tag:paulcaldwellmusic.com,2005:/blogs/ep-releaseEP Release2021-06-02T08:40:58-07:00Paul Caldwellfalsetag:paulcaldwellmusic.com,2005:Post/66473962021-06-02T08:40:58-07:002023-10-16T07:52:19-07:00Headlines, the story behind the lyrics.<p>When I first sat down to write Headlines I had a misunderstood feeling within. At that time I recently talked to a counsellor and started to reflect and think about my past. Then while talking to a friends mother, we spoke about Van Morrison, she mentioned his writing, how he writes about the past, his childhood, the people in it, the shared memories, and how someone took the time to write about their time. I sat down with that thought in mind, I wrote about my memories. </p>
<p>I remember… </p>
<p>When started writing I had a slight idea of where it was going, I had the melody in my head and had some chords I was playing with. They felt and sounded hopeful. </p>
<p>I wanted to think about my childhood, then I started remembering and writing down my earliest memories, growing up in Lisowen avenue. Marian Park, knockalla and all the surrounding areas. </p>
<p>Learning how to cycle a bike, which was my sister taking me out on a hand me down bike, pushing me over the road, wobbling a few times and eventually getting my balance and from that point, as far as I remember I haven’t stoped moving, building go-carts from wood and old pram wheels. Bikes down the hill head, mountain bikes, scooters, go carts, rough riders, scramblers/dirt bikes, quads, horses, milk vans and cars. </p>
<p>In hind sight it’s all the more clear. </p>
<p>I wanted this song to resemble/portray the feeling of motion, to sound like and feel like I was on a bike ride down memory lane, set to a smooth rhythm, a hopeful motion. </p>
<p>I started writing my memories, the unpredictability of Irish weather. We’d be wearing shorts and a tee shirt then caught in an almighty down pour. Then sun and maybe hail it’s hard to know in Donegal... </p>
<p>Staying out at night until my mother came over to the end of the park and called our names, we’re playing football or chase, red rover, kirby, some kind of game or just sitting around talking. Friends mothers all coming out around the same time to call for our friends to come in. It became dark in Donegal, sometime comes at 10:30/11. Summer nights were long and beautiful. </p>
<p>I grew up in the park, there’s a green patch with football posts. </p>
<p>In between the grassy area, there’s gravel covered areas from when we had climbing frames(monkey bars) there was swing frames, but no swings. Most likely vandalized and had to be removed for safety. The frames served as perfect football nets/goal posts. Or two jumpers/sweaters on each side if it's a match. Or 5 aside. </p>
<p>As you can imagine, there would be lots of stumbles, falls, scratches, fights, there was gravel in knees that we had to pick out to keep playing depending on the Severity of the injury. Most likely the game was called off due to a dog sticking his teeth in the ball or someone kicking it over Sweenys wall and Lizzy stick knife in it out of spite!</p>
<p>The back garden of my parents house faced Magin park, a green to the right and Clinton’s garden, which had around 8-10 pine trees. We’d bike through, make tracks and collect “eggcorns” (pine cones), we’d clime the sapped soaked trees, climb from tree to Tree, there were planks of wood nailed on to some of the trees We’d sit on them. One tree was very flexible we’d all hold on, for dear life to the nearest branch or whatever we can get a hand on. And we start swinging over and back, side to side, to my younger self that tree was known as the helicopter. that line also refers to helicopters falling from trees, seeds of the sycamore tree.</p>
<p>That same back garden always had comings and goings. I’d be fixing bikes, borrowing a size 14 spanner from my uncle Vince, watching him fixing cars and trying to help, most likely getting in the way, but always wanting to help. My back garden, I cut the grass, I cleaned the car, cleaned out the shed, climbed on the old tar chipboard roof, with a hole in it. Almost fell through... </p>
<p>My aunt Annamarie loves horses, and her and my sisters were into horses, they’d ride them over the park, take them to the shore or swans park and usually take them up my back garden to brush and feed or water them. I remember a horse called Charlie and a horse called Brenda. There was many more but they were the ones I remember most, and I was put up on as a kid. They were amazing and as mystic as you can imagine. </p>
<p>Life was great, it was summer the Spanish students came over. I remember the day the group of people left Marian park and headed to Omagh for a day trip with the Spanish students and their leaders. </p>
<p>My brother Michael was all Set for going. I can’t recall the reason but my mother didn’t allow him to go, he understandably wasn’t happy. He was closer in age to Shaun. I was closer in age to Oran. Oran then was and still Is a better footballer than I ever will be, we played on the gravel, with the swing frame nets the day before they left. It was always good fun. </p>
<p>August 15th 1998: </p>
<p>I was playing in my front garden with toy cars and tractors, at the age of 9, I was always into digging up the garden. My sister Lisa came out front, she heard on the radio there was a bomb in Omagh. And my neighbors were all out too. Our neighbour Mary was out and worried, her daughter was on the trip. We got second hand information, all of everything was unsure, nothing was certain, fear, panic, anxiety came over the whole park. No one knew what to do, there were no phones there was no instant communication, they were miles away, and not many had cars.</p>
<p>That day went by for me, extremely fearful, and unsure. </p>
<p>We heard the bus from Omagh was coming home, everybody’s family was there waiting on their children to come home. The bus slowly unloaded. Children in shock and fear running to their mothers and fathers arms. Children. The bus continued to Unload. I remember my friend in her father’s arms Crying. I wanted to help, I didn’t know how. I heard there was another bus coming. Then I asked the bus driver, and as anyone would say to a 9yo child, he answered yes. </p>
<p>I repeated to my friend and felt there was hope after all. Little did I know. </p>
<p>“Their brothers didn’t step off that bus. </p>
<p>Mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters. All awaited the departure. And they didn’t make it. The family’s jumped Into cars drove the to the nearest Northern Ireland hospital where their kids might be. </p>
<p>I cycled home, on that dark night. All I imagined was the what if? The next day we went to mass. Then the missing and the confirmed dead were announced. Word spread throughout a small town. An unforgivable atrocity in the name of what? </p>
<p>I remember the long cars driving round the park coming up knockalla drive. In my mind they were placed in white coffins, but I was later informed-they were brown. Maybe it was the flowers surrounding that I remembered. But they were children and I was a child and that was in my mind.</p>
<p>I remember the mass on Knockalla drive, the funeral, the "months mind", the one year anniversary, father Shane on a stage, outside the cottage, as he repeated “a year ago Today”. I remember sitting with my friends, outside Geared the boss’s house, candle in hand, dipping my fingers in the hot wax completely unaware of the actual feeling. But we could only imagine and we all felt the loss of our friends. </p>
<p>Thinking on the song Headlines, I was remembering my youth. Missing home, my family and friends, my neighbours throughout a pandemic. I started writing, reminiscing on my childhood. </p>
<p>“I remember you, you were there when we felt defeated” </p>
<p>When I wrote this line, I was wondering what got me through. It was a reflection on spirituality, faith, and the question of it. My faith, as a nine year old child was in my mother. She was always there when I felt defeated. There to brush off our knees, there to tell us it’s all ok. There to answer questions about our lost friends. At the age of 9 my faith was placed in my mother. </p>
<p>When I played the song for her, she made a beautiful observation. She said it captures the moment, it remembers the boys in life, and the life they had, their faces. Their smile. They had a life that should be celebrated. They were not defined by the tragedy. They had a life they were our friends and I remember that. </p>
<p>I always think of that day but I think what made me write about it now was that I felt so far from home during this pandemic. Missing home always stirs up memories of my childhood and this time I put them down on paper. More than anything this song is for those lives lost, it remembers the boys my friends and the life they had.</p>
<p>This song is dedicated to Oran, Sean, and James. and all the victims of the Omagh bombing.</p>
<p>Written by Paul Caldwell</p>Paul Caldwelltag:paulcaldwellmusic.com,2005:Post/56869692019-03-20T11:02:21-07:002022-08-16T23:23:41-07:00The first day of Spring<p>It’s been a while since I wrote one of these, I hope you are all doing well. <br>I’m just recovering from St. Patrick’s Day and all the music that goes with it. It fell on a Sunday this year and that only means one thing for lots of Irish, a weekend session. <br>All over the weekend we played in different places over town. From Friday to Sunday we played a total of 15 hrs of music. So you can see why recovery is needed. </p>
<p>Today marks the first day of Spring and the Spring Equinox. The day and night are of equal length. Also, tonight has a full moon. I sit here and write this with the window cracked open and the wonderful smell that's coming in is uplifting and fresh, except to all you folks with allergies.<br>I feel it's time to get rid of the winter blues and get into the season of regrowth and new life. And with that, dust off a few old videos I have laying in my closet from last year. </p>
<p>In January 2019 I released a video for my version of ‘Black Is The Colour’ it racked up a total of nearly 12k views between Facebook and Youtube. Thank you to each and everyone who watched it and took the time to comment, share, like, subscribe and spread the word, it truly means a lot to me.</p>
<p>The new video I have is a live version of my song called ‘A Different Story’ <br>It was shot on my friend's rooftop last summer in Kitsilano, Vancouver BC, Canada.</p>
<p>Special Thanks to Alice and Brad and Tuco for letting us take over the rooftop for the day.</p>
<p>Shot by my friends Eoin Kelly Smith and Jason Harynuk. <br>Video edited by Eoin Kelly Smith.</p>
<p>Band:</p>
<p>Guitar & vocals: Paul Caldwell<br>Electric guitar: Alvin Brendan<br>Backing vocals: Brian O'Brien<br>Bass: Derek Maroney<br>Drums: Lucas Ross<br>Trumpet: Trever Whitridge</p>
<p>Live sound engineer; Cezar White</p>
<p>Sound mixing: Lucas Ross</p>
<p>Photography: Gurk Bains</p>
<p>Watch it here:</p>
<p>https://youtu.be/xxuhgQvt8Rw</p>
<p>This is video 1 of 3, the others will be coming out soon.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Thanks for your kindness and support,</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Paul </p>Paul Caldwelltag:paulcaldwellmusic.com,2005:Post/54934042018-10-30T22:13:36-07:002022-05-19T12:36:23-07:00Break Radio Silence<p>Hey,</p>
<p>it’s been a while since my last post. A lot of exciting things happened since then. I can’t remember if I was one handed or two, but I’m very glad to report my right hand is back in action. I am now playing guitar again and I have video evidence to prove it! We celebrated the end of summer on my friend Brad’s roof and shot a couple of live videos. I’ll be very happy to share them with you when they’re edited and mixed. </p>
<p>I’m also shooting a video for Black Is The Colour, I’m really excited about that one. More details to follow.. </p>
<p>Since I was a young lad, before I could play guitar, before I ever thought I could write a song, before I knew the 3rd verse of The Weight, I always wanted to hear myself played on the radio. <br>A couple of weeks ago, my good friend Jonathan Smeaton (who you should check out on Spotify right now) dropped off my EP with his friend, Jimmy Stafford. Jimmy is a DJ at my local radio station, Highland Radio, back in Donegal. He has a great show on Monday nights and Saturday mornings, all about new and local music. He played my song, A Different Story, on air for the first and second time, and gave it great praise. I was over the moon with this news, as it was another thing ticked of my evergrowing bucket list.<br>I tuned in online at highlandradio.com and sat at my piano to listen to my song being played on my local radio station at home. That truly was a moment I’ll never forget. Always grateful to Jonathan and Jimmy for making this happen, it was a little dream of mine that came true. A moment of recognition and inspiration. </p>
<p>Recent shows have all been really good. I was asked by my friend and fellow musician Barry Quinn to headline The Last Thursday Session's at Mahony and Sons on the 25th. It was a great night, as I shared the stage with a couple of really talented musicians. It's always a pleasure to play down there, and the day came and went with no emergencies, near finger losing moments or work place accidents of any kind! A huge success!</p>
<p>Overall, October has been a really busy time for me between gigs, shows and videos, but it's been nice to feel this productive.</p>
<p>There's a couple of shows and video releases in the works, so stay tuned!</p>
<p>Talk soon, </p>
<p>Paul</p>Paul Caldwelltag:paulcaldwellmusic.com,2005:Post/53334952018-07-05T22:16:49-07:002023-12-10T08:52:59-08:00Come the day come the hour.... EP released!<p>Hey, </p>
<p>This has been an eventful month. On June 1st I sliced my little finger open, cutting the artery, the tendon and the nerves. Basically, everything there to cut, was cut. An amazing surgeon spent 3 hours sewing all back together, I have that amazing doctor and her team to thank for saving my little finger. Now every hour is filled with physiotherapy exercises, visiting an amazing Physiotherapist twice a week and an album launch work in-between. <br>It might have been the universe telling me that I needed some time off work or it might just have been a weird stupid accident, either way it gave me time to get this EP to you! Doing all the real exciting music business stuff.... It's lots of fun, really.. (where's the sarcastic face emoji?) </p>
<p>Apart from all the fun I've been having, the staring into a white screen and trying to figure out how all of this is done. I'm not that computer literate to be honest. Thankfully BandZoogle makes it fairly easy! </p>
<p>The other thing that makes it easy is having wonderful people around you. My wonderful loving girlfriend Lauren who is always an inspiration to me, and the only one with enough patience to help me with all of the online stuff. All my friends, Paul Crawford helped me design the album cover, my friend Gurk who took the photos for it. <br>Lucas who has helped me from day 1 to make this project into something real, all my musician friends who played on the album, Sid Jordan, Derek Maroney, Alvin Brendan, Ben Barber, Devon Wells, Callum O Riordan, Natalie Ramsey, David Lavoie, Vidar Norheim, Chris Mc Mullan, my good friend Brian O'Brien and last but definitely not least my brother Christy Caldwell! <br>Bill Lanham for recording drums and bass in Long Beach. Jeff Zipp did a fine Job on mixing the tracks and even played some electric guitar on there! Brock McFarlane who mastered them. </p>
<p>I read a quote the other day, I don't know who it's by, but it said "people are not there to see through you, but there to see you through" </p>
<p>Thanks everyone. </p>
<p>And thank you for listening and for reading this. </p>
<p>I hope you like the songs. </p>
<p>Paul.</p>
<p> </p>Paul Caldwelltag:paulcaldwellmusic.com,2005:Post/52367522018-05-15T20:52:05-07:002022-03-16T03:23:06-07:00EP Update<p>Hey Everyone!</p>
<p>The final stages of mixing have taken place, and now its on to mastering!</p>
<p>I'm hoping to have the EP out by the end of the month, and I can't wait for that day!</p>
<p>Many emails have gone to and fro between myself and Jeff in the Recording Suite and we're almost there!<br>All tracks have been sent for mastering, and I'm currently waiting to get them back.</p>
<p>I keep getting a mix of excitement and nervousness, and oh is it trying my patience!</p>
<p>Speaking of which, I keep having to remind myself that good things come to those who wait.</p>
<p>Like anything that takes a bit of work, there's no point rushing through it all.<br>It's best to take a little time and get it right, or the closest I can get to it. <br>Everyday is a school day.</p>
<p>I've been looking around Vancouver for a nice venue to launch the EP, so stay tuned for details about that!<br>But for now, I have a few shows coming up that you can check out in the events section.</p>
<p>Cheers!</p>
<p>Paul</p>Paul Caldwelltag:paulcaldwellmusic.com,2005:Post/51107502018-03-05T21:47:31-08:002023-12-10T10:38:01-08:00EP Release<h3 style="text-align:center;">Drum Roll Please...</h3><p style="text-align:center;">I've been busy in the studio over the past several months, working hard on recording my first EP, titled 'Post It Notes'. <br>I'm excited to announce that it will be ready for release this coming Spring!</p><p style="text-align:center;">This is something that I have always wanted to do, and it makes me happy to finally have the chance to do it.<br>Not only have I been able to realize part of my dreams, I've also been lucky enough to work alongside many of the incredibly talented musicians in my life, while doing it.</p><p style="text-align:center;">The EP will include 4 brand new singles, and one new take on a traditional folk song. </p><p style="text-align:center;">I'm excited to share it with you all once it's ready, so be sure to stay in touch!</p><p style="text-align:center;">Paul</p>Paul Caldwelltag:paulcaldwellmusic.com,2005:Post/51130432018-03-05T21:41:47-08:002022-02-24T05:53:08-08:00LanaLou's<h3 style="text-align: center;">If you're craving a night of live music and a bit of craic, I've got the right place for you!</h3>
<p style="text-align: center;">This Sunday, March 11th, come down to LanaLou's for three sets of great tunes.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">The night will start off with the lively 'Coldwater Road' band and their mix of love songs and foot-stomping murder ballads.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Next, I'll be playing new music from my upcoming EP 'Post It Notes', alongside my band the 'Not Too Bads'. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">To close out the evening, the Vancouver based band, 'little bROTHER', with roots in BC, Ontario, Ireland, and Australia, will keep you moving with their blend of "Indy/Funk Rock n'Roll."</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Hope to see you all there!</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Paul</p>Paul Caldwell