Paul Cafcae has had an ear for staying melodies from an early age, developing a love for music when he was about four years old after hearing the greats like Johnny Cash, B. B. King and Carl Perkins on bootleg tapes in the USSR. He got accepted in the specialist music school at the age of 6, where he studied accordion, piano, music theory, and vocals, and played in a folk orchestra.
Cafcae switched to the guitar while attending high school in Maryland, USA. Around this time he began writing original material and went on to play in bands in Europe and North America. Upon moving to Canada Paul continued to establish a foothold in the local scene by releasing new music, touring, and performing at festivals. Experimenting with production to isolate his unique style, Cafcae’s art culminated in his LP “Where I Am:” a roots rock roadhouse soaked in blues, rockabilly and country.
Paul blends rockabilly, blues, country and surf rock, aiming to reintroduce the roots of rock to the audiences young and old. With a bright, entertaining stage presence Paul creates memorable experiences for his fans, similar to the early age rock concerts. Cafcae’s songs are heard all over the world. “I Ain’t Shook” peaked at #11 on Hot Disk Country Top 40 (UK). The single “Downtown” was named Best Country Song by Clouzine Music Magazine (Germany). His music videos have won Best Music Video awards at international film festivals.
INDEPENDENT REVIEWS
An artist in love with the classic 50’s and 60’s musical style. He gives it a modern twist whilst also capturing the authentic vibe of the rockabilly and do-wop genres, amongst others. As well as a gifted vocalist and a first rate guitarist, his songwriting reflects the ups and down of being human in a charismatic and entertaining fashion.
Listening to a guy with a Russian accent sing songs that are rooted in western, blues and rockabilly music causes a bit of cognitive dissonance at first. But putting Paul’s record on, I can’t seem to skip through a track.
A compelling and versatile songwriter, and his cinematic arrangements are drenched in vintage sounds. He’s also a wizard on the guitar, as is evidenced on the opening number, “Heartbreak Train.”
The personable Toronto singer-songwriter and fretmaster flips the script on his sophomore album Miss July, displaying tasteful understatement and restraint on a nostalgic collection that runs the gamut from zippy rockabilly and twangy tangos to Beatle-pop, blues and folk.
Paul Cafcae knows how to understate, undersell and, most of all, understand music. If the art of great music making is to know what a song needs and when it is finished, to get to the essence of a song and know when it carries just the right amount of sonic weight to do its job, then ‘Sophisticated’ shows that it is an art that he has in no small amount.
Dancing About Architecture
One of the things that stood out [about the album] was the aesthetics. The recordings have a vintage, old tape quality to them. I personally can’t stand the sound of overproduced music and this has a quality to it that feels like musicians playing in a room.
Divide and Conquer