Paul Pfau Profile

Seeing him sitting in his chair, sipping coffee with his short spiked hair, and sporting a tall demeanor and glasses, you wouldn't really think that Paul Pfau is an avid blues player…but you couldn't be more wrong.

Paul Pfau is really just your regular Shepherd student. He lives in a small apartment on German St. and is a senior economics major at Shepherd getting ready to graduate.

However, he has a passion for the blues.

"It's just an overwhelming feeling you get when you play the blues" says Pfau "There is so much room to express yourself."

Paul started playing guitar when he was 14. His father had some friends from Massachusetts who played guitar, and they inspired Paul to pick up his mom's acoustic Camelot and begin playing

"I think the guitar was bigger then I was…I was kind of small back then." Says Pfau

Paul was in a metal band singing and songwriting but slowly got tired of doing that particular genre, and the band eventually broke up.

About two years ago, at the age of 19, Paul started to really get into the blues style of music.

"It was about two years ago, I got stuck with my songwriting because I didn't know scales," says Pfau. "I then got into the blues. I would play with other people and learn things from them, but mostly I'm self-taught. I would listen to blues songs and try to play them by ear. Sometimes I would practice in my room for six to eight hours a day because it was so much fun."

Paul may play the blues but he is a different kind of blues player. He likes to add funk and others styles so people can groove to it and enjoy it. "I just don't want something boring. I want to change it up, and what I love the most about the blues is the freedom to do that," says Pfau

For two years now, Paul has been jamming in his apartment and around the area with his band the Smoothcat Burglars. He makes his living by playing about four shows a week all while taking classes at Shepherd. "After I graduate I plan to go down to Nashville and play guitar. I went down there and it was amazing."

Paul's dream is to do what Blues legends like BB King do, playing on a stage with tons of people watching and inspire them like the blues legends inspired him. Almost all of Shepherdstown knows Paul loves to play blues; most times, you can here him jamming in his apartment.

There is no doubt that Paul has talent. With his fingers lovingly playing his American Vintage Fender and producing the sounds that make you want to groove and cry all at the same time, Paul is through and through a blues player.

There is something about the blues that, for decades, people have loved. No matter what kind of progression or mix of the blues you do, it's still the blues, and there is something in everyone's soul that vibes with it. For Paul, he plays it for the people listening; they feel it and there is just something about it. The Blues has been around for more then 60 years, and it never changes. It just keeps reinventing itself for a new generation, but all the ingredients are there and people still love it…Paul Pfau is madly in love with it, and he shares his love of the blues with other people. It's a style that never goes out.

http://www.myspace.com/paulpfaumusic

If you are interested in seeing Paul live, Paul and the Smoothcat Burgalers will be playing a show at the Meck on Feb 19th at 9pm.