PAUL LEWIS: Trading Horror Stories

Paul Lewis

Trading Horror Stories

© 2005 Realize Records (804922313121)

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A soulful rock record with biting intelligent lyrics and rich vocals that experiments with jazz, blues and Latin rhythms while maintaining a rock-n-roll edge with pop sensibility. The songs look at life then question, embrace and scream back at it

notes

Paul Lewis' long awaited sophomore solo recording, Trading Horror Stories, is the culmination of three years of the artist observing life, his own personal misfortune and disappointment married with a blindness to failure and the fortitude of a man who knows that his time is just around the corner. Lewis notes, "On this CD I had time to stand back and observe the madness and beauty that goes on daily in the world." Layered with equal measures of inspiration and frustration, Trading Horror Stories takes you on an emotional rollercoaster, reflecting Paul's state of being while writing it. Lewis continues, "I've hung out in mansions and lived in my car simultaneously. Either way it was never boring."

Paul Lewis enjoyed the kind of musical start most artists would have sold their souls for.
In the 90's, the Eastern shore of Maryland saw the beginnings of the artist about to fuse with the proverbial lightning strike. With fellow classmates, and the timing of alternative music's peak on mainstream radio, Paul and the band YNOT hit the beach and started a five-year reign in the clubs of Washington/Baltimore/Philadelphia markets. Paul and his band did what no other bands had done before and none have done since. Sellouts after sellouts. The wave was riding high and money and acclaim were coming in by the carload.

Even with a charting album, Billboard recognition, regional acclaim, and financial comforts, eventually, the band dismantled and Paul moved to Los Angeles. After a self-imposed hiatus, he began a solo career. When Lewis re-emerged from the Los Angeles underground in 2001 with his solo debut CD no one, including Paul knew where it would take him. After receiving critical acclaim and sold out shows at such high profile venues as Genghis Cohen and The Roxy, Lewis decided to return to his roots on the East Coast to record a new CD. "I love Los Angeles but for the next project I wanted to be back East to record. Sometimes it's hard to be introspective when it's 75 degrees and sunny everyday." Lewis explains. In an irony as big as the distance between LA and Philadelphia, the same chemistry from the 90's was just around the corner.

However, the next few years were challenging for the songwriter, who struggled through a series of personal crises, including the tragic loss of an ex-band mate, another close friend to cancer and a car accident that left Paul in the hospital, unable to perform for the first time in his life. After a few desperate months, he found himself clawing his way back out again, into the studio reconnected with his former band mates. The result is a sublime collection of 13 songs that experiments with jazz, blues and Latin rhythms while preserving his rock-n-roll edge and pop sensibility. As a songwriter, Lewis looks at life...then questions, embraces and screams back at it with a rich vocal that has evolved with newfound levels of soul and strength.

Professionally, Lewis has performed over 4,000 live shows and the experience has served him well. His live performance has all the ingredients of a true rock show volume, passion, sex, drama, and charisma. A creative and captivating performer that pulls the audience in and doesn't let go. Lewis jokes, "Music first, then sanity." Paul has immersed himself in touring for the new recording. The early response has been reminiscent of a familiar time in the 90's. Turn your head and listen. Chances are, you'll be hearing a Paul Lewis song, funking out somewhere in the distance, & rocking your world.

reviews

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  • Paul Lewis = Powerful & Passionate Vocals
    author: Andy Zipfel

    No, it's not a studio trick. Paul Lewis really does have a voice that powerful and passionate. What you hear on the CD is what you get LIVE. Paul is one of the most incredible performers and storytellers, and it's all captured here on this new CD "Trading Horror Stories". My recommendation is to buy this CD and then check his website for a listing of live performances in your area. Your ears will be very happy.

  • Personality. Charisma. Cool factor. A beat you can dance to.
    author: S.R.SMITH

    There are a lot of reasons why we gravitate toward certain music and artists. Reasons why we own dozens, even hundreds of CDs, but keep coming back to a select few, playing them over and over and over again. Compelling tunes. Deft musicianship. Lyrics that communicate insight, depth of experience, worldliness, joy, pain. That speak to our hopes. Our fears. To who we are and who we dream of being. Personality. Charisma. Cool factor. A beat you can dance to. Ever so rarely we trip across an artist who’s blessed with that unquantifiable, nearly magical all of the above, someone who’s equal parts singer, player, tunesmith, poet, thinker, star. Born to the form. A performer who is the music. An artist with a gift for connecting all the dots, for understanding the complexities of our personal, social, and political worlds, and for bringing us music that helps make sense of it all, if only for a brief moment.... Paul Lewis is one of those special ones, and those who have been flocking to his live shows since the late ‘80s will gladly tell you all about it. For those who haven’t yet made Paul’s acquaintance, the truth is 63:47 away in the form of Trading Horror Stories, his second solo release, one of the richest and most nuanced exhibitions of pure soul rock to come down the pike in quite some time. Featuring head-on drivers like “Original Sin” and “The Painting” (a spectacular new hidden-track take on the old YNOT?! highspot), jazz-inflected down-tempo grooves like “Teardrop,” the Santana/Thomas-esque strut of “Lost,” and the introspective clarity of slower moments like the lush “Bittersweet,” THS strikes a delicate balance between the personal and political, between rage and subtlety, between the dead-serious and the pretty-darned-funny. It doesn’t hurt that Paul has one of the best pure voices in all of popular music, an alternately silk-and-gravel baritone that almost makes you wonder if people would line up to hear him sing a note to the milkman. He filled the studio with an impressive roster of musicians for THS, too – frequent sidekicks Chris Kleckner and Dave Manners take turns on guitar, Tom Macri and Jude Vitilio anchor the rhythm section, and long-time collaborator Darryl Joiner mans the keys (a number of other names familiar to YNOT?! and Dead City Radio faithful put in well-timed cameo appearances, as well.) If there’s anything at all wrong with Trading Horror Stories, it’s the simple fact that to date no studio has been designed capable of harnessing the electricity and sheer drama of a live Paul Lewis show. Fortunately, Paul is coming to a stage near you...

  • HELP!!! I can't stop listening to this record!
    author: Jackie Williams

    This is a CD that constantly surprises you w/ every track. I sis not know what to expect from this singer/songwriter, but I took a chance. I was surfing the internet when I found his web site and then I started listening to some of the sound clips. I was taken back by a couple of them. "Bittersweet" is a lovely yet sad track. It is probably my favorite track. I was also intrigued with the track "Wastin Time." This track is very dark and sarcastic. The music has a Nine Inch Nails vibe w/ spoken word and a very strong chorus. Overall this record is intriguing and I can't stop listening to it.

  • " DAMN! THIS CD IS ALL THAT AND SOME!"
    author: John Styles

    I first heard about this artist from a friend of mine. I bought his first solo effort "GET ON WITH IT" and was impressed. So naturally I was interested in his sophomore release. This guy is so versatile and yet I do not get frustrated by his exploration on this record. He takes you everywhere and back again. There are tracks on this record that I can listen to over and over again. THE MARKER is a great groovy rock song w/ quite a poignant message. ORIGINAL SIN is that radio rock song. Then there is the sensitive side of this artist w/ songs like BITTERSWEET,HAILEY ROSE and TEARDROP, one song that sticks out to me is SOMETIMES. This Bowiesque track is inspiring and breathtaking. When it ends I immediately want to hear it again.Speaking of Bowie his remake of BREAKING GLASS is so imaginative and groovy I think Mr. Bowie should take notice of this one. TRADING HORROR STORIES maybe a somber collection at moments, but listen to the CD as a whole and you'll get the picture, and what a big picture it is. Life is full of those unsuspecting moments, the life altering ones. Some are frightful and some are inspiring, but either way true art grows from these moments and Paul Lewis has captured all of this on his new CD.The world needs to take notice! This is one of the best CD of this year and possibly the last several years!

  • Human Animation
    author: Adam Greene

    First of all...The 2nd solo CD by Paul Lewis called Trading Horror Stories, is AWESOME! The songs are interesting and very well written. The Music is fresh, hip and it just sucks you in. The CD is an incredible production, with professional recording and mixing. The overall production is 1st Class. It's filled with amazing rhythms, harmonies, and great lead Vocals. The musicians on this CD are the cream of the crop. The CD is a work of art and that's because Paul Lewis is a very rare talent that only needs some Big Shot at a Major Label to get in tune, check him out and Get on with it! Paul Lewis is one of the most Talented, Animated, Charismatic, Energetic, Amazing showman you will ever see! Buy the CD and go see him live!

  • Trading Horror Stories is an Incredible Listening Experience
    author: Daniel Glammer

    I have to admit I had my doubts when I heard that Paul Lewis was in the studio recording the follow up to his incredible debut CD, Get on With It. I immediately thought about the dreaded sophomore jinx. All it took was hearing the first single from Trading Horror Stories, Original Sin, to convince me that there would be no more sophomore jinx for this incredibly gifted singer-songwriter. Trading Horror Stories is a collaborative effort, with Paul calling upon his former band mates from Y-Not?! for assistance in production (the gifted Darryl Joyner is co-producer) and song writing. The result is a CD which is deserving of the backing of a major label-if only the majors were capable of putting out such a great disc. While Original Sin is getting the airplay now, the CD takes the listener on an emotional journey with such great efforts as Bittersweet, Teardrop, Lost, Sometimes, Hailey Rose, The Marker, Eyes of Blue, Wasting My Time, etc. Paul Lewis alternatively rocks you, then moves you and in the end the listener can't help but want to tell the world to make room at the top for this incredible artist.

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