Sig Paulson
Salem, Oregon, United States | Established. Jan 01, 1977 | SELF
Music
Press
Thursday, April 4th 2002.
Local CD collections expand choices.
Besides playing at local venues, area musicians put their music on CD.
By Angela Yeager
Statesman Journal
Ask any local music fan, and they will tell you there's a dearth of venues to see live music in the mid-valley.
But that doesn't mean that there aren't plenty of local bands creating original music. It just may be that it's only avilable at the local record store. Kit Close, owner of Ranch records in downtown Salem, said he has seen a huge increase in local bands releasing CDs recently. He estimates that he is getting twice as many sent to him than he did just three years ago.
"It's so easy and inexpensive to record now," he said. "Just about any band playing in the local bars now has a CD."
Sig Paulson
Sig Paulson is a bit of a musical legend in Salem.
He's played in the area since the '60s, when he was a fixture in local coffee shops.
Since then, he has continued writing his own songs and building his craft. Paulson names Bob Dylan and Steve Forbert, whom he worked with at a songwriting workshop, as his influences.
About four years ago, Paulson finally took the plunge and started work on his first solo album. "Movies and Magazines" was released in January.
"I write in so many different veins and styles," he said. "that I was worried about it not having cohesive feel," he said. "And I ended up getting the Americana roots thing out of it."
With his acoustic guitar and harmonica in hand, Paulson hired Salem musician Julian Snow to produce the album. Together they selected 12 songs from Paulson's extensive body of work. And though there is everything from a little honky tonk to blues and folk on the album, it all comes together as a collection of Paulson's memories and travels.
So far, he has sold about 130 copies of the album and has playes in Boise, Idaho, and Portland. And he isn't waiting so long this time to head back into the studio: Paulson is hoping to start work on the next album this year.
"I'm feeling really good about having the album," he said. "I'm feeling like I've got more power behind me for going and getting gigs. And people are starting to get to know me better."
Upcoming show:
.8 p.m. April 12, Rock Creek Tavern, 10000 Old Cornelius Pass, Hillsboro; no cover; call: (503) 645-3822.
Where to find the CDs:
.Ranch Records, 170 Liberty St. NE, Salem
.Uptown Music, 5065 River Road N, keizer
.Rosebud and Fish, 524 State St., Salem
Angela Yeager - Statesman Journal - Statesman Journal
According to my understanding, the 53 year old Sig Paulson, is an opponent of the
"Generationspact" (My comment: this appears to be some sort of Belgian
government proposal to put more people to work for a longer time).
Apparently the man from San Jose, California is already busy limiting his
working hours, because only now we see the sequel to his 2001 album "Movies
and Magazines".
But, the good man already has a 35 year career behind him and most people
would be thinking about taking it a bit easier. A long career, that mainly
consisted of country/rock and rhythm & blues bands, but that took a
different course when he came in contact with Stacey Earle & Mark Stuart,
Chris Smither and Steve Forbert.
The whole bunch had been asked to be teachers at a songwriters workshop in
Palmer, Alaska and when Forbert personally took charge of Paulson, the birth
of a "new" singer/songwriter was a fact. With success too, because he
immediately became one of the finalists of the Mary Hill Winery Songwriter's
Competition.
He proves that the fact was no fluke, with 12 self written songs of
which the opener "Hillbilly Mystic"(The hillbilly mystic don’t travel alone, his wife’s a gypsy palm reader plays the saxophone, got a band of disciples called the celestial stars, they only play the big shows no coffee houses or bars.) and the finale "Don't Say Goodbye", (I remember what you said this morning, don’t say goodbye, say see you later.) are the 2 best.
It’s a nice start to 40 minutes of Roots (time) music. With "Hot Tamale" Paulson
digs up a bit of Tex Mex, the sing along "Fish in a Fryin' Pan" invokes a cute
little hillbilly waltz, and the songs "Danger Girl" and "Vaguely Familiar"
(with saxophone by Patrick Lamb) belong in a calypso/swing jazz
cabaret. However, the man's talents are varied and his admiration for Bob Dylan
is evident in the songs "I Don't Think I Wanna Think", "Jaded Buddha", and
"Broken Pride"... mandolin and harmonica included!
But he is no stranger to 'the blues' because in a past life he was
good friends with Canned Heat members Henry Vestine & James Thornebury, and
he does a great job on the rhythm & blues number 'with a message' "Givin 'Em
Hell". (She dig a boogie-woogie baby and she don’t take it slow .With her spiked high heels and her top down low. The boys all think they know her but they don’t know her well Looks like she’s from heaven but she’s givin’ ‘em hell!).
Once you've been involved in this crazy business for this long, you can only survive with a certain sense of humor, and with "Everybody wants to drive my car" ("Everybody wants to finish my sentence, but I don’t really like what they say. // Everybody wants to paint my house, but the colors they choose just scream. // Everybody wants to drive my car, but nobody wants to pay for the gas." obvious.
Sig makes that wonderfully
It's obvious Sig Paulson is not yet ready to retire, and he will keep us supplied with good songs. With "Tangled In My Roots" he has definitely succeeded in that.
François Braeken ( reporter Euro Americana chart )
Rootstime.be e-line magazine Belgium
Fransois Braeken - Rootstime E-line magazine
- Rootstime E-line magazine
Sig Paulson’s songs are a bit like a walk in a dry Oregon forest, after a rainy winter. The colors and images are sharp and well defined, as are the characters in the songs; it seems that combination of moisture and sunshine bring everything into focus. Sig's voice is clean and expressive, and he sings with conviction. There are a many truths in Paulson's songs, but there is also a lot of whimsy, which helps make his compositions interesting over repeated listening.
Tom May www.tommayfolk.com
Producer, "River City Folk"
nationally syndicated radio broadcast since 1991
WFMT Radio Network
- WFMT River City Folk Radio Show
Discography
2014... "Scamper Juice"
2009... "Totempole"
2005... "Tangled In My Roots"
2002... "Movies and Magazines"
1995... "Greetings From Christmasville"
1994... "Thank My Lucky Stars" (Children's Music)
1985... I'm So Shy" by Sig and the Sahibs.
"Movies and Magazines","Tangled In My Roots", "Totem Pole" and "Scamper Juice" are available with listening samples at WWW.Sigpaulson.comand have received radio airply in Europe and The U.S.
Also.. for the movie trailer for the independent film "The Memorial Counselor" please check out
http://www.sharkle.com/video/110764/
and/or
Photos
Bio
Biography:
The current story...
October of 2014 saw the release of Sig Paulson’s 4th CD “Scamper Juice”. This 6 song E.P. contains the essence of sig’s live performances. Recorded on 6 and 12 string acoustic guitar, harmonica and vocals “Scamper Juice” contains 3 originals and 3 cover tunes which are up tempo and filled with wit and humor. In May of 2014 Sig’s song “Rust And Roses” was selected for inclusion on KMUZ radio’s compilation CD “Local Roots”. On September 2009 Sig's third CD "Totem Pole" was released. In February 2009 Sig was a finalist in the Portland Songwriters Association "Best Performing Songwriter Competition". At the Gig Harbor Folk Festival Songwriting Competition, September 2006 Sig took second place with his song “If The Castle Burns”. That same month he was a finalist in the Portland Songwriters Association “Best Performing Songwriter 2006 Competition”. In July 2005, he completed his second solo album. Co-produced by Don “Fuzzy” Purcell, “Tangled In My Roots” featured some of the best musicians in the Pacific N.W. “Tangled In My Roots” has received international attention & sales. Sig was also a finalist in the Mary Hill Winery Songwriter’s Competition 2004. In the summer of 2003, he was headlining the Dasani acoustic stage at the Boise Riverfest in Boise Idaho. In 2002, Sig teamed with producer Julian Snow to release “Movies & Magazines”. Though produced & mixed with a more “edgy” sound there was no disguising its “Hippiebilly” roots & it set Sig firmly on the Americana path.
Songwriting Accolades and Licensing...
Independent television and film producer Pat Sevigny chose three of Sig’s songs to grace his movie “The Memorial Councelor” in which Sig also had a small role as a Russian Priest. Pat and Sig have also collaborated on three thirty minute television shows for Pat’s “Oregon Jam” series featuring Sig in the studio, in concert and participating in a “songwriter’s in the round” session. Tom May, host of WFMT’s “River City Folk” chose Sig as one of his featured performers in 2006 and at the end of the year honored Sig by including him in his “Best of River City Folk” program. Sig’s song “Everybody Wants To Drive My Car” was chosen through Sonicbids to be included on a “Skytrax” compilation CD to be distributed at airports nationwide. Ray Nelson Jr., president of “Flying Rhino”, a children’s educational corporation hired Sig three times to write material for their educational books and packages which were distributed nation wide. Sig was selected for an article in Performer Magazine; the nation's largest trade publication for musicians in June of 2007, “Karnal Film and T.V. Promotions” chose Sig’s song “Givin’ ‘Em Hell” to include in their distribution library.
A Tour Dogs Life In Music...
Born in San Jose California in 1952, Sig listened to the radio a lot in an old panel truck while his dad estimated floor-covering jobs or drank with the boys after work. He grew up on country music in the fifties & sixties listening to people like Johnny Cash, Buck Owens, & Hank Williams. The old time honky-tonk hillbilly rockers were imbedded in his memory, and along with the country-rockers of the early seventies like The Flying Burrito Brothers, John Prine and Jerry Jeff Walker are the inspiration and foundation of his writing today. He calls his music “Hippiebilly”, a form of original Americana. He picked up the guitar at age 10, started writing songs at 13, & taught himself to play harmonica. He joined a Jug Band in high school that played local Coffee Houses. In 1976, he moved to Wisconsin & started playing professionally. He joined the “Tingler Band” which traveled the mid-west playing country rock music. “We traveled eight states, lived the road life, and made a good living. I was really proud of that band.” However, like Wild Bill Hickok 100 years before, the band met its demise in Deadwood South Dakota, and Sig headed back to the West Coast. In 1980, Sig formed “Sig & the Sahibs”, an R&B band playing originals & soul and Motown hits. Later he would replace Canned Heat’s original lead guitarist Henry Vestine in “James T. & the Tough” out of Eugene. When James & Henry left to tour with Canned Heat Sig began performing solo regularly, incorporating more and more original material into his shows. Since then the focus has been on writing good songs in the style he loved to listen to back in that old panel truck. Please visit www.sigpaulson.com … To purchase CDs on line try CDbaby.com.
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