About Paul
Paul grew up in southern California. He headed north after high school and received a BA in Dramatic Art from UC Davis in 1983. That same year, he moved to Levelland, Texas, where he attended South Plains College, and received an Associate of Arts degree in Bluegrass Music in 1985! Continuing east, he was admitted to Brandeis University's Dramatic Writing program and received his MFA in 1989. Finally, owing to a burgeoning career in education, he received his Masters degree in Education from UMass Boston in 2000. He worked for the Boston Public Schools for 30 years as a theatre teacher and arts administrator.
Paul has been playing banjo, guitar and ukulele for over fifty years. He was the first American to travel to West Africa (Gambia) in 2004 to learn to play and build the Jola ekonting. He returned to Gambia in 2007. The ekonting is now regarded as an essential model for understanding the African roots of the banjo, a topic that has been vital to Paul's banjo identity since he wrote his first report on the history of the banjo for a high school English class in 1977.
