Small Paul

americana · folk rock · rock

Small Paul is a Seattle folk-rock band that came together in a basement in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, described by the group as a happy accident between housemates drawn from four established local projects. The lineup is Kevin Murphy of The Moondoggies on guitar, drums and vocals, Chris King of Chris King & The Gutterballs on guitar, drums and vocals, Malcolm Roberts, also of the Gutterballs, on bass and harmony vocals, and Seth McDonald of the hip-hop group All Star Opera on keyboards and harmony vocals. Murphy is a Seattle native and King came from California. The band plays harmony-heavy folky rock and roll and names Wings and NRBQ among its touchstones. The debut album, Come Alive & Live Again, was produced by Erik Blood, whose credits include Shabazz Palaces, Tacocat and The Moondoggies, and was released in 2022; its eleven songs run from hopeful, in A Midnight Sun and Miner for a Dream, to reflective, in I Don't Wanna Die, to light, in Laugh it Off, around themes of rebirth and renewal. A Strangeland EP followed on cassette. The second full-length, I Was Love, I Was Light, came out on June 13, 2025 on digital, CD and vinyl, again produced by Blood and recorded at Hall of Justice in Seattle. Its thirteen songs, among them Cranberry Bog, Rain Harder, Sunshine and Heaven on Earth, push the band's folk rock toward alt-country and boogie.

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