New Jersey Stage 2017: Issue 2 | Page 10

lustrated and designed albums , festival posters , and logos for various organizations . In other words , his life is close to the mirror image of Woody Guthrie — his main inspiration . “ He did a lot of the same stuff ,” said Paul . “ In many ways , I have the same interests in art and writing and songs that he had . He focused ultimately on the plight of the people . I ’ m often writing love songs and story songs that don ’ t very much talk about social issues , but the older

I get the more I seem to be writing about those things .” Paul wasn ’ t exposed to folk music until he got to college . In high school , he had records by singer-songwriters like Billy Joel , James Taylor , Elton John , and Dan Fogelberg . When he began diving into folk music , he quickly learned the differences between somebody like Dan Fogelberg and Bob Dylan . “ All of them are relevant , but the folk side speaks very loud compared to the pop folk stuff I

Watch a video for “ Drive-In Movie ” by Ellis Paul

NJ STAGE 2017 - Vol . 4 No . 2

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