MY STORY
Worth Paul’s songwriting story began in his early 20s with a simple lyric—and a bold ask. He approached the front man of Northern California band Bill Bramblett and the Stingers with a lyric and the song they wrote together became the A-side of the band’s first single. Then his co-writer entered it into The American Song Festival (now the John Lennon Songwriting Contest), where it landed as a finalist in the pop category.
In those formative years, Worth found himself writing alongside an eclectic and influential circle of musicians. He collaborated with guitarist Steve Kimock (Zero, KVHW, The Other Ones), who was then the Guitarist with Donna Godchaux’s Heart of Gold Band. He also worked with his lyrical mentor and friend, Peter Monk (Peter, Paul and Mary, The Grateful Dead and others)—an influence Worth still credits as deeply shaping both his artistry and his life. "The importance of my friendship with Peter, and his influence on me personally and artistically, is a whole story in itself," Worth said. He also co-wrote in those years with Argentine singer-songwriter Alberto Ledo, crafting new English language lyrics for “We Shall Live in Peace,” a song that would go on to be performed internationally.
Eventually, Worth made the move to Nashville, chasing the singer/songwriter’s path in a pre-streaming era. He spent years producing, mentoring, and running a recording studio, while quietly building a catalog of songs recorded by himself and others. During that time, he released his own album, produced by legendary audio engineer/producer Bill Halverson (CSN, CSNY, REO Speedwagon, and John Hiatt, among many others). It was a different music business then— aspiring artists drove down music row throwing CDs out the window of their cars trying, at least, to get arrested for littering. Come to think of it, maybe some things never change, just the means!
Over time, disillusioned by the industry, Worth stepped away. He moved to the country and built a life as a master woodworker and graphic artist. But the songs never left. Day after day, as he worked with his hands, he continued writing—reworking lyrics in his head, feeling the steady pull back to music.
That pull became impossible to ignore in 2022. Low and behold it turned out that a new friend through the woodworking world, Craig White, also happened to run Curb Studios on Music Row in Nashville. In early 2023 Worth went back into the studio with Craig to update some vocals on a few tracks from his earlier album with the intention of making his music available on the major streaming services.
"As soon as I walked back into the recording studio, I felt so at home and in my element that I knew I had to do more if I could.” The result of those sessions is the eight song EP “Any Road You Choose”, available on all the major streaming platforms.
After reconnecting with a number of his former music allies, Worth discovered that the journeyman bass player who had played on his earlier album, Dave Pomeroy (Don Williams [band leader], Steve Winwood, Willie Nelson, Garth Brooks, John Hiatt, Peter Frampton, among many others), had been for quite some time the President of the Nashville Musician’s Association.
After meeting with him and playing him some tracks from the earlier record, Dave recommended some workshops and other activities through the Union. Through participating in some of these he met a number of other really talented musicians, including virtuoso session guitarist and producer Nicky V (The Band Perry, Jeff Kieth of Tesla, Hillsong United, Billy Dean, Randy Travis, Ward Davis; really fun to follow on YouTube, by the way: @nickyV). He also met singer/songwriter, vocalist, guitarist, pianist and vocal coach Carli Kennedy (of Twin Kennedy fame with her sister Julie).
After working up some new material (and some of those songs he had been re-writing years ago in his head), much to his astonishment, all of these old and new friends encouraged him that he was ready to make another album.
“I felt so fortunate that Dave agreed to play Bass and be Band Leader for the project, and when Nicky and Carli both also wanted to participate I was really excited. Then when my old friend piano player Mark T. Jordan called out of the blue just two weeks before the sessions were scheduled and offered to participate, I really felt like something special was shaping up.” (after founding the band Edison Electric in the 60’s with bass player Freebo, Mark went on to play with Van Morrison, Bonnie Raitt, Boz Skaggs, Dave Mason, Jackson Browne, and many others). The addition of Chris Brown, long time drummer for Sam Bush, completed the band. R&B singer Aretta Hawkins, Carli Kennedy of Twin Kennedy, and Regina McCrary of the McCrary Sisters also sang background vocals along with Worth and Dave. Dave served as co-producer on 9 of the tracks with Nicky taking that chair on the other two.
The result is his self-titled album, Worth Paul—a collection that spans Americana, folk, blues, rock, and beyond. Nine out of the eleven tracks were recorded with that core five piece band playing live together in the studio. Background vocals and some additional instruments were overdubbed after the fact. Worth put the following statement on the record cover: “All of the songs and recordings on this record are real people playing real music. None of the writing or playing was accomplished with A.I. or pitch correction.”
After years away, Worth Paul’s return doesn’t feel like a comeback—it feels like a continuation of something that never really stopped.