We were lucky to catch up with Duke Paul recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Duke thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

Five years ago I moved from Maine at the age of 25 and took a construction job in Rockville, Maryland driving around an excavator all day. A friend of a friend heard I could play music and asked if I would play at their bar. I figured I might as well. It could be fun. I’d never really played in front of an audience before, but I was up for the free drinks and food. I ended up playing for over three hours and making more in tips than I’d make in two days of construction. At that point I realized I was in the wrong business. I never went back to construction particularly happy again knowing there was money to be made playing guitar and singing.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I grew up with a mother who was a professional musician for many years. That never made me interested in music however. I actually never really got into music until the age of 22 when I was looking for some sort of escape from the day to day monotony of construction. I started writing my own music and playing songs that I really loved. About 4 years later is when I began to do it full time singing in bars, breweries, wineries, and all sorts of other places. I am usually hired because I play songs that the general population know and enjoy and I perform them well. I do the classics like Van Morrison and Creedence Clearwater Revival as well as some semi newer stuff like Sublime. What sets me apart from the competition is that I have a few hundred songs memorized in my brain and those songs range in all different styles. I’ve gone to many different parts of the country and some places want to hear a lot of classic country. Some places want to hear a lot of easy listening. Some places want a lot of blues. I can do all of it, so no matter where I go I am well received. My real passion is my original music, but that doesn’t pay the bills. I usually sneak in 3 or 4 originals per show and sometimes even more when I have peoples full attention. I play at all types of events so sometimes I am just background noise and other times I am the center of attention. You really can’t have an ego if you want to be a working musician of the sort that I am. My goal is to one day just be able to play my own original music at festivals and big clubs where I can build a real fan base.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

One thing about being a musician is that people want to party with you. They want to buy you beers and shots (and maybe other things). They see you as a source of fun and they want to make that fun exacerbate. When you are playing 20 nights a month and you are having a good time with all the people listening to you, and partying a lot, it really starts to take a toll on you if you don’t keep an eye on it. That is one thing I had to learn the hard way. If you party too much you can leave yourself open to getting sloppy and unprofessional. I never really had an issue with getting too sloppy, but I did start to feel a massive burnout all the time to the point where I was dreading going to play shows. Lately I’ve been trying to keep myself in check so that I can sustain my energy.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding thing to me is when you really capture the heart and mind of a listener. There are times when you are playing and giving all of your soul to the song and you can see a light flicker in a persons eyes. Those people will be fans of yours for the rest of your life. It’s a very intimate moment and it is real and there is no lie in it. Those moments are more rare then I would like them to be, but when they occur it is quite special. I’ve had some shows, usually in the most random middle of nowhere places, where entire crowds stop talking and stop everything they are doing and just sit in awe and that is a true blessing, because none of those people came to see me play. When you win an entire crowd over it is quite a powerful rewarding feeling.

Contact Info:

• Website: dukepaul.com
• Instagram: duke__paul
• Facebook: Duke Paul
• Youtube: Duke Paul
• Spotify: Duke Paul all music streaming services: Duke Paul

Image Credits
Paul Tukey Sr.