a relief when Bailey, whose talent is unquestionable, realizes that his home and his source of strength are tethered here.

Back at the Brewing Company, the pre-recorded music Bailey has been using has worked well. And his humble demeanor easily wins - The Santa Fe Reporter