Hey Steemers! I'm Paul Hallman, and I write and record music. I recently spent a couple of years as an over-the-road truck driver, so I used the solitude to write songs and woodshed on my guitar, and I used a lot of the money to put together a recording studio. I've recorded five songs so far, and starting with the sixth one I'm going to record video while I track the parts, so you can see a composite video of me playing all the parts on the song. I've done a little bit of that so far, but I haven't yet made a live video worth posting (getting the camera to focus where it needs to has been a bit of an issue, since I'm always paying more attention to the music than the camera). We'll get there, though. I have a backlog of original songs to record, but I also love recording covers. The song I'm posting here for introduction is a song I wrote a few years ago and recorded this past January. Vocals and all instruments are me.
I don't want this intro to be a long post, but I guess you want to know something about me if you're reading this. There are a lot of things I love doing besides music, and you'll probably get to see some of that as time goes on (especially since one of those things is writing, and another is photography – I may have some work to do as a videographer, but I'm pretty decent with stills). In my life I have been:
A soldier/musician (yes, that's one job),
a chef (for most of my adult life),
a truck driver (my dog Leia has claimed territory in 43 states, which I guess makes her a real estate mogul in the canine world; New Mexico was tough, since there's no freaking grass, and I almost lost her in the snow in Wyoming once when she picked a bad place to pee),
and now I'm a woodworker building high-end custom furniture and cabinets (I'm still learning, but it's the best job I've ever had). I was born and raised in Florida (Jacksonville, not the touristy parts), but have lived in New Orleans; Seoul, South Korea; and Alabama (Roll Tide!). I listen to and play music including but not limited to: various types of rock (Beatles, Hendrix, The Band, Pixies, Black Keys, Alabama Shakes, and I was learning to play guitar during the early 90's “alternative” explosion, which should give you a clue as to where my roots are), funk (James Brown is the king, and Clyde Stubblefield is my favorite drummer except for maybe Stevie Wonder), old school R&B (love me some 70's-era Stevie Wonder), jazz (Wes Montgomery, Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones), and whatever else rubs me the right way. I sometimes use electronic elements in my music, but I don't really listen to electronic music. I've been serious about guitar since about the ninth grade, took piano lessons since third grade, played both guitar and trumpet in high school and college band, and in the Army my MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) was 02T Guitar Player, which includes playing percussion in marching band and concert band. I was also a vocalist for Army rock and jazz bands, and I learned a lot about drumming from some really great drummers that I worked with (plus there was always a drumset at work that I could practice on). I come from the city where Southern rock was (arguably) born, but our hometown heroes Skynyrd are probably my least favorite Southern rock band (I like the complexity and stylistic diversity of groups like The Band and the Allman Brothers, and I'm discovering great new stuff like Parker Millsap). I love Southern themes and flavors (you could read that as being about music or food), but I hate modern “country” music. I'm also a fan of parentheses (as you may have noticed). I blame reading too much Stephen King as a kid.
So what can you expect from me on Steemit? Well, lots of music, obviously. I will post a studio recording every time I finish one (I've averaged about one every couple of months for the last year, but that pace is going to pick up soon), and I'll post some live stuff every now and then as well. I just moved back to Jacksonville and am looking for a permanent place to live, so when I find one I may let you in on my studio building process. So far I've been making the best out of bad recording spaces, so I'm looking forward to setting up a room just for that purpose. It's pretty frustrating when I set up my tube mic, wait 45 minutes for it to warm up, warm up my voice so I'm ready for recording, and then my neighbor starts mowing his damn lawn. I've got some friends who are great musicians that play instruments that I don't, so there will be some cool collaborations (I've written one song that I want a New Orleans brass band on, and I have found people willing to help me accomplish that – I'm super excited about that one!). You can expect lots of different musical styles, and I'd like to find ways to tie in food, photography, and other fun things. I'll be experimenting and eventually settling into a style of posting here on Steemit. If you're up for the ride, I'm glad to have you along!
All images by Paul Hallman, except most of the ones with me in them.