BIOGRAPHY
ABOUT PAUL TRUDEAU
Paul Trudeau’s musical career began organically enough in Cambridge, Massachusetts. As a keyboardist, singer and songwriter, Paul’s life has always revolved around creating and performing music. There isn’t a time he believed he would be anything other than a musician. Having never made the conscious decision to pursue music as a career, being a musician was inevitable to himself and everyone around him. “I don’t have a memory of not understanding the language of music.”, Paul recalls. At age 11, Paul honed and sharpened his musical skills while studying at the New England Conservatory of Music. By age 15, he had joined his first band in Boston, MA and remained a member through high school.
At age 18, Paul moved to California where a drummer friend had started a band. Los Angeles can be a daunting city, yet he dove in head first and joined the band Art of Vision and soon thereafter took on keyboard duties for Polydor recording artists Darling Cruel. Paul quickly realized that while he certainly enjoyed playing keyboards as a band member, he really wanted to front his own band. While enjoying a dual career as a singer/songwriter and performing with a variety of national acts, he independently released his first album under the band name Radiojones. (Available on iTunes). His subsequent release was "Pauly Trudeau, Live at the Doghouse", a live recording which quickly became a fan favorite. Paul's music can also be found placed within a wide variety of movie and television soundtracks.
Trudeau’s musical influences include Elton John… who Paul credits with firing him up on all levels… The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Tom Petty, Neil Young, Cat Stevens and Simon and Garfunkel and he's performed with multiple international artists including Rick Springfield, Melissa Etheridge, Lifehouse, Meredith Brooks, Billy Morrison and Billy Idol.
Paul Trudeau’s music has often been described as timeless and deep, appealing to all age groups and demographics. His upcoming independent release titled “Shirley Road” is a highly crafted reflection of his musical influences and depth of his musical talent. “These songs are my way of seeing things. I want people to relate and be impacted on an emotional level. My songs all come from a real place of raw emotion.” says Trudeau. "Shirley Road" will be released in December 2016.
ABOUT THE NEW ALBUM SHIRLEY ROAD
A musical veteran who’s played with the likes of Rick Springfield, Billy Idol, Melissa Etheridge and Lifehouse among others, singer/songwriter Paul Trudeau delivers a transcendent collection of beautifully crafted songs that offer an intoxicating musical journey that rewards with each listen. These are songs delivered straight from the heart that resonate on a profound emotional level emboldened with a winning authenticity and contagious spirit, which lends a poignant honesty to the material found on Shirley Road (Starshot Records).
As Trudeau explains, writing songs for the album proved to be a healing process: “After suffering through many painful things--my mother dying, my marriage ending--I decided to stop writing music for a while. It was as if I was giving myself a ‘pass.’ I was simply in too much pain. I didn't give myself a specific time, I just knew that I needed to heal. It ended up being almost two years. In the summer of 2015, I was scheduled to tour Europe with Billy Idol. The first stop was Southampton, England where they parked us for five days while Billy was rehearsing with Pete Townshend for a performance of The Who’s Quadrophenia in London. I had brought a small songwriting/recording setup with me in case I felt like writing. None of the songs that I wrote during this period were for anybody else to hear other than me and the person I was writing to. I was in a very tumultuous relationship at the time and I was working through a lot of painful things and was writing to heal myself. I ended up writing and recording 18 songs. The song ‘Sunshine’ was the first one that I wrote and after that it felt as if I had opened the flood gates and it felt like I couldn't stop; I wasn't putting any attention on whether or not anybody else would ever hear these songs. It didn't matter to me; what mattered was just getting it all out and purging myself of all that I was going through. And those songs were the start of this record.”
A throwback in the best manner possible, eschewing fads, trends and gimmicky technology, the music on Shirley Road is timeless; equally hooky and heartfelt, it rides on wondrous cushions of acoustic and electric guitars, rolling keyboards, warm vocals and exquisite song craft. Songs like “California Days,” “Orange,” “Blue Green Dreams” and “Sunshine” are framed with stirring lyrics that tap into a well spring of emotions that connect and remain relatable to all generations of listeners. “My songs all come from a real place of raw emotion,” explains Trudeau. “These songs are my way of seeing things. I want people to relate and be impacted on an emotional level.”
As for the significance of the moving title track, Trudeau relates, “While on tour with Billy Idol in England, I was also attending as many 12 step meetings as I could find. I found one that was located on ‘Shirley Road’ and I ended up walking several miles to get to it. On the way back I remember looking up at the sign and thinking, ‘Hey, I should write a song called 'Shirley Road,' so when I returned to my hotel, I wrote it.”
A native of Cambridge, Massachusetts, since his early teens Paul’s life has been tethered to the art of creating and performing music. A musical prodigy who studied at the New England Conservatory of Music at the tender age of 11, for Paul a career in music was an inevitability. “I don’t have a memory of not understanding the language of music. It's as if learning to speak and learning to play happened simultaneously. And I don't remember making the conscious choice to pursue music as a career.... it's more like it chose me." Inspired by the likes of The Beatles, Elton John, The Rolling Stones, Tom Petty, Neil Young, Cat Stevens and Simon and Garfunkel among others, Trudeau worked hard to forge his own artistic voice.
During his formative years, he honed his musical skills gaining experience in the musical trenches playing in a series of local bands. At age 18, a trip to Los Angeles would lead to Trudeau’s first shot in the big leagues lending his keyboard prowess for Polydor recording artists Darling Cruel. And while that work with a major label group proved rewarding, he soon came to realize the importance of feeding his own musical soul and expressing his own artistic vision by balancing work with national artists like Rick Springfield and Billy Idol, Melissa Etheridge and Lifehouse and carving out time for his own creative pursuits. Since then, he’s issued two albums, his first album under the band name Radiojones and follow-up release, Pauly Trudeau, Live at the Doghouse. Over the years, Paul has also enjoyed success landing a series of songs in films and television soundtracks like Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Charmed, Jag and Providence.
Join us and follow the sonic footprints along Shirley Road for an unforgettable journey with an artist with an authentic and singularly distinctive musical voice. “It is the most personal and revealing work that I’ve ever done. I hope that it speaks to the listener as well.”
Renowned singer Debby Holiday has the last word: "This is the kind of record that demands you get in your car with the windows down and just ... drive. It takes you on a journey ... the kind you wanna keep reliving again and again.”