Mother Nature's Rules Paul Stephenson

• 1 Unexceptional Day 03:41
• 2 Crying Shame 03:11
• 3 Silence Is Deafening 03:35
• 4 Handfuls of Sand 04:17
• 5 You Played Julia 03:48
• 6 Till Kingdom Come 03:38
• 7 Like Irene 03:39
• 8 Only Lovers Understand 03:41
• 9 Yes I Do 03:46
• 10 The Mists of Pity Me 03:35
• 11 Patience of a Saint 03:32
• 12 The Long Haul 02:48
• 13 The Painter's Hand 04:11
• 14 When the Rain Begins to Fall 01:59
• Total Runtime 49:21

Info zu Mother Nature's Rules

"Nachdem ich die Songs für "Mother Nature’s Rules" geschrieben hatte, die Demos für Günter Pauler aufgenommen hatte, dann alles oft geprobt und schließlich die "basic tracks" im Northeimer Studio aufgenommen hatte, sollte man meinen, dass mir die 14 Stücke des neuen Albums wohlvertraut seien.

Aber dank Günter Paulers kreativen Arrangements und Instrumentations-Ideen fühlen sich die finalen Mixe meiner Songs an wie eine "magical mystery tour" - und ich hoffe, die Hörer können diese Reise nachempfinden. Denn durch die Arrangements erhalten die Stücke immer wieder eine unerwartete Perspektive, die mir beim Schreiben der Songs nicht in den Sinn gekommen waren.

Ich freue mich sehr, mein neuestes Album nun vorstellen zu können, auf dem mich wieder ausgezeichnete Musiker begleitet haben und das Günter Pauler mit der gewohnten Finesse produziert hat. Mein Dank an alle Beteiligten kommt aus tiefstem Herzen." (Paul Stephenson)

Paul Stephenson, vocals, guitar
Ian Melrose, guitars, mandola, flute
Lea Morris, backing vocals
Manfred Leuchter, accordion
Lutz Moller, keyboards
Oli Bott, marimba
Lucile Chaubard, cello
Antoine Putz, fretless & electric bass
Hans-Jorg Maucksch, fretless bass
Beo Brockhausen, flute, hang, keyboards, hulusi, udu, saxophone

Paul Stephenson
"The story of my life: I grew up in the northeast of England and my first musical heroes were the Beatles. I'm still a fan of McCartney's songs and Lennon's granny glasses. My other big hero is James Taylor. JT runs like a golden thread through my friends in musical circles (including the acoustic guitar world's best-kept secret, Chris Jones) and my musical taste - he was first produced by McCartney, worked with lots of the other great American songwriters of the 1960s and 70s and has another big fan from the northeast of England called Sting (the nearest I have to a third musical hero). I learned to play the guitar listening to my heroes plus Simon & Garfunkel, Dylan and, from this side of the Atlantic, Ralph McTell and other folkies.

I set out for Amsterdam and Europe in 1979 to make a living of sorts from music. I played mostly in bars and youth centres, with the occasional festival or concert and appearances on radio and (once) television. I played in duos, trios and bands, and made recordings whenever I could in whatever circumstances I could afford and with whichever musicians I could round up for love of music, dressing my songs up in all kinds of usually ill-fitting clothes.

But mostly I played solo, and my most popular recording was completely solo, just a guitar and a voice (A bend in the road, released on CD in 1991). I changed my name to Tom Zola for that recording, after the two great nineteenth-century novelists Thomas Hardy and Emile Zola. TZ was paul stephenson after he'd got through the daily grind of the daytime job and getting the kids from school and had time to dream a little.

Well, it was a long dream ...

I moved to France a few years ago, and work as a translator. These days, I dream mostly in a corner of the bedroom where I keep my elementary and ageing recording equipment, which I used to finally dress up my songs in comfortable clothes. Gunter Pauler, at Stockfisch Records, got to hear them and I have the feeling that the album he's about to produce is the place I've been heading for all this time ..."

Booklet für Mother Nature's Rules