CD Review: Ellis Paul — The Day After Everything Changed; Playing Eddie’s Attic February 5 and 6

Ellis Paul
The Day After Everything Changed
Black Wolf Records

By Al Kaufman

Boston’s Ellis Paul has been writing contemporary folk for almost 20 years. You don’t do that by just strumming a guitar and acting all sensitive. Paul is a gifted, poetic writer with with a flair for crisp melodies. His voice, which resembles that of Del Amitri, is light and clear.

The Day After Everything Happened came to be after Paul was able to raise over $100,000 from fans at concerts. He then called up old friend, Sugarland’s Kristian Bush, to write some songs. The result is an album with a bit more of a southern country flavor than some Paul fans may be used to. The man who used to pay attention to the little details of life now paints in broader strokes. His music, too, has more of a wide open sound, like some of Sugarland’s bigger hits with the twang toned down. The songs are polished and clean, but not to the point of sterilization. Yes, this is undoubtedly Paul selling out, but it sounds good anyway. Grandiose songs like “The Lights of Vegas” sometimes fall over into the overblown realm of bands such as Live, but more often than not, Paul stays on the right side of cliche.

“Hurricane Angel,” his obligatory Katrina song, offers nothing new as far as these songs go. It’s about a guy who got stuck on his roof, got out of town, then couldn’t afford to pay his bills. But the piano sure is pretty, and the story, no matter how many times it has been told already, still rings true. And if “Once Upon a Summertime” doesn’t bring a smile to your lips, well then you never dated anyone in high school. His medley of Patsy Cline’s “Walking After Midnight” with Sam Baker’s “Change” somehow ultimately works (it’s touch and go there at the beginning). His insertion of “Change” modernizes the Cline classic, and makes his poppier melody, complete with trumpets and trombones, understandable.

Paul ultimately is a singer/songwriter. He writes and sings of people’s little joys and major disappointments. He believes in the people he sings about. The people here are not as detailed as some in the past, but they seem just as real.

Ellis Paul plays Eddie’s Attic Friday, February 5th. 8:30 p.m. $18, and on Saturday, February 6th, 11 a.m. (family show) $5.