Sometimes records kick you right in the feels and the new one from John Richard Paul does exactly that. As the song “In Return” states, it’s hard to find your voice and be sure if it’s the real you, but Paul convinces the listener otherwise throughout Midwestern Modesty. The songwriting is so unapologetically John Richard Paul, whose melancholic melodies and vocals you can feel in your soul, carry us through each track. There’s pick ups along the way, too. Paul’s humor and storytelling skills shine through the gloom once you get to “Existentialist Blues”. He even corroborated my first listen feelings on the track sequencing. “I didn’t consciously set out to write a bummer of an album, but that’s certainly how a lot of it turned out, hence the inclusion of ‘Existentialist Blues’ immediately after one of the more devastating songs on the record, ‘Dying On The Vine’. It was a way of poking fun at myself and creating an in-joke, or moment of levity, on an otherwise fairly heavy record. But a lot of it is just kind of working through different feelings and emotions and creating characters and ideas within each that I can explore and get to maybe know myself a little better in the process.”
Speaking of blues, “Heart Sleeve Blues” has a tempo you can’t help but tap your foot to. Paul takes us on a journey once again with the whole album. Who can be unhappy with a perfectly placed harmonica solo? (Courtesy of Jack Senff!) The order of songs on Midwestern Modesty feels personal and deliberate. John Richard Paul encourages wallowing, but allows the sunshine to pierce through those clouds too.
My absolute favorite song from Midwestern Modesty is “Dying On The Vine”. This is where the album takes the saddest tone possible, right in the middle, before lifting the listener up again. You’re no longer here with me/just a memory trapped in time. Life dreams and circumstances are themes woven throughout the album, connecting every chord to give us another chapter in the life of John Richard Paul. “It wasn’t necessarily intentional to go that route, but once I started, a thematic pattern started to emerge, and much of the record ended up dealing with relationships and losses of various types,” Paul says.
The quiet observer that suits the vibe of John Richard Paul as a musician is most apparent in “Untitled New Song”. The best part of all of his perceptions is that he croons them to the world. He doesn’t demand to be heard because he doesn’t need to. He makes the listener want to tune in. He says he “feels good” about this album. “I think this record is much more representative of what I do in a day-to-day live setting. It’s much more stripped-down and the focus is on the lyrics. Keeping it simple, as most songs are just acoustic guitar, voice, minimal percussion/drums, and bass, helped the songs to breathe a bit more and stand on their own. I’m still proud of what I accomplished on the first record, but I think this is a better representation of where I’m at currently. That and having performed and recorded the whole thing with a true DIY approach was very satisfying.”
Typical of a John Richard Paul project, community is often involved. “I had Schyler Binkley on drums and percussion throughout and Jim Kremidas back on pedal steel and dobro. But other than that, it’s really just me playing a number of instruments. Diana Ladio contributed some truly beautiful string parts to the title track and ‘In Return’ that, when listening back, left me feeling like, damn, this is a real record! Jack M. Senff, who helped produce it, stepped in on harmonica for ‘Heart Sleeve Blues,’ while Kyle Wanye Luck, who mixed the whole record, added some harmonies on ‘(Notes On) An Imaginary Ending.’”
By the time the last track played I was clamoring for just one more. The closer works so well, not just based on the song’s title, but because it ends leaving the listener feeling defeated. Have I just been personally victimized by a John Richard Paul album? is the mood he leaves us in. And that’s ok, because you can just start it over again and relive the journey you know was well worth taking the first time. Sometimes being a glutton for punishment, music wise, is what the soul needs. It’s never a bad thing to acknowledge that life isn’t always roses and fun times. Midwestern Modesty is a prime example of the beauty that can emerge from surviving the downs of the human experience, and I appreciate those types of inclusions in my playlists as a reminder.
You can purchase John Richard Paul’s music on Bandcamp and stream it wherever you get your music from.
Thistle Thoughts 