June 20, 2006
Interviewed by Bonnie Schendell
Paul “Shilts” Weimar is one of the funkiest guys
out there. This year he has branched out beyond the boundaries
of Down To The Bone’s lead sax and has become a headliner
in his own right. With a new record deal with ARTizen Music,
a brand new CD, and tours with both DTTB and Rick Braun, this
guy is bound and determined to get you on your feet shouting
his name. I was able to catch up with Shilts before a DTTB
show at The Birchmere in Alexandria, VA.
SmoothViews (SV): Let’s start from the
beginning. You moved your family here from London nearly
two years ago. Tell me about that and how the experience
has been.
Shilts: Well, we love it. The
kids are settled in. My wife is settled in. Everyone
is really happy. We’ve got a really good group
of friends. And you can’t beat the weather, of
course!
SV: Let’s let everyone get to know you
a bit. You have had quite a background in music while
growing up. Didn’t you begin playing professionally
right out of high school?
SHILTS: Yeah, when I was 16, right out
of high school. I was working for about three or four
weeks and was underage because I was actually still in high
school, but I started working at Caesar’s Palace near
New Bedfordshire. In the late 60s and 70s, it was probably
one of the biggest hot spots in Europe. Everybody played
there: Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey, Englebert Humperdinck. It
was a really big place to play in those days and I joined the
house band. We would do several sets and support the
visiting artists each week. For the first two weeks I
was there, it was with The Temptations. So that was my
first experience working.
SV: What a way to come out of the gate!
SHILTS: Whether they were the original
ones or not, who knows, but I think at least a few of them
were! There would be comedians in as well, and sometimes
we had the night off and would hang. They were good
times and it was a good start!
SV: When did you pick up the sax?
SHILTS: Ah…when I was 10.
SV: Weren’t there other instruments
you tried first?
SHILTS: I gave a try on the drums, but
didn’t take to it as well. When I started on the
sax, it seemed so natural for me to play. I desperately
wanted to play the drums. But my teacher, who funny
enough lives here now in Pennsylvania and who I haven’t
seen in like 30 years, he was away all the time touring. I
would miss my lessons, so I think I actually lost interest
in it. Then I got my hands on a saxophone and fell in
love with it.
SV: Has it always been the tenor sax?
SHILTS: I’ve played all of them
at some point in my career, but ultimately it was the tenor.
SV: You have the highest energy and really
bring the groove factor to everything you play. Was
it always like that?
SHILTS: It depends on the circumstances,
really. You can’t reach up and scream about when
you’re sitting in a 24-piece big band or with a radio
broadcast. But anything like tonight’s show, I
love it! I’ve been really fortunate in that in
the last 15 years that was the sort of style I was able to
play, lots of pop tours. Once you get used to moving
around on stage and animated…
SV: Is that your preference – high energy,
animated shows?
SHILTS: Well, yeah. After you
have a few drinks, you’ve got to work it off somehow!
SV: You now have a new home with ARTizen Music. How
did that come about?
SHILTS: I am very happy there. I
was completely surprised and wasn’t expecting anything
to come about with anybody. I was fortunate enough to
be playing a gig with Jeff Lorber, one of my heroes, and I
found myself being approached by Rick Braun. He said
that he had seen me play at the Pasadena Jazz Festival and
really liked the sound of my playing. This was last July. And
he said that he and Richard [Elliott] and Steve [Chapman] had
a new label together and that they had a meeting and that my
name was at the top of the list for people that they were interested
in possibly signing. I was the guinea pig! I was
very excited and after a couple of weeks of talking and listening
to my music, they loved it.
SV: So now we have Shilts the solo artist. Tell
us about your sound and style.
SHILTS: I have my own style of writing
and a specific direction that I want my stuff to go in. It
still has the high energy, but it is more like songs. You
can hear the verses. You can hear the chords. It’s
different from I have been doing and we’ll see where
it takes me. I am hoping that my music really takes off
and then we’ll see what happens and see how available
I’ll be to do other things. Just because I have
a solo career doesn’t mean I’ll be giving up anything
else.
SV: You have just released your second solo
CD, Headboppin. I love the title! This is your
debut for ARTizen. How has the response been?
SHILTS: The response has been terrific! All
the fans have been giving me great feedback after hearing cuts
from it, so I am pretty excited! I think the whole CD
has music that everyone can find exciting and fun!
SV: The first single, “Look What’s
Happened,” is a great spin on your earlier CD, See
What Happens. How has the single been doing?
SHILTS: Well, this is the first time
for me. I had a couple of singles with my first solo
album, but the record company had no interaction with me from
week to week, so I had no idea how anything was going. This
time it’s great. I’m learning a lot about
how the radio and that side of the industry does things. The
single is doing okay. Nobody is doing great, except Peter
White whose single can climb 100 places overnight and it’ll
be number one in a few weeks. Mindi, too. The rest
of us just have to hope that radio takes it on. It’s
not an automatic thing for new artists. I mean, we got
a tester from New York and the response was outstanding. It
was off the chart. And then I was told that they would “consider” adding
it, even after the terrific response from the public saying
they loved it and wanted it on the radio. So, it’s
an uphill struggle all the time. Unless you’re
being played on the radio, you’re not getting any notice. But
the single is doing good. It went up eight places on
the Smooth Jazz chart and debuted at 29 on the R&R Chart
after only six weeks. It’s promising!
SV: Well, it’s a great CD. I mean
every track is full of energy and it doesn’t let up.
SHILTS: It’s brilliant. Brilliant
I tell you…not at all rubbish! Last week we played
Garden of Eden at the CD release party and we played every
track on the CD. I don’t think anyone else has
ever done that! It was great.
SV: You have really terrific musicians on
this CD with you. Rick Braun, Jeff Lorber, Lenny Castro,
among others. Can you tell us about the parts they
played in the productions of the music?
SHILTS: They all added an extreme amount
of talent. My original demos, which I had done all by
myself at home, were all programmed. Rick didn’t
really want to change any of the essence of my stuff, so we
programmed it all into his computer, got it running, and started
taking it from the top. Rick started asking me who I
fancied, who I wanted to use for some live guys in there. I
really wasn’t aware about how budgets were involved or
anything. Then Rick asked if I wanted Ricky Lawson on
drums! I was thrilled. Then he started mentioning
other names like Lorber, Ricky Peterson, Lenny Castro. I
told Rick to just keep talking. Freddy Washington came
in to put down some bass and gradually it just built and built. Some
of the tracks even sounded like they were recorded live because
of that experience. It was that good.
SV: What’s your favorite track on the
CD?
SHILTS: “Good Evans” with
Jeff Lorber on that piano intro. It’s my wife’s
favorite track, too. Jeff made it what it is.
SV: What do you feel is the vibe of the CD? What
is it you want your fans to feel from it?
SHILTS: It’s a fun, upbeat, party
CD. There’s been so many comments lately on how
everything sounds the same. It’s a fast tempo. I
think I’ve managed to get some old school funk in there. There’s
some Latin in there. There’s a little bit of a
lot of things in there that I am hoping people will latch onto
and say that they love the whole album.
SV: And now your fans can enjoy not only your
CD, but the touring with both DTTB and with Rick Braun this
year. Keeping busy, eh?
SHILTS: Oh, yeah. But it’s
great.
SV: I’ll be seeing you in September
at the Kettle Moraine Jazz Festival in West Bend, Wisconsin.
SHILTS: West Bend with Rick Braun. Right
in the middle of a field! Hopefully there will be more
of my own shows sneaking in and definitely next year I will
be keeping the band busy with shows.
SV: Well, Shilts…thanks so much for
your time. It is always a pleasure to talk with you
and share some laughs. See you out on the road.
SHILTS: Definitely. Thanks for
having me here.
For more info on Shilts visit www.shiltsmusic.com
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