When you left College Station, where did you go from there?
Alaska.
How long were you there?
“I was there off and on for five years. I was in my fourth year in college, my senior year, and I changed majors so many times that I was so far away from getting any kind of a degree. I was in the Corp at A&M and I was like, “You know, this is my senior year and I`m wearing my boots and it`s the last semester in school. I`ve got a brand new major, and I`m so far away from graduating. I`ve got three jobs.” (One of Paul`s three jobs was helping at a music store and he did a lot of guitar repair, but not sales.) “I lived the Corp. And, I had my band going on. On top of all that, I was a full time student, carrying twelve hours a semester. My studies were the absolute last on my whole priority list of things that I had going on. I was like, “I`m not going to continue. I`m wasting time. I`m wasting money.” I was getting good response out of music. Like, “I want to be a rock star. If I want to do this, I need to do it now.” That`s what I did.”
“Right before school started again that semester, I had met Rick and Cora Moses. They were from Bryan College Station. They ended up in Alaska together. They’d been living there for 16 years and they were down visiting friends, relatives. Rick would come out and play with me on Thursdays. And I was like, “Wow, man. He`s a really cool bass player.” I went out to their house one time and they asked, “Man, have you ever thought about coming to Alaska?” “No.”
Paul laughed, “Because at the time I thought every thing North of Vancouver was just a glacier. I didn`t have a clue as to what was going on. So, he was like, “Man, maybe you could come up this summer, just for the summer.” I was like, “Ohhh Kayeee.” Anyway, by the end of the semester, I had already made plans I was going. So, I went for the summer time. I hit a moose in my truck and totaled it. So there went my beloved Nissan Pickup.”
“One of the reasons I went to Alaska was the promise of money and gigs. We ended up not playing that many gigs and the money wasn`t quite what it was supposed to be. But looking back on it now, nothing ever is in life, you know. Anyway, when I got outta College, I wanted to move to Austin to be the next Stevie Ray. Like everybody else on the face of the planet wanted to move to Austin and be the next Stevie Ray. I knew I wasn`t ready, I wasn`t good enough. That`s one of the reasons I went up there is to try to get some experience and stuff like that and it ended up being a great time in life for me. I came back and moved to Austin with my Sister. We were so far away from downtown, it was like a 45 minute trip to get to Sixth Street every night to go just to sit in. I had some settlement money from my wreck, so I went and bought me this Ford Bronco. Man it was a lemon! I got like nine miles to the gallon. My crank shaft bent and I had to replace the crank shaft. It was just one thing after the next. Rick and Cora came down that winter and they had bought this Volkswagen van to get around in. It was a lemon. It`s a long story, but anyway, I ended up giving my Bronco to my Mother to sell and driving the Volkswagen van back to Alaska that following spring. That was hellacious. So, I stayed up there a year and a half that time. That was `96 when I drove back up and I stayed until September `97. During that time we actually really did get some gigs going and making a living playing music. Loving it and traveling around Alaska and playing a lot. I ended up opening for Jeff Healey twice, the winter of `96-`97. Then, opening up two shows for ZZ Top that June of `97.I was on top of the world.”
“I came back and I`d met Smokin` Joe Kubek and his drummer from Dallas. I moved back to Dallas/Fort Worth to hook up with Joe`s drummer. But, he`s fallen off the face of the planet. I didn`t know anybody. I was living in Euless at the time
“Musically, the saving grace to that whole deal was that Holland K. Smith was running the jam session every Thursday night at the Den. Right there on 157 in Euless. I was living in Euless so I could go there on Thursday and hang out with Holland, Doug Swansy, John Garza and Johnny Mack. That`s how I got introduced to the real blues scene here in Dallas/Fort Worth. I`d go to Dallas every now and then, but they`d hardly ever let me sit in. But, I`d always go play every Thursday with Holland and we became close friends. I`d go to Arlington and play with Holland at Daddy Rocks over on Lamar. Then I finally met some musicians here and there and got a band going myself. I got me a gig at the Den and got me a couple of gigs in Dallas and hooked up with a little local agent. And, by that time, I had moved to Richardson and changed jobs.”
“I realized I wasn`t getting anywhere, far, without a CD. If you haven`t got a CD, you haven`t got anything. Because everybody is asking me for promo packs that includes a CD. I have a little five song demo that I`d recorded when I was in college, back in `94. This was `98 now and no more feasible. So, I finally made up my mind. I knew I had a good band in Alaska and I knew plenty of people there. I knew a studio. I could get the hook-up. There were plenty of gigs left to be had. I went back to Alaska again and drove my car, my `76 Cadillac up there. That`s the only one I came back from Alaska with!”
A keeper!
Yeah, it`s a keeper. I stayed there from spring of `98 until fall of `99. That`s when I came back and moved back to Euless again with my buddy. I`ve been in Fort Worth ever since.
Alaska.
How long were you there?
“I was there off and on for five years. I was in my fourth year in college, my senior year, and I changed majors so many times that I was so far away from getting any kind of a degree. I was in the Corp at A&M and I was like, “You know, this is my senior year and I`m wearing my boots and it`s the last semester in school. I`ve got a brand new major, and I`m so far away from graduating. I`ve got three jobs.” (One of Paul`s three jobs was helping at a music store and he did a lot of guitar repair, but not sales.) “I lived the Corp. And, I had my band going on. On top of all that, I was a full time student, carrying twelve hours a semester. My studies were the absolute last on my whole priority list of things that I had going on. I was like, “I`m not going to continue. I`m wasting time. I`m wasting money.” I was getting good response out of music. Like, “I want to be a rock star. If I want to do this, I need to do it now.” That`s what I did.”
“Right before school started again that semester, I had met Rick and Cora Moses. They were from Bryan College Station. They ended up in Alaska together. They’d been living there for 16 years and they were down visiting friends, relatives. Rick would come out and play with me on Thursdays. And I was like, “Wow, man. He`s a really cool bass player.” I went out to their house one time and they asked, “Man, have you ever thought about coming to Alaska?” “No.”
Paul laughed, “Because at the time I thought every thing North of Vancouver was just a glacier. I didn`t have a clue as to what was going on. So, he was like, “Man, maybe you could come up this summer, just for the summer.” I was like, “Ohhh Kayeee.” Anyway, by the end of the semester, I had already made plans I was going. So, I went for the summer time. I hit a moose in my truck and totaled it. So there went my beloved Nissan Pickup.”
“One of the reasons I went to Alaska was the promise of money and gigs. We ended up not playing that many gigs and the money wasn`t quite what it was supposed to be. But looking back on it now, nothing ever is in life, you know. Anyway, when I got outta College, I wanted to move to Austin to be the next Stevie Ray. Like everybody else on the face of the planet wanted to move to Austin and be the next Stevie Ray. I knew I wasn`t ready, I wasn`t good enough. That`s one of the reasons I went up there is to try to get some experience and stuff like that and it ended up being a great time in life for me. I came back and moved to Austin with my Sister. We were so far away from downtown, it was like a 45 minute trip to get to Sixth Street every night to go just to sit in. I had some settlement money from my wreck, so I went and bought me this Ford Bronco. Man it was a lemon! I got like nine miles to the gallon. My crank shaft bent and I had to replace the crank shaft. It was just one thing after the next. Rick and Cora came down that winter and they had bought this Volkswagen van to get around in. It was a lemon. It`s a long story, but anyway, I ended up giving my Bronco to my Mother to sell and driving the Volkswagen van back to Alaska that following spring. That was hellacious. So, I stayed up there a year and a half that time. That was `96 when I drove back up and I stayed until September `97. During that time we actually really did get some gigs going and making a living playing music. Loving it and traveling around Alaska and playing a lot. I ended up opening for Jeff Healey twice, the winter of `96-
“I came back and I`d met Smokin` Joe Kubek and his drummer from Dallas. I moved back to Dallas/Fort Worth to hook up with Joe`s drummer. But, he`s fallen off the face of the planet. I didn`t know anybody. I was living in Euless at the time
“Musically, the saving grace to that whole deal was that Holland K. Smith was running the jam session every Thursday night at the Den. Right there on 157 in Euless. I was living in Euless so I could go there on Thursday and hang out with Holland, Doug Swansy, John Garza and Johnny Mack. That`s how I got introduced to the real blues scene here in Dallas/Fort Worth. I`d go to Dallas every now and then, but they`d hardly ever let me sit in. But, I`d always go play every Thursday with Holland and we became close friends. I`d go to Arlington and play with Holland at Daddy Rocks over on Lamar. Then I finally met some musicians here and there and got a band going myself. I got me a gig at the Den and got me a couple of gigs in Dallas and hooked up with a little local agent. And, by that time, I had moved to Richardson and changed jobs.”
“I realized I wasn`t getting anywhere, far, without a CD. If you haven`t got a CD, you haven`t got anything. Because everybody is asking me for promo packs that includes a CD. I have a little five song demo that I`d recorded when I was in college, back in `94. This was `98 now and no more feasible. So, I finally made up my mind. I knew I had a good band in Alaska and I knew plenty of people there. I knew a studio. I could get the hook-
A keeper!
Yeah, it`s a keeper. I stayed there from spring of `98 until fall of `99. That`s when I came back and moved back to Euless again with my buddy. I`ve been in Fort Worth ever since.
