For today’s Artist Spotlight, Local Spins profiles a much-sought-after northern Michigan musician and singer-songwriter who releases his second solo album in early 2026. Get his back story, listen to his music.
‘A Vital Creative Space’: John Richard Paul has long embraced Traverse City’s vibrant music scene. (Courtesy Photo)
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A prolific songwriter and full-time, in-demand Traverse City musician who plays more than 200 dates a year with several bands, including acclaimed country/roots rocker Drew Hale, John Richard Paul credits The Who’s legendary bassist for altering his destiny.
“I settled on bass after seeing John Entwistle with Ringo Starr and his All Starr Band at the National Cherry Festival in 1995. It was an absolutely life-changing moment wherein I knew immediately that that was what I wanted to do,” Paul recalled.
“It was a perfectly poetic bit of symmetry to then grace the same Cherry Festival stage this past summer with Drew Hale, very nearly 30 years to the day of when I saw Entwistle play.”
A Traverse City native who returned to his hometown from Chicago in 2007, Paul currently performs and tours with Hale, Jack M. Senff & The Heartland Mission, A.S. Lutes, the duo Rhett & John (with Rhett DuCouer), East Bay Drive and others.
But he’s also concentrated on his writing and solo recordings in recent years, with plans to release his sophomore album, “Midwestern Modesty,” in early March.
In April, he released a four-song EP recorded live at Grand Rapids’ Dogtown Studio, followed by a two-song EP in December that features the holiday tune, “Carols by the Fire,” that “attempts to recapture the fleeting memories of what Christmas once was.” Scroll down to listen to it below.
‘Musically Omniverous’: Paul (Courtesy Photo)
“From a purely songwriting standpoint, my biggest influences have been Guy Clark, John Prine, Lyle Lovett and Greg Brown. Having majored in journalism at Michigan State University, I tend to favor a more straightforward, matter-of-fact approach to my songwriting rather than relying on poetic abstractions and more flowery language,” he said.
Paul considers himself “musically omnivorous,” leaning on varied influences. He noted that an older musician once suggested he embraced too many styles in his music.
“This rubbed me the wrong way and has served as something of a North Star for my creative journey ever since: a strict refusal to adhere to the notion that you can only play one kind of music for the rest of your life. What a silly way to think,” he insisted.
“How do you ever expect to expand and grow as an artist if you’re constantly limiting yourself? Because of this, I’ve found myself playing bass for everyone from country artists to a classical trio featuring harp and accordion to local theater productions to a bluegrass musician from China who spoke no English, yet we were able to communicate through the universal language of music.”
Paul performs solo at Seven Hills in Traverse City at 6 p.m. Friday (Dec. 26), and with Rhett & John at 3 p.m. Saturday (Dec. 27) at Crystal Mountain’s Slopeside Tent in Thompsonville. That’s followed by an appearance with John Pomeroy at Crystal’s Vista Lounge at 8 p.m. Sunday (Dec. 28). He also has upcoming dates over the next week-and-a-half in Leland, Acme and Traverse City. View his full schedule online at johnrichardpaul.com/shows.
VIDEO: John Richard Paul, “Franklin Devereaux’s Last Stand” (Dogtown Studio Session)
Paul’s varied experiences began at a young age, growing up in a family of musicians and taking up the saxophone in the fifth grade before gravitating toward the bass.
“I cut my proverbial teeth performing in and around East Lansing with a number of groups while I was at Michigan State. Many of these folks were Traverse City transplants, so we had that commonality that helped strengthen our collective musical bond,” he noted. “I then branched off and began playing with others I met at MSU, including Westrin & Mowry.”
His First Full-Length Album: 2024’s “The Road of Life”
As for his Traverse City experiences, Paul has played with a host of artists over the years, including The Accidentals, Levi Britton, David Chown, Billy Strings, Miriam Pico and many others. He joined Drew Hale’s band in 2016, a band with whom he’s recorded in Nashville with members of country star Brantley Gilbert’s band.
In addition to releasing solo album No. 2, Paul plans to start work on this third full-length recording in 2026 while continuing to revel in the “fairly diverse” and collaborative northern Michigan music scene.
“It’s a fairly tight-knit community in that we all know one another and keep in touch about how things are going internally and with different venues throughout the area,” he said.
“I’ve met some of my closest friends through the music community up here and it’s certainly changed me for the better, affording my loads of opportunities to connect and create with a wide array of artists. In that, it’s become a vital creative space for me.”
He added: “This is and always has been home for me and I continue to find inspiration both creatively and personally in both the land and the people who choose to inhabit it.”
LISTEN: John Richard Paul, “Plus Two”
LISTEN: John Richard Paul, “Carols by the Fire”
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