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T. Paul's father was a Baptist Minister who had started his first church when he was only 16 years old. At a young
age, T. Paul learned that his
father meant what he said and said what he meant when it came to discipline and following instructions. Anyone that has ever known a Preachers Kid(PK)
or been one themselves, knows that there are many rules and regulations that must be followed by all members of each Baptist Church. However, the expectations on the Preachers children
to set the example for all of the other children can be overwhelming. T. Paul has written & recorded a tongue-in-cheek expose detailing some of his
childhood experiences in an
up-tempo song that he aptly titled, SON
OF A BAPTIST PREACHER which
is Track #4 on his SO ALONE Album.
While these experiences eventually caused T. Paul to rebel against his fathers rules and the Baptist way of life,
one of the pleasures of his
youth was listening to the many Gospel/Country Groups that would come to sing at his fathers church. In addition, T. Paul's mother, Joyce, played both the piano and the organ for each church service
and taught all of her children the love of music.
In 1979, at the age of 14, T. Paul and his family moved to
San Diego, California. It
was at this time and throughout the rest of his teenage years that T. Paul moved away from the Baptist Religion and anything that vaguely resembled
it, which included Gospel and Country Music. T. Paul never lost his love for music but throughout his teens, Rock-n-Roll & Sports took the
place of Church & the Gospel/Country Music of his youth.
It was not until he was in
his early 20's that T. Paul would even consider listening to Country Music again. One day while driving to work in an old beat up work truck that only had an AM radio,
T. Paul heard "HE STOPPED
LOVING HER TODAY" for
the first time. The combination of the powerful
lyrics and the emotional vocal delivery by the "great "
George Jones created the same
emotion in T. Paul that he remembered from his childhood days when he listened to Gospel/Country Music.
In his mid 20's, fate would step in in the form of a beautiful young girl who took T. Paul to his first Honky Tonk.. Kelsi not only loved country music but she lived the lifestyle as well. She was
from a blue collar community on the outskirts of San Diego and was the first to introduce T. Paul to the Country Bar/Honky Tonk way of life. The end of his 2 year relationship to Kelsi inspired T. Paul to write his first song(OUT OF SIGHT OUT OF MIND) a few years later.
In 1994, at the age of 29, T.
Paul did not know how to play the guitar nor had he discovered his ability to sing & write country songs until he met and started dating an actress from Hollywood,
California named Deena Martin. Deena had spent several years in New York as a model before moving to California
to pursue her acting career. She
was instrumental in encouraging T. Paul to learn to play the guitar and consider a career as a country singer/songwriter.
Over the next year, T. Paul
learned to play the guitar & started writing his own songs. Soon songwriting became T. Paul's passion. A few years later, T. Paul moved from
San Diego to Hollywood and
started taking guitar lessons at the historic McGabes guitar shop in Santa Monica where he was introduced to Marty
Rifkin who would become the
Producer of the Majority of T. Paul's future recordings.
Country Music Producer
Marty
Rifken
Marty was a country music producer as well as an accomplished Steel Guitar Player who had played on several of Dwight Yoakams albums as well as albums for other prestigious artists
like Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty etc.. T. Paul recorded several songs over the next 2 years and continued honing his songwriting and singing skills with the critical support and input from his producer,
Marty Rifkin.
One of these recordings ended
up in the hands of a manager of a prominent Country Band. The manager requested that T. Paul come to Nashville to record 6 songs using Nashville
Musicians. The muscians hired for these recordings included the members of Lorretta Lynn's band, the Grande Ole Opry's Fiddle Player and other very talented musicians.
As the recordings progressed, the Manager & the Producer became at odds with
one another over who would sign T. Paul to an Exclusive management agreement. Each tried to secretly convince T. Paul to sign an exclusive management agreement
without the knowledge of the other person.
Because of their obvious dishonest natures, T. Paul refused to sign with either of them and headed back to his home in San Diego, California
when the recording had concluded.
The Producer did not want to give the recordings to T. Paul when he left Nashville because he said he wanted to
tweek the final mixes until they were perfect. Inspite of the fact that T. Paul had paid for all of the recordings
himself, the producer spent
the next 8 to 9 months trying to get T. Paul to sign an exclusive agreement with him and would not send T. Paul
his recordings.
Finally, after a rather inflammatory conversation, the producer sent the recordings to T. Paul. When T. Paul listened
to the recordings, it didn't
take long to realize that most the songs had been ruined. It was at this point that T. Paul called the Producer and made a very clear statement
about what would happen if T. Paul ever heard one of his songs on the radio.
Exposure to lies and deception
are commonplace experiences for artists and actors if they stay in the entertainment industry long enough. While living in Hollywood, T. Paul witnessed the
destructive nature of the industry and the problems fame & success caused Deena(Dazed & Confused - Swingers) as well as some of her friends & fellow co-stars like Matthew McConaughey, Vince
Vaughn and Ben Affleck. When T. Paul met Deena, she lived with a roomate who was dating Brad Pitt and recalls people going through their trash to
find any gossip they could get.
Brad Pitts' career was just heating up but he was already being forced to stay home and avoid going out in public
for fear of harrassment.
All of these occurrences made
T. Paul fearful of pursuing a career in the entertainment industry but never really had an impact on him until his trip to Nashville when he experienced
his own personal disappointment. T.
Paul continued to write & record new songs but temporarily lost the desire to promote his music or pursue a
career in the music industry.
In January of 2000, T. Paul
flew to Nashville to look for a place to live so he could pursue his career. That same month his mother, Joyce
Matson, was diagnosed with Stage IV Brain Cancer. Putting things in perspective, T. Paul realized his plans had to wait and he spent the next year with his mother before she
passed away on November 26, 2000.
The loss of his mother to cancer impacted T. Paul's perception of what his purpose in life would be. During the time his mother was ill, he and his father
found an alternative Cancer Treatment called POLY MVA that improved and prolonged his mothers life.(A detailed account of this story can be found by clicking here )
With a background in Website Developement, T. Paul created a website that listed testimonials of other cancer patients and the benefits they
received from the use of Poly MVA. Sharing
the benefits of this new treatment became a passion for both T. Paul and his father and they both went to work
for the company distributing Poly MVA.
Cancer Patient Testimonial Website
www.PolymvaSurvivors.com
Amazing Stories told by
the cancer patients themselves
Currently, there are 0ver 15
Different Types of Cancer
with Testimonials
From 2000 to 2004, T. Paul
counseled Cancer Patients concerning the benefits of the non-toxic Poly MVA Cancer Therapy compared to the dangers
of chemotherapy & radiation
while trying to learn everything he could about how to beat this dreaded disease.
During this time, T. Paul's music took a back seat even though he continued writing and recording new songs. However,
in May of 2002, T. Paul was approached by Victor Gray (Cobweb Records) & Stuart Cameron (Hot Disc/Radio
Caroline) about placing one
of T. Paul's songs on the June
2002 HOT DISC. Victor was a Country Music DJ and an artist himself
who had been diagnosed with Lung Cancer. When their paths crossed, T. Paul counseled Victor through his cancer treatments while Victor started
promoting T. Paul's music.
Victor chose to release "I
WON'T FALL DOWN" (#10 Track on the SO ALONE Album) which was T. Paul's first song released in Europe
on the Hot Disc. This song
was written in response to one of the negative experiences T. Paul faced in the Music Industry(Nashville) and reached
#22 of the EMS Independent Country Charts.
Around this same period, T. Paul had the pleasure of meeting Fred Kewley who was the former manager of the late "great" Chet Atkins. Fred encouraged T. Paul to move to Nashville because
he believed T. Pauls' Traditional sound was coming back in style. T. Paul made plans to move to Nashville but still
intended to continue counseling cancer patients during the day while pursuing his career at night.
A week after his friends had thrown him a going away party, the owner of the company that distributed Poly MVA suffered a Heart Attack. Once again fate had stepped in and changed T. Paul's
path in life. Fearful that his help was more needed in San Diego than in Nashville, T. Paul decided to stay in
San Diego and assist with the Management & Promotion of Poly MVA.
After many years of prodding by his friends & family, T. Paul has finally focused some of his attention on making his music available online.
After seeing the pitfalls
of the entertainment industry first hand, T. Paul is grateful for the Internet and innovators like
Stuart Cameron, who created the HOT DISC so that independent artists can have a voice. Without these options, artists like T. Paul would never be heard.
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