After many years playing bass in an assortment of bands, bookstore manager Paul Armfield eventually sat down with Joan Baez’s guitarist Adam Kirk and wrote and recorded a handful of songs. These demos came to the attention of a new label who comissioned an album.
With his collaborator and friend now in the States Paul turned to other friends to make up a scratch band- the remarkable Four Good Reasons who, along with producer Ian Caple (Tricky, Stina Nordenson, Jan Tiersenn) and arranger Dickon Hinchliffe (Tindersticks) created the album Songs Without Words. One of the tracks on the album- Paul’s self translated interpretation of a lesser know Jacques Brel song Why Should It Be That A Man Gets Bored, made it onto Barklay’s Brel compilation where it sat very comfortably alongside the likes of Bowie, Scott Walker, Nina Simone et al.
Those who got to see Paul live during this period, whether as a duo supporting Lambchop, solo with the Go-Betweens or with all four of the Good Reasons witnessed performances of intense emotions, wringing tears of laughter, joy and sadness from the audience on a nightly basis. After witnessing their performance at the Glastonbury festival James Delingpole raved in the Sunday Telegraph of his ‘star find’.
Paul’s third album ‘Blood, Fish and Bone’ was recorded live over only four days, each of those four days were separated by six month intervals, scheduled around the visits of Adam Kirk from his new home in San Francisco.
Paul and Adam were joined by JC Grimshaw and drummer Rupert Brown in Rupert’s mostly valve studio. Unrehearsed, spontaneous, and full of the creaks and rumbles of furniture and outside traffic, the performances are also fairly hushed, partly as a response to the songs but also as a consideration to the terrible case of tinitus from which Rupert was suffering.
More recently Paul has taken to writing songs to order,bespoke songs for members of the audience as the in house laureate at Larmer Tree Festival, a song about skateboarding in Ventnor to raise money for a local skate-park, and contributing a song ‘Flagbearers’ to the second Folk Against Fascism album.
In 2009 to celebrate the bicentenary of Alfred Lord Tennyson’s birth Paul put some of the former poet Laureates poems to music and performed them at Tennyson’s Island home Farringford. An album of these songs is finally due for release in the autumn of 2011.
As a sideline Paul also performs double bass duties in gypsy jazz trio Tzigane and 1930s jazz and hula outfit The Gramophone Party.
Collaborators
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Hi Paul
Good to see you up and running. Looking forward to hearing Blood Fish and Bone. What a treat – a new CD! Can you save a copy for me for Tues evening please?
Hi Paul,
the days are cloudy and cold, I sometimes wander through the network.
I discovered your music. Small fine pearls are your songs. They impress me, thrifty by their clear instrumentation. In a time of chatter that is very beneficial. Greetings from an old tree, singing.
warmly Jürgen
http://justaloud.com/jessenin/
Thank you Jurgen, I like that.
Hi Paul,
Do you know about the annual Musical Saw Festival in NYC? You might want to check it out, to go play your saw there! If you don’t know about it: http://www.musicalsawfestival.org
Hello Michelle. Are you the Saw Lady? I have often wanted to come to the Saw Festival it looks fantastic. One day maybe.
Hello Paul, good to see the new website up and running – and very nice it is too. Very much looking forward to hearing you new album, I’m sure it’ll sit alongside Songs Without Words and Evermine as a favourite in my collection. Having recently come back to listening Songs Without Words in particular on a regular basis, I’m still constantly impressed by the intimacy, beauty and sheer poetry of your music.
Looking forward to hopefully catching you live if there are future UK dates in the not too distant future.
Keep up the good work,
Yours,
Luke.
hello,
remember me?¿Im jo´s son !!
Greetings from Shanklin. Franz Romer asked me to send you greetings, so I’ve now done it!
Hi Paul, there is a great concert review for the Bugewitz-Gig today in the ‘Nordkurier’. I will send it by Post. Hope you had a pleasant journey.
All the best
Holger
http://www.myspace.com/kulturvereinweitblick
Hey Paul,
Thank you for a Great Livingroom concert in Berlin!
I never got your email adress. There’s a message from me on your myspace. My mail is hansenrolfster@gmail.com
All the best,
Rolf
Hi Paul,
Lovely to meet you at the Spyglass. Thanks for playing my Rossetti song with me. I look forward to hearing your Tennyson album.
I’m back on the island singing in September and November. Hope to catch you at a gig.
Deb
Deborah, it was a treat, I hope our paths cross again sometime. A lovely voice you have. Did you check out Mary Hampton?
Px
hi paul,
again listening to your album i bought on your comfy café galao concert in stuttgart. it´s among the best means to convince my flatmate´s 5-month-old son that he´d better sleep, he really likes your style of music…
What can I say? You can have good taste at a young age!
Paul, thank you ever so much for playing us your songs at the little soiree las t night , it was completely magic, spellbinding and unforgettable – you are the best xxx loulou
hello sir
i was given a copy of songs without words by my sister about six years ago , it came with a mini cd of a little something for your troubles ,which i have played paper thin and unfortunately it no longer works. Could you let me know, does this album still come with a copy of aforementioned song,if so i would like to buy one immediately
many thanks
Hello Rob,
That’s a nice story, it does come with a little something but only if you buy it from this website.
Paul
Hi Paul it’s Stephen (the soundman) from el Lokal in Zurich. I have a mix of a song from your last gig here that I would like to send to you. Do you have an email address that I could send it to? All the best Stephen