Dumpster Records is re-issuing all of the classic Paperbag library, starting with the 1999 5-song EP “Paper or Plastic?”… you can find it anywhere digital music is available, streaming and in stores such as Amazon… Go get/stream it!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09H57Q72J

Folks…  believe it or not…  PaperBag has returned to the world with a new album, entitled “Wood->Pulp->Paper”.   We are dropping a new pile of song on you that were born out of a need to get back to that from which we all originated: the organic material that makes us what we are, and the music what it is.

Each song on “Wood Paper Pulp” originated from acoustic instruments, and was refined over time in coffee houses and family performances over a couple years.  We took the time to slow-age them in Jamie’s living room, and finally bottle them in various ways and locations around Michigan.

Let me warn you though, that while these songs all started out as acoustic ditties with acoustics, boxes, and such; we are who we are and could not resist putting down a little power where it was needed.  So you’ll occasionally hear real drums, electric & distorted bass, and some wailing/power guitar too.  However, all the songs still retain that “earthy” vibe from which they came to be.

At the time of this writing, we are shooting for a late-August 2016 release of “Wood Pulp Paper”, but in the meantime, hop on over to www.YouTube.com/PaperBagDotNet and catch a couple pre-release Lyric Videos from this playlist:

Woo hoo!

We played a whirlwind tour of Dearborn, and had a packed house for the last night of the tour, Halloween / Devil’s Night.  In costume, no less!

See the set via this playlist on YouTube:

Hey gang!

June 29th at the Token Lounge…

More details to come…

🙂

My band, Paperbag, wrote this song called Christmas Day circa 2000, for our “Paper, Rock, Scissors” release.

I believe it is now more relevant than ever.

http://www.paperbag.net/albums/prs/christmasday.mp3

Christmas Day

Waiting by my bedroom window
On a Christmas Eve
And I’ve my eyes locked skyward

Or marching on the capital steps
I hold a sign that says
“Give me that which I cannot afford”

Because I believe that Santa Claus can come every day
And I believe America can make every day
Like Christmas Day

Toys broken into a million pieces
I surround myself with
Fragments of your good intentions

Or marching on the capital steps
I hold a sign that says
“What you give me is never enough”

Because I believe that Santa Claus can come every day
And I believe America can make every day
Like Christmas Day

I believe that Santa Claus can come every day
So gimme
I want everything
Gimme it all for free
Like Christmas Day

I believe that Santa Claus can come every day
And I believe America WILL make every day
Like Christmas Day

🙁

We have — very silently — “released” our latest album.

After something like 5 years of very, very, very slow progress, we are proud to announce that Papercuts is now publicly available for download in mp3 format only. Please see the front page of paperbag.net for links to all the songs.

Jamie is currently shopping around and trying to finalize the logistics of getting it mass-produced. Shortly after that is taken care of, we will be making our new store-front available for online purchase of *all* our albums (and maybe other stuff too!)…

Why would you want to *pay* for the albums from us when you can download almost everything in mp3 form? There are really only 3 reasons I can think of, but you may have others:

1. Sound quality – The copies of the albums that you get from us are in original, uncompressed, audio format. Though many people don’t realize it, mp3 compression reduces the sound quality. On the other hand most people don’t notice it. I do.
2. The package (That’s what *she* said) – You just might want our original printed covers, or the brown paper bag gimmick from our second album, or Jamie’s hand-numbered serial numbers from the first album, etc… Or not.
3. The cost – We’re only going to charge for the shipping and handling, really. Basically the cost of the postage, the envelope, the cd, the case, etc. We’re not Metallica for pete’s sake….

Anyway, the process of creating Papercuts has been tedious at times, tumultuous at others; but make no mistake, underneath it all, it is always something we deeply enjoy doing. It is something we *need* to do…

…and, we have already begun experimenting with new material for our next re-birth… 😉

So thanks for listening out there, and thanks for being who you are. The fact that our music is downloaded the world over (I can see the stats in the logs… you people are out there…) is a wonderful feeling for us home-bodies and introverts. We come together to make music that is first-and-foremost pleasing to us, and fortunately enough, apparently pleasing to some of you. It means the world to us.

🙂

I want to point out that there is absolutely no truth to the rumor that the band Diamondstar is made up predominantly of the members of Paperbag.

I’d also like to point out that the members of Paperbag will not be in attendance Friday night, October 24th, when Diamondstar performs at the Token Lounge in beautiful Westland, Michigan. It’s the Halloween show, and we, Paperbag, are far too civilized for such nonsense.

We will in no way be playing all of the Diamondstar hits you have come to know and love over the many years that Diamondstar has been together, since we are not them. We will also not be playing two surprise cover songs, that equal — and perhaps, surpass — the je ne sais quoi of Diamondstar. Who, we are not.

For more details on who we are not, please visit myspace.com/diamondstarband for more details…

We had a GREAT time at Chris’ B-day show on the 23rd.

We saw an absolutely amazing metal band play first, called Battlecross… my god man, they tore up the stage and demolished the place. If you like powerful, complex, angry metal (like I do), these guys are for you… http://www.myspace.com/battlecross

Next came our long-time friends Wound, and they sounded better than ever, and I loved the new Beatles cover…

Then, to the stage, came little ol’ us. We did whatever it is we do… 😉

…was interesting for two main reasons:

1. We spent most of the time working on our “birthday gift” cover song for Chris OD (from Wound, see getallwoundup.net). You see, every year, we play at Chris’ birthday party at T.C.’s Speakeasy in Ypsi. This year I think it will be August 23rd (if I’m wrong I’ll clarify later), and all are welcome. I won’t tell what song the “birthday gift” is, but I can tell you it wasn’t easy to learn… but we *love* playing it… Come out to the show and see it…
2. For the first time since I’ve been playing in bands — and that is *alot* of years — we were shut down by an angry neighbor. And the guy is like my age. And I’ve jammed in neighborhoods of senior citizens. So who is too loud, and who is too old? I’m not sure anymore…

Toodles for now…

🙂

In the software industry, when they are about to release the new version of the software, and they make test-pressings of the disks, they call it a “Gold Master”.

I’m holding in my hands, the “Gold Master” of the new Paperbag album, “Papercuts”.

Last night, Scott, Jamie and I got together and put the final cut master together, and now we are just listening to it for digital imperfections before sending it off to the mass-producers….

So, barring any problems, (and I don’t forsee any), the official “release” of the new album should be just a couple weeks away!!! Can you even believe it?!?!?!