Paul Greig

Paul Greig should have followed his predestined roots of playing country music ‘till his dying day, given that he was born and raised in Australia’s capital of country music, Tamworth. Surrounded by the greats of this genre, he cut his teeth sitting in with local musicians and playing with Blues outfit Black Cat Bone. A strange twist of fate had led Paul to reject his natural right-handedness and start playing as a southpaw, the only guitar in the family homestead being his big brother’s left-hander. Paul turned this hindrance into a plus, creating a unique tone under the influence of players like Ry Cooder and Lowell George .Not content to be simply a hired gun Paul has also been developing his own songwriting, the culmination of which is his debut solo album, Rush of Goodness. Funnelling it down to 10 heartfelt original compositions, Rush Of Goodness finds Paul covering a gamut of moods from the downright funky title track, with its slide licks cutting across rolling Wurlitzer piano chords and call-and-response back-up singers, to the spare acoustic folk picking of Paint My Eyes. Recorded in Big Jesus Burger Studios, Sydney, under the guiding hand of producer/engineer Luke Baker, the album features Paul’s rich, multi-layered guitars backed by a core rhythm section of drummer Danny Heifetz (Mr Bungle) and bass players Sean Rudd. Soulful backing vocals from Charlotte Wiltshire and Natalie Slade add an earthy counterpoint to Paul’s melodic singing on rockers like The Boulevarde and Mercury Rise, and occasional modernist studio touches – loops, programmed beats – complete the picture of an artist with deep roots and a thoroughly contemporary sensibility. The title track of his debut album was a prizewinner in the John lennon songwriting competition soon after its release in 2007.