Gary Paul Hermus @ The Cowgirl

Event Description

Gary Paul Hermus was born 1950 in the slums of Brownsville, Brooklyn, NY, where he grew up poor, but surrounded by music, theater & poetry. He acquired a love for melody studying piano at age 5 and a love for bucolic settings & bluegrass spending Summers on his grandparent's farm in rural New York. But it was around Boy Scout council fires that he grew to love storytelling. An acoustic player, he played rock guitar in his teens while studying drama at NYC's High School of Performing Arts. It was drama by day & music by night at the Peppermint Lounge, the Purple Onion, the Cheetah & other NY hot spots. He continued acting studies at HB Studios, acting Off-Off Broadway while playing folk music throughout NYC's Greenwich Village, appearing at The Bitter End, The Village Gaslight, Folk City & elsewhere. But to make ends meet, GP played bass guitar on club dates, learning the American song-book, and discovered authentic Latin music. This led him to study with famed Latin bassist, Victor Venegas, while also studying ragtime guitar and banjo with Jack Baker. Short stints followed with "Bill Jeffcott & the Swamprockers," & "The New York Frets." before he began a long love affair with Brazilian jazz, playing bass with "Satie," a Brazilo-Cuban fusion band., all while working by day with the mentally retarded, completing a B.A. in Psychology & a Masters degree in Public Administration. Satie moved into World Music as "The North American Udu Band," but separated shortly thereafter. Gary Paul then played with "Shotgun Wedding," & "Joined @ the Head" before dropping out to write original music. By day, though, he focused on computers, receiving a Masters degree in Computer Science. In 2002 he began playing original songs at small clubs & open mikes. By 2003, he was playing coffeehouses & Folk F estivals throughout the Northeast, appearing on Ralph Litwin's cable TV show, "Horses Sing None of it,” & as part of blowupradio.com’s “Folk You!” & their Hurricane Katrina benefit. Then came the Xtreme Folk Scene Song Contest win & a triumphant appearance at XFest. His debut CD, “Sid’s Gaseteria,” was released in 2007 on the Big Moose Music label (available through cdbaby.com). Most recently he’s added lap slide to his arsenal after studying with lap guitarist Pat Wictor, and has written several slide tunes reflecting his Western influences. A resident of Santa Fe, he is establishing himself locally. In 2011 he wa one of the organizers of SWRFA-NM, a one-day conference for the Southwest Regional Folk Alliance held in Albuquerque. He performs throughout the Southwest & plans to return to his Northeast/Mid-Atlantic stomping grounds at intervals. He's also in preproduction for his Sophomore CD.

Website: http://www.garypaulhermus.com