COGLEY PAUL - CD AMERICAN HILL

Popis - AMERICAN HILL:
Paul Cogley’s songs tell stories that can linger with you a long time. They often deal with restlessness and loss. Yet they are upbeat songs because at their core they are all about hope—hope that is blended with a lot of patience. In fact, Cogley’s unlikely journey to American Hill, his debut album is a story of hope and patience. Cogley is originally from New York, but for many years he lived in Nevada City, California where he worked as a firefighter, heavy equipment operator, freelance comic book critic for the SF Chronicle, and, eventually, the town’s city planner. An admirer of the great songwriters—the ones he calls “the heavy hitters who span the decades”—he covered his favorite songs and honed his skills at open mics at bars and clubs in northern California. Returning to New York City in the early 2000s to take a new job and begin a new marriage, he put away the guitar and took a hiatus from music. However, music wasn’t gone from his life, just lying low. “One day I picked up my old Martin and out came a whole new song,” he said. “It rambled a bit but grabbing it out of the air and getting it down meant a lot. Music always seems to help me in my struggle to define myself.” Cogley wrote a batch of tunes and, looking beyond his customary horizons, took aim to record them. In time, a band was put together for a recording project. Cogley’s vocals—compelling, candid, and distinctive—were rolled together with renowned guitarist Steve Elliot, bassist Tim Luntzel, who extensively backs Rosanne Cash, drummer Tony Leone, a protégé of the late Levon Helm and member of Ollabelle; and keyboardist JC Hopkins, who also produced the sessions. The result was a sound not heard much anymore, captured on the reel-to-reel console at The Maids Room Studio in the Lower East Side. The tapes were mastered at the world famous Avatar Studios. Keeping pace with Cogley’s ripping band are the songs themselves, which showcase a potpourri of Americana influences and have a cross-generational appeal. “These are songs I really like,” said producer JC Hopkins, whose own tunes have been Grammy nominated and covered by Norah Jones and Willie Nelson. “Paul didn’t fire a single blank. It’s all accessible yet complex music here.” Cogley named the album American Hill and released it as a CD on his own Veritable label with a profusely illustrated lyrics booklet by cartoonist RL Crabb. The album title refers to the gold rush mining site in Nevada City where Cogley once lived in a school bus. Cogley sold the bus for the down payment on a home where he still lives part-time with his wife today. But American Hill might also be interpreted as homage to the music that inspired its singer-songwriter, and, perhaps, the personal hill he had to climb as well on his way to making his impressive recording debut.