Paul Curreri

Seldom do I come across music that is literally soul-saving. There is plenty of music by gifted singer-songwriters that resonates way deep down, and while it is absolutely beautiful it can often be paralyzingly depressing (Elliot Smith, Damien Rice, Mindy Smith, Rosie Thomas, Jeff Buckley). There is also the rare, frighteningly innovative and brilliant repertoire, like Radiohead: again, gorgeous but it always seems to leave me a little more anxious or melancholy than I wanted to be. Zeppelin rocks my face off, but conjures up memories of an evil ex-boyfriend. So what am I supposed to do if I want to feel sympathized with and transcendent, but don't want to end up punching someone, crying, or killing myself?

I have found 3 artists so far who solve this problem. Rachmaninoff (namely his 2nd piano concerto) got me through most of high school and college, Ray Lamontagne saved me during the first year out of college and continues to do so, and I don't know what I would have done this year without Paul Curreri. These are men who bellow cries of mercy from the gutters of despair yet refuse to whine about death; instead they give it the finger and sing (or play) into it's face.

To be sure, it's a sad world most of the time but let's be realistic: it's more complicated than that. If you are a normal human being you'll understand that this world if anything is paradoxical: spells of utter shittiness mixed with bursts of great joy, often happening concurrently in the same day, or even same 10 minutes. And sometimes you don't want to analyze or feel things- you just want to shoot the breeze on a nice day over a bourbon with your best buddy and forget about everything. No bullshit.

These guys understand this very human concept. Sergei and Ray have more of an excuse to be a bit on the heavier side- they lived in Russia and in a chicken coup, respectively. But Paul, I believe, validates the spectrum of the human experience while not letting you get away with feeling too sorry for yourself. He is blues-based, often moving quickly and gracefully between styles, navigating with poetic lyrics and taking surprising turns. Enjoy.


"Tight Pack Me Sugar" (skip ahead to 2:10)



"California"



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