He had us laughing out loud with songs from his 9th CD entitled Pimps and Preachers, songs like Tequila is Good For The Heart, then brought us back with introspective songs like I Hope I’m Doin This Right or Love Scar. Love scar is a true story about a girl he met backstage once just before he opened for Sting. He noticed the tattoo of an eye shedding a tear on her shoulder and asked what it what it meant. She said she had it done because she was so taken by a silver-tongued, green-eyed man who’s opening line was “If I could be a tear rolling down your cheek and die on your lips, my life would be complete.” The man was gone the next day, but she’s still walking around with her love scar.

Most of the show came from Pimps and Preachers and if you haven’t heard it, you’re depriving yourself! You’ll be hooked from the first verse. We all know and love the fight scene with Roberto Duran, but it was time to go further back in time to his earlier heroes. We didn’t hear about that beating this time around. His dad was a Cadillac driving preacher and his uncle was a Ford driving pimp.  As a boy in Tupelo Mississippi, he was taught how to love by his dad, how to fight by his uncle surrounded by pimps, hookers and Bible thumpin Preachers and holy rollers. I’m already confused so I wouldn’t be singing about Duran either. Probably kinda hard to sing Pimps and Preachers with a bloody nose anyway.

The encore was mesmerizing as he sang That’s Life (also from the new CD) to his mother. Turns out that besides adding a line saying he just wanted his mother to know he was ok, the lyrics to the song were words she spoke to him. It was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop. Afterwards he left the stage and walked out into the audience, taking hugs and shaking hands.

Paul’s coming around again sometime, somewhere soon and you don’t want to miss this master craftsman’s show. Be watching and get your tickets early because they won’t last long.