I find it even more of a release now as a father. It allows us as a family to subsidize the income a bit, exorcise life’s frustrations and gather together with friends and strangers for some singing, drinkin’ and pickin’, ay.
It’s meant to be a social service, so to speak. James, I guess I mention that to give reference to why we approach music. I’ve been working and involved with non-profits like Boys and Girls Clubs, gang prevention gigs, community development, case management, and now teaching since the late ’90s. Well, first off, I’m a daddy with two boys and second I’m a schoolteacher. In the interest of giving the readers of this piece a better understanding of the artist I am interviewing, I would like to begin in an introductory fashion and ask you: Who is John Konrad Wert (aka Possessed by Paul James), not just as a singer/songwriter but as an individual, as a human being of this mad world in which we live? What follows is that interview in its entirety. Recently I had both the opportunity and pleasure of interviewing John Konrad Wert for my One-Man Band Series. He has also toured extensively, sharing the stage with many of today’s notable bands and singer/songwriters. Wert’s earlier releases have appeared on Italy’s Shake Your Ass Records and Switzerland’s Voodoo Rhythm. “Feed the Family,” the third and most recent album by Possessed by Paul James, is a collection of twelve original and important songs released on the Texas-based Hillgrass Bluebilly Records. And all one needs to do to come to that realization is attend one his live performances, as it is one of those experiences that stays with one for a long time to come. Few know this better than John Konrad Wert. Music is something called forth from the innermost depths of the artist, after all, at which point it is communicated to his fingertips, his voice, his feet, and the other parts of his body that go into creating the song a perfect mergence of an artist’s inner and outer self…a crossroads, if you will, where the physical and immaterial intersect.
And though he seems to somehow transcend himself and his humanity through song, he remains irrevocably human, and so too does his music. It is real life music, his compositions and their subject matter. Wert’s sound can be described as soulful and primal, worldly and spiritual, raw and thoughtful and uncompromising. In addition to that, he is one of those rare singer/songwriters who is equally in his element busking on a crowded city sidewalk or on a subway platform as he is at a local hole-in-the-wall punk venue or large folk festival. Just as much a bluesman as he is a folk artist, Wert’s songs possess both traditional and modern qualities in abundance.
An exceptional vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, John Konrad Wert assembles the components of his sound into a seamless whole with acoustic guitar, fiddle, banjo, an old suitcase and tambourine for stomp percussion, and an incredibly powerful singing voice. One singer/songwriter whose sound is both unique and pure is John Konrad Wert, or Possessed by Paul James. And though there are a handful of directions from which to choose, he more often than not either adopts a purist approach or a more experimental approach to crafting his songs. Both the sound and the setup with which he creates his sound range from simple to intricate. He selects the type of instrumentation he is going to use, develops a sound often by combining more than one musical style with his own, and then slaps some sort of moniker on it. Almost every artist involved in the one-man band movement does things his own way, making his endeavor wholly individualized.
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