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Press Quotes
An ideal world would have a lot more of Paul Doffing types: singer/songwriters who shut their mouths and just play instrumentals when they’ve nothing to add to the conversation. It doesn’t hurt Doffing that he’s a virtuoso acoustic guitarist, playing canyon-deep chords and fingerpicking tastefully and effortlessly. When he does exercise the pipes, his weary, Neil Young-meets-Damien Jurado tone evinces more gravity than any lyric sheet could ever muster.
-Steve Forstneger, Illinois Entertainer
Magical 6 and 12-string instrumentals...down-to-earth, universal lyrical work. A no holds-barred talent that you'll be hearing more and more from as the years go by. Highly recommended.
-Tom Hallett, ‘Round the Dial Magazine
Minneapolis-based Doffing blends his singing and songwriting with masterful six- and 12-string guitar work on his debut album, "Blossom Is You." On the album, Doffing mixes lush acoustic guitar instrumentals, such as "Peshtigo Fire," with string, guitar and vocal arrangements, like the haunting title track.
-Erik Ernst, Tap Milwaukee
"Elegant Folk Guitar Music"
-KARE 11 Today Show, NBC
An ideal world would have a lot more of Paul Doffing types: singer/songwriters who shut their mouths and just play instrumentals when they’ve nothing to add to the conversation. It doesn’t hurt Doffing that he’s a virtuoso acoustic guitarist, playing canyon-deep chords and fingerpicking tastefully and effortlessly. When he does exercise the pipes, his weary, Neil Young-meets-Damien Jurado tone evinces more gravity than any lyric sheet could ever muster.
-Steve Forstneger, Illinois Entertainer
Magical 6 and 12-string instrumentals...down-to-earth, universal lyrical work. A no holds-barred talent that you'll be hearing more and more from as the years go by. Highly recommended.
-Tom Hallett, ‘Round the Dial Magazine
Minneapolis-based Doffing blends his singing and songwriting with masterful six- and 12-string guitar work on his debut album, "Blossom Is You." On the album, Doffing mixes lush acoustic guitar instrumentals, such as "Peshtigo Fire," with string, guitar and vocal arrangements, like the haunting title track.
-Erik Ernst, Tap Milwaukee
"Elegant Folk Guitar Music"
-KARE 11 Today Show, NBC
Freedom From Fuel Tour 2014
This summer Paul Doffing returns to the Midwest with his latest album, Paul Doffing. His anthemic acoustic style has often been likened to that of folk giants like Neil Young and Willie Nelson, while maintaining a distinctly personal approach and mastery of the guitar. Doffing's largely guitar driven work can be both welcoming and soft and also heavy, poignant and transcendent.
Paul Doffing released his debut album, Blossom is You, in January, 2012 and subsequently toured United States by bicycle to advocate independence from fossil fuels. On his 5,000 mile Freedom From Fuel Tour he played 30 shows from Washington, D.C. to New York City, to Portland, Oregon and San Francisco. In the course of promoting, Blossom is You, Doffing appeared on NBC's Kare 11 Morning Show, South Dakota Public Radio, as well as in local and regional newspapers across the country.
Freedom From Fuel Tour 2014 is comprised of about 2,300 miles of cycling with tour dates dates in Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois. "I think the main reason that I've chosen to tour by bicycle is because it puts me in touch with the realities that led me to pursue music in the first place. The bicycle has held and continues to hold great promise as a part of american life and culture, not only as a mechanism for transportation, but also as a gateway to a different kind of living. I know it has given me a new life."
"I noticed on this tour that being in a car, or a house even, having shelter from the elements cuts you off from the fragility of humanity. You don't get to feel that feeling of being so cold that you're worried or being so hot that you're worried. You don't get to feel the air on your face. Being outside deepens a person's relationship with who they are. The interconnectivity of nature, of my life and the life of other people, and the life of the world itself -- this is what led me to do this tour on the bike. It's all been developing together, and it has influenced my music. I think it's influenced everything about me." (Paul Doffing in an interview with City Pages, 2012)
Paul Doffing is an identity building album; filled with modern folk songs forged by this epic adventure. The album leads off with the first chapter of the story, the desire to move on: "Rollin' in My Bones". "I've been looking back and forth, I've been confused for far too long, but I'm settling on a way to go. I've got rollin' in my bones." The narrative exudes a classic folk feel; with a lucid and effortless simplicity that hearkens back to characters like Bob Dylan and Neil Young, to whom Doffing has already been likened throughout his career. This same working of classic folk steel can be heard distinctly in Doffing's "Take Me In Again" and "Never Meant To Hurt You". Melodic instrumental finger-style guitar tunes like "Road to Nowhere Blues" and "Awake in a Dream" leave room for the listener to beg their own questions: "Will the road I'm walking take me somewhere I want to go?" "Do I really need to arrive somewhere?" They welcome the listener to partake in the beauty of the journey and hold the suspense of finding one's own way.
The album's centerpiece, "When Home is a Long Way Off", speaks to the striving, discontent nature of a journey and the ability to transcend personal challenges. The message is freedom: "You oughta know that you're not alone, at the end of the night you're not alone. You oughta see there's no chain that could set you free, you're stream that's a flowin' right along." The recording showcases not only Doffing's "down to earth, universal lyric work", but pairs it beautifully with his mastery of guitar layering. His sole vocal is backed by a 12 string acoustic, a six string acoustic and a 6 string electric guitar throughout.
"Rabid Wolf" is emerging as an early favorite and is perhaps the most highly figurative song on the album. Doffing's dissonant guitar riff and ethereal vocal grab at the subconscious and whisper of the importance of openness and compassion in the face of adversity. Written during a stint working for an environmental group while recording this album, "Brother, Wait" is sung from the lungs of an activist working for the well-being of his fellow men and begging to be heard.
Uniquely, Doffing did not lay the entire album down in a succinct studio fashion. While the bulk of the album was recorded with the service of noted indie sound guru Neil Weir, several songs were recorded as the journey progressed. "Road to Nowhere Blues" was recorded in a newspaper interview immidiately after 80 miles of cycling through the 104 degree Montana summer heat. Later, this performance was combined with to GoPro footage from the tour and released as a music video on Youtube. Both "Rabid Wolf" and "Awake in a Dream" were recorded on small multi-track recording devices.
Full Length Articles:
"Paul Doffing: I do not tour by bicycle to make an example of myself" City Pages, Minneapolis
"A Musician, His Guitar, and Freedom From Fuel" by Kate Faye, 350.org
"How Paul Doffing Toured the U.S. on his Bike" by Youa Vang, City Pages
"Bicycling guitarist promotes music, environmental message" by Ed Kemmick, Billings Gazette
"Freedom From Fuel" by Tara Sloane, Middle Western
"Bicycling musician spins more than tunes" by Derek Sullivan, Rochester Post Bulletin
This summer Paul Doffing returns to the Midwest with his latest album, Paul Doffing. His anthemic acoustic style has often been likened to that of folk giants like Neil Young and Willie Nelson, while maintaining a distinctly personal approach and mastery of the guitar. Doffing's largely guitar driven work can be both welcoming and soft and also heavy, poignant and transcendent.
Paul Doffing released his debut album, Blossom is You, in January, 2012 and subsequently toured United States by bicycle to advocate independence from fossil fuels. On his 5,000 mile Freedom From Fuel Tour he played 30 shows from Washington, D.C. to New York City, to Portland, Oregon and San Francisco. In the course of promoting, Blossom is You, Doffing appeared on NBC's Kare 11 Morning Show, South Dakota Public Radio, as well as in local and regional newspapers across the country.
Freedom From Fuel Tour 2014 is comprised of about 2,300 miles of cycling with tour dates dates in Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois. "I think the main reason that I've chosen to tour by bicycle is because it puts me in touch with the realities that led me to pursue music in the first place. The bicycle has held and continues to hold great promise as a part of american life and culture, not only as a mechanism for transportation, but also as a gateway to a different kind of living. I know it has given me a new life."
"I noticed on this tour that being in a car, or a house even, having shelter from the elements cuts you off from the fragility of humanity. You don't get to feel that feeling of being so cold that you're worried or being so hot that you're worried. You don't get to feel the air on your face. Being outside deepens a person's relationship with who they are. The interconnectivity of nature, of my life and the life of other people, and the life of the world itself -- this is what led me to do this tour on the bike. It's all been developing together, and it has influenced my music. I think it's influenced everything about me." (Paul Doffing in an interview with City Pages, 2012)
Paul Doffing is an identity building album; filled with modern folk songs forged by this epic adventure. The album leads off with the first chapter of the story, the desire to move on: "Rollin' in My Bones". "I've been looking back and forth, I've been confused for far too long, but I'm settling on a way to go. I've got rollin' in my bones." The narrative exudes a classic folk feel; with a lucid and effortless simplicity that hearkens back to characters like Bob Dylan and Neil Young, to whom Doffing has already been likened throughout his career. This same working of classic folk steel can be heard distinctly in Doffing's "Take Me In Again" and "Never Meant To Hurt You". Melodic instrumental finger-style guitar tunes like "Road to Nowhere Blues" and "Awake in a Dream" leave room for the listener to beg their own questions: "Will the road I'm walking take me somewhere I want to go?" "Do I really need to arrive somewhere?" They welcome the listener to partake in the beauty of the journey and hold the suspense of finding one's own way.
The album's centerpiece, "When Home is a Long Way Off", speaks to the striving, discontent nature of a journey and the ability to transcend personal challenges. The message is freedom: "You oughta know that you're not alone, at the end of the night you're not alone. You oughta see there's no chain that could set you free, you're stream that's a flowin' right along." The recording showcases not only Doffing's "down to earth, universal lyric work", but pairs it beautifully with his mastery of guitar layering. His sole vocal is backed by a 12 string acoustic, a six string acoustic and a 6 string electric guitar throughout.
"Rabid Wolf" is emerging as an early favorite and is perhaps the most highly figurative song on the album. Doffing's dissonant guitar riff and ethereal vocal grab at the subconscious and whisper of the importance of openness and compassion in the face of adversity. Written during a stint working for an environmental group while recording this album, "Brother, Wait" is sung from the lungs of an activist working for the well-being of his fellow men and begging to be heard.
Uniquely, Doffing did not lay the entire album down in a succinct studio fashion. While the bulk of the album was recorded with the service of noted indie sound guru Neil Weir, several songs were recorded as the journey progressed. "Road to Nowhere Blues" was recorded in a newspaper interview immidiately after 80 miles of cycling through the 104 degree Montana summer heat. Later, this performance was combined with to GoPro footage from the tour and released as a music video on Youtube. Both "Rabid Wolf" and "Awake in a Dream" were recorded on small multi-track recording devices.
Full Length Articles:
"Paul Doffing: I do not tour by bicycle to make an example of myself" City Pages, Minneapolis
"A Musician, His Guitar, and Freedom From Fuel" by Kate Faye, 350.org
"How Paul Doffing Toured the U.S. on his Bike" by Youa Vang, City Pages
"Bicycling guitarist promotes music, environmental message" by Ed Kemmick, Billings Gazette
"Freedom From Fuel" by Tara Sloane, Middle Western
"Bicycling musician spins more than tunes" by Derek Sullivan, Rochester Post Bulletin
Press Photos
Paul Doffing (Album Cover)
Under the Giant Redwoods
Photo by Jen Tillman
Photo (Below) by Kate Gustafson
Photo (Below) by Kevin Walker
Montana Mountain Pass
Photo by Jen Tillman