Paul Heilker is trying to save lives -- his own, for sure -- one song at a time.
Music is in his nature: his parents met at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City, and their home was filled with song -- classical, jazz, blues, country, rock, R&B, and top 40s pop -- all of which can be heard in Paul's work.
Paul Heilker makes tender-hearted music for a hard-hearted world. He believes that language is a way of being in the world, and to create a less hostile and violent future, he says, we need less hostile and violent ways of communicating. We need to learn how to emerge toward each other, naked and honest and vulnerable, and model that path for others to follow. And someone needs to go first, despite all the risks involved.
In his recordings and performances, Paul thus seeks an authenticity like that of Elliott Smith and Iron and Wine – the beautifully imperfect realism of a plaintive voice and an old guitar, emerging toward his listeners.
If he is right, music might just save the world.