I must have had a dozen or so conversations with Paul Sanchez before we finally met. Whether talking about his hometown of New Orleans, its music or his music with Cowboy Mouth or solo, via phone or e-mail, there was something very comfortable about it all, as if Paul and I had known each other forever. I had seen him perform live a number of times, but my reluctance to accost the talent after a performance remains to this day. The time never seems right.
In 2009 I was asked to write the foreword for his book, "Pieces Of Me," a collection of essays about life on the road and music in New Orleans. This was almost 3 years after Katrina rocked Paul's world. I was honored, to say the least.
April of 2009, I finally met Paul in New Orleans to celebrate the release of "Pieces Of Me" at the Jazz & Heritage Festival. We exchanged the usual pleasantries.
"So you were born in NYC, Sal?"
"Yes."
"Whereabout?"
"Down in Soho, when it was still Soho."
"Oh, I lived in Soho for a bit."
"Whereabout?"
"Broome St."
"Really? That's where I was born."
"Really? Whereabout?"
"Between 6th and Varick."
"Really? That's where I lived."
A few more "reallies," and BOOM, Paul lived in the exact apartment where I was born. That made our connection more than just coincidence.
We don't see each other much, as my trips to New Orleans have gone from four a year to one every two years. But I woke up to this e-mail the other day, which I really enjoyed.
Hey Sal,
I enjoy your posts so much, a twisted and comical view on rock is always welcome in my world, especially coming from someone who truly loves rock as an art form.
Been working for the last year with a
director from New York on a documentary film about my three loves:
Shelly, music and New Orleans. I heard "Another Cup Of Coffee" from a show
with the Mouth at Tipitina's in 1993. I recorded a new version of this
song I last did on the Mouth's first record.
Please pass along to as many people as you like.
peace & love,
Paul
Thanks, Paul. I think I will.
5 comments:
Loose-limbed in the best possible way. I like the drums.
ahhhh
I hate to do this to ya after everything you went through last week, but on the offchance this might involve a relatively simple fix, here goes. When I read this post yesterday morning -- and was quite intrigued to hear what Paul was working on -- I was disappointed that there was no link to any music. Thinking you may simply have forgotten, I decided to wait a bit and see what might happen later in the day. Unfortunately, I ended up spending the entire day at the hospital with a friend whose colonoscopy went horribly wrong and who needed emergency surgery to repair the damage. Anyway, yesterday was shot, so this morning I logged on again only to find, much to my dismay, no link. However, there were two comments which definitely referenced the music, so I logged in again using a different browser (Safari) and, lo and behold, not only did I find a divShare link to the music, but a photo of you and Paul. Since Chrome is my browser of choice, I thought you should be aware of the issue -- and now I'm wondering what else I've been missing!
@ReelMusic
First off, so sorry to her about your friend and that terrible day. Hope all is well at that front.
As for Chrome, I don't use it, but I have been told by a few friends that they have had trouble on many sites using Chrome. None of these people have had trouble on Burning Wood, though.
I use Firefox and constantly have trouble viewing PowerPop's blog. All browsers are touchy.
I guess I'm not sure there's anything I can do on my end.
Thanks for the prompt reply, Sal, and for your kind thoughts re: my friend. I, too, have heard of issues with Chrome but to the best of my knowledge had not experienced any weirdness prior to this. Oh well...
Hope your day improves.
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