Guy Burlage and Victor Paul grew up together, played community sports on the same teams, worked in various local bands together, and helped each other on solo recording projects. Both were born and raised in Tidewater Virginia, an area of the country known for nourishing musical talent-- Ella Fitzgerald, Ruth Brown, Gene Vincent, Charlie Byrd, Gary U.S. Bonds, Bill Deal, Pearl Bailey and Bruce Hornsby, to name a few.
The early fascination with music that takes hold of most kids took hold of Guy and Victor too… and never left. It lives on in the music they've created over the years. Their new recording, The Door, reunites these two musicians who continue to be guided by that fascination, a fascination that leads back to the source waters of American music.
The Door
According to Victor, the genesis of The Door project was pretty straight forward. “I was living in England at the time and I heard a demo of Guy’s song The Door. As soon as I heard it I knew I had to come back to the USA, and we had to get back together and do another project. Lucky for me Guy was open to the idea.” The four-song EP, The Door, is the first product of their decision to join forces again.
About the recording
The Door was produced by Guy Burlage and Victor Paul. Basic tracks were recorded at Mt. Hollywood Studios in Vermont with engineering by Rod Ferrell.
The recording features guest musician T-Bone Wolk (Hall & Oates, Carly Simon, Saturday Night Live) and mixing by Julie Last (John Lennon, Joni Mitchell) and Stephen Peppos (NAR, Telly, RIM award winning composer/producer). Additional recording and mixing was done with assistance by Mike Norman.
The band members are:
Guy Burlage - guitars, vocals
Victor Paul - keyboards, harmonica, vocals
Mark Huntley - drums, backing vocals
Jerry Dubeau - keyboards
Wanye Canney - guitar, backing vocals
Special guest -T-Bone Wolk - Bass, accordion, mandolin
About the Songs
THE DOOR - Three stories, one answer.
HEAVEN IS ON YOUR SIDE - A song inspired by Victor's daughter about life force and creation being in harmony.
ACADIA HIGHWAY - A song about freedom and love. Inspired by a visit to Acadia National Park.
EVERYTHING IS EVERYTHING - A tongue in cheek look at life's ups and downs.
The Burlage-Paul Band: About
Guy Burlage
Ever since he was a young boy riding around the neighborhood with 45rpm records by Buddy Holly and Jerry Lee Lewis on the handlebars of his bike, Guy Burlage knew he would make music his life’s work. His latest effort, The Door, recorded with long time friend Victor Paul, is another step in his pilgrim’s progress of making good music his own way.
Guy wrote the title song for the EP and the song “Everything Is Everything.” While "The Door" is a song with a powerful spiritual message, "Everything Is Everything" takes a more tongue-in-cheek look at life’s ups and downs.
Growing up listening to the country music his father was fond of, including western swing groups like Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys, Guy gained an interest in the pedal steel. He also was influenced by groups like The Buffalo Springfield who made use of the instrument. After teaching himself how to play the pedal steel, it was a natural transition to the electric slide. Artists like Duane Allman and David Lindley were key influences. Guy liked the "voice" and melodic sustain of the slide which he compares to playing a violin.
Guy’s song writing style is based around finding a musical theme that has a nice groove to it, a groove the listener can settle into like a "big, old comfortable chair". After that, he feels that they are then in a good mood to listen to the words.
Guy has played with Victor on and off since 1972. Having both grown up in Southeastern Virginia you can hear a variety of musical flavors woven into their songs. Rock, Rhythm & Blues, Country, Gospel and Folk are all strong influences.
About Guy, Victor says, “Guy is a musicians’ musician. He lives and breathes music. He's a great guitar player with an identifiable sound. I can always count on him to make a song so much better. When he lays down a track the song starts to form a unique music landscape. The guitar work on Heaven is a perfect example of what I mean. Guy came up with this beautiful combination of themed chord work and electric slide. Brilliant! I couldn’t ask for more.”
Guy has played with other groups such as Seabird Band (with Victor), The Spiders in New England, and has toured the U.S. with Genghis Angus on their release of the CD "Twelve Days."
Earlier projects by Guy include the CD "Just Like Gold" and the album Seabird Band, both released on Waylon Records. He produced and played guitar, steel guitar and mandolin on the Seabird album which was a "Hot Pick" by Billboard Magazine, and received airplay on over 1,200 radio stations nationwide.
Victor Paul
Victor Paul is an award winning songwriter and photographer. He is also an artist and a music producer.
“When I listen to other people’s music the first question I ask myself is do I believe it. So when I write and perform my own songs the most important thing for me is honesty.”
Victor's songs have a positive energy; they are about the belief that we come through life’s difficulties stronger and wiser for having made the journey. On The Door that positive energy shines through on both "Heaven Is on Your Side" and "Acadia Highway."
His influences are many and varied-- not just the pop music he listened to growing up, although the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, James Brown, and the Beatles certainly played their part; but paintings, films, sacred writings, classical, folk, and blues music also inform his work. Songwriters and musicians Victor admires include The Band, JJ Cale, Van Morrison, John Mayall, Jimmy Webb, R. Carlos Nakai, and Muddy Waters.
Victor's 1993 River Dance CD celebrated the healing power of the natural world, a theme Victor often writes about. The CD featured blues legend Sandra Wright and Touchstone founding member Claudine Langille.
Other recordings by Victor include Love Me Tonight and Seabird Band, two projects he and Guy Burlage worked on together. Seabird Band received radio airplay across the USA as well as in Australia and Japan.
"What excites me is the creative process. When I'm at the piano or with my 12 string working on a new song, or in front of the canvas with a brush and paint I'm a happy man. It means the muse wants to use me. She's not through with me yet."