Reid Paley (born in Brooklyn, New York) is an American musician and songwriter. He previously sang and wrote for post-punk blues-band-from-hell The Five, which he founded in the 1980s in Pittsburgh. The band later moved to Boston for several years, headlining clubs, playing to enthusiastic crowds, and releasing a vinyl LP posthumously. Returning to Brooklyn in the early 1990s, Paley continued writing and began performing solo in rock clubs on the Lower East Side
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Reid Paley (born in Brooklyn, New York) is an American musician and songwriter. He previously sang and wrote for post-punk blues-band-from-hell The Five, which he founded in the 1980s in Pittsburgh. The band later moved to Boston for several years, headlining clubs, playing to enthusiastic crowds, and releasing a vinyl LP posthumously. Returning to Brooklyn in the early 1990s, Paley continued writing and began performing solo in rock clubs on the Lower East Side, singing his songs accompanied by a 1955 Gretsch archtop guitar and a 1965 Fender amplifier. After a series of self-released tapes available only at shows, Sub Pop released his solo debut, the vinyl single Time For You b/w The Best Of All. Paley's first solo album Lucky's Tune was produced by Frank Black (formerly and again Black Francis), and released by GoodNoise in 1999. This was followed in 2000 by the album Revival, featuring Paley accompanied by Robert Lee Oliver on the three-string bass and James Murray on the trap kit, and produced by Eric Drew Feldman, who along with Jim Duffy also guests on the album. This is the first recorded appearance of the Reid Paley Trio. Throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, Paley played across the USA and Western Europe, including numerous tours as support for Frank Black. Paley and Black have also collaborated on the writing of a number of songs, some of which appear on the Frank Black albums Honeycomb, Fast Man Raider Man, and Christmass. A Frank Black & the Catholics recording of Paley's "Take What You Want" appears on their limited edition single "Everything Is New." Paley toured the UK in 2004 and 2006, and plays the occasional festival, including the Vienna Festwochen/Into The City in Vienna, Austria (with Eric Drew Feldman sitting in on keys), and most recently the Blues Rules Festival in Crissier, Switzerland this past May 2010. In 2007 Metaphor Rhythms released the album Approximate Hellhound, produced by Paley, and like all his previous releases, recorded on analog tape. On this album he is accompanied by Eric Eble on Czechoslovakian upright bass and James Murray on the trap kit. As of 2010, this remains the current lineup of the Reid Paley Trio. Reid Paley lives in Brooklyn, New York. "One of America's best -- and most underrated -- songwriters." -- PopMatters "A voice to turn good girls bad...Maybe crazy but damn exciting." --The Village Voice “The bastard child of Sinatra and Lemmy. Epic, minimalist rock tunes with that end of the night feel.” -- Random Magazine UK “The deliciously gravelly voice and Weillian pomp of tracks like “Yr Polish Uncle” might put The Bad Seeds out of business. It’s not often that adjectives like “clever.” “dark,” and “heartwrenching” should be bandied about in the same sentence, but Reid Paley Trio’s a special case. They’re a special NY band.” -- The Sentimentalist “Possessed with the voice of a drunken wolf…Songs that roar." -- Pittsburgh Tribune-Review “Paley’s visionary take on modern music brings something quite exciting to the table; syncopated rock with simplicity of feel - dark humor, cutting remarks, witty poetic ramblings - all feeling like a breath of fresh air. Wondrously intriguing, compelling as hell, and refreshingly original.” -- Toxic Pete UK “Blues and jazz trip around his nocturnal growl in this accomplished collection. There’s no holding back the ferocious swing of Take What You Want, and the brooding Better Days manages to rouse the soul even when Paley is staring destruction in the face. A gem worth uncovering.” -- The Big Issue UK "Straightforward, sarcastic, funny and gifted at putting a song together." --New York Press “As soon as Reid Paley sings you realise there’s something else in the mix. A jazz-blues-rockabilly sound so distinctive that it takes a while for your listening organs to balance the gruff, hoarse voice with the excellent playing. A dark wit that will have you spitting your dinner over the stereo in mirth.” --SoundsXP UK "Put simply, the Reid Paley Trio knows how to get down. He's got mischief in his eye, Elvis in his joints, and booze everywhere else." --NYRock "Best Actual Gig of the Year. Very very impressive." --Sleazegrinder UK "Reduce-you-to-tears razor wit...Reid Paley ought to be a household name." --Pittsburgh City Paper "For all his simplicity, Reid is like nobody else." --Seattle Weekly "A proudly weird talent with a nervy raw appeal." --Time Out New York "For fans of churlish honesty and unaffected one-man shows, REVIVAL is a nonstop riot." --San Francisco Weekly "More messy jazz from a drunken genius." --City Life, Manchester UK "A soot-black sense of humor as biting as an underfed Rottweiler." --Cleveland Free Times "Best Of Manhattan" --New York Press "One of the East Coast's best-kept secrets, his wryly misanthropic schtick is all his own. Live, he is the Bill Hicks of the blues. You need to see him." --What's On In London Revival: "Best 50 Albums of the Year" --Alternative Press Four Stars --GermanRollingStone "As Baudelaire was the spleen of Paris, Reid Paley is the spleen of New York... How else could he write such messianic blues, such prophetic rock 'n' roll?" --442éme Rue, Paris "An unholy howl of a voice." --CMJ "A great musical attraction...a sort of Sinatra for the disaffected." --Mississippi Reflector "Though records like Revival drip with talent, sweat and humor, live is the way to experience Paley." --The Village Voice "Actually, it's more than one date with this vampiric Brooklyn songwriter - it's four. And lucky us. Paley lives on the darker side of Saturday night, his witty ballads backed by a Czechoslovakian upright bass, a trap kit, and a voice that sounds like a bag of gravel in a blender. Just remember - his drawl is worse than his bite." --City Life, Manchester UK "Reid Paley is the kind of artist Seattle loves." --The Stranger "Paley's bare-boned and bloody-knuckled approach grabs you like a shot of tequila that's gone down the wrong pipe." --Aquarian Weekly "A jarring reminder of what rock'n'roll once was and could be again." --The Washington Times "A legend waiting to happen." --Muzic.com "What? You want some kind of description of the artist and his music? Just fucking listen to the guy and enjoy his prowess." -- Frank Black
