Paula Franceschi Sings, Composes and Confounds Expectations
CitizenWire COLUMN: Everything you think you know about singer and guitar player Paula Franceschi is only half the story. She’s got grown-up kids, but onstage, singing and playing her Telecaster, she’s got the energy, enthusiasm and attitude of the New Jersey rock chick she was back in the ’70s.
Her commitment to music is the kind of no-holds-barred, DIY, go-for-it approach associated with artists barely old enough to vote, yet her band is multi-generational, including her son Alex Stensel on lead guitar.
“Wouldn’t it be hilarious to be interviewed by ROLLING STONE and AARP MAGAZINE in the same month?” jokes Franceschi. “I only retired from my day job,” she points out, “so I could get back to a life of music, clubs, gigs, rehearsals, composing and playing rock.”
Those two magazines, and their very different audience demographics, fit together in Franceschi’s mind: “If one magazine can feature Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber, and the other magazine can highlight the golden years of Leonard Cohen and Carole King, then clearly I am aiming in the right direction.”
Franceschi (which is pronounced “fran-CHESS-key”) and her band have played such noted venues as The Viper Room and Molly Malone’s, and are booked into L.A.’s premiere rock showcase club, The Mint, in early September. Since her former job was creating motion picture trailers, the odds are that when The Paula Franceschi Band starts making music videos, they’ll have the snap, bite and structure of Coming Attractions. Maybe one video will open with a voice intoning “In a world where. . .” laughs Paula, imitating the booming bass voice of “that guy who narrates all the movie trailers.”
Her EP “Songs for Singles” showcases her softer side. “I was inspired most by John Lennon,” she explains, “because he wrote in whatever musical form suited the message, even if it wasn’t hip at the moment. But when I’m playing with my band, I’m channeling Mick Jagger and Keith Richard…I wish!”
About the “Songs for Singles”
“Confrontation” is often called Tarantino-esque by listeners and certainly recalls some of Nick Cave’s dark visions. “Reality” is filled with hypnotic Hawaiian dreaminess while “Rome” has a nifty hook. The high plains longing of “Ride” and the zany exuberance of “Throw It Away” conclude the EP, which is a display of songwriting that is equal parts assured, quirky, romantic and full of sonic and storytelling pleasure.
More information: http://www.paulafranceschi.com/media .
Copyright © 2010 John Scott G.
About John Scott G
John “Scott” G is a partner in Golosio Publishing (www.golosio.com) which creates and licenses music for songs, commercials, films, and TV. A related company, FookMovie, creates videos for recordings in their catalog. He is also owner of G-Man Marketing, an advertising and communications firm in Los Angeles. Mr. G has created advertising campaigns for hundreds of clients, and has written/produced radio commercials and corporate broadcasts for such as Goodrich, General Dynamics, Verizon Wireless, Yale Hospital, American Cancer Society, DIRECTV, Micron, Legoland, the Auto Club and many more. If you have opened a newspaper, flipped through a magazine, or listened to the radio in the past two decades, your purchasing decisions have been influenced by the work of Scott G and his firm. He is also the recording artist known as The G-Man, with his albums distributed by Delvian Records and available on iTunes. He’s a voting member of NARAS (the Grammy organization), on the Board of NARIP (National Assn. of Record Industry Professionals) and regularly writes about communications, marketing and advertising for many publications and Web sites.
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This version of story is Copr. © 2010 CitizenWire™ and John Scott G.
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