My music is classic groove rock, with a hard pop sheen, and lyrics that will make you wonder.

It seems to me that writing one's own liner notes is a fool's game. You risk sounding conceited, or worse, apologetic. But here goes anyway...On most of these tracks, I played and sang all the parts myself, except drums, which were mostly handled by James

My music is classic groove rock, with a hard pop sheen, and lyrics that will make you wonder.

It seems to me that writing one's own liner notes is a fool's game. You risk sounding conceited, or worse, apologetic. But here goes anyway...On most of these tracks, I played and sang all the parts myself, except drums, which were mostly handled by James Carmichael Dooley. I wrote all the songs, with the exception of "Something I Learned From Jesna Today", which is an amalgam of Husker Du's "Something I Learned Today" and Hannah Montana's "Life's What You Make It", and "Gotta Get A Message", which is a re-imagining of the old Bee Gees chestnut, with additional lyrics by me. Sean Bigler played great guitar, keys, and percussion on "Something I Learned From Jesna Today", "Sign", and "On Pilgrims Way." The record was recorded on Presonas Studio One and Pro Tools. It was mixed by Michael Jung at Hizhaus in NYC, and mastered by Ed Littman. My influences are diverse, everything from Rock, Blues, Jazz, Reggae, Afrobeat, Prog, Doo-wop,Soul, Broadway Shows, Country, you name it. I value a good melody and song craft over technical mastery. Head on over to paulvernet.com for lyrics and other ponderables. I understand that you have a lot of choices when it comes to stuff to put in your ears, and I appreciate you choosing my songs.

Now, that’s all well and good, but it’s a little dry, don't ya think? Austere even. Where’s the pizzazz, the aplomb? The razzle-dazzle?

It has all the allure of a post-nasal drip, I agree. So, what to do? Plugging yourself feels dirty, somehow. Hmm, there must be a solution...Of course! Steal from the best, why didn’t I think of that? Wait, I just did. Hey, it’s a long standing rock and rock tradition. Let’s just say we were to lift the following liner notes for Neil Diamond’s “Shilo” record on Bang, (written by the legendary West Coast PR man and Record World writer Spence Berland) and just substitute the words “Paul Vernet” for “Neil Diamond”. Let’s just try it and see what happens, O.K.? Remember, it’s all just theoretical at this point; we’re not actually re-typing anything, just thinking about it…

“Neil Diamond is a fact of life. An important, intense and ever-present fact of life that lives on your nearest radio…perhaps the main reason is that Neil Diamond writes and performs music with deep insight and clear vision of fundamental human truths and emotions. His voice is filled with love, beauty and the type of human pain that everyone can identify with. This is not to say that Neil Diamond is a heavy artist. He is not. His appeal is based in human value rather than human labels. He reaches and penetrates through the heavy facade of today’s frantic life, both soothing and refreshing the listener. His appeal is not limited to listeners of heavy music, nor is it limited to the teenage bubble gum chewer next door. The purity of his voice and the honesty of his pen are uniquely capable of bridging a nearly unbridgeable gap…Neil Diamond is an entertainer of rare and exiting ability and enthusiasm for life. Share it.”

WOW! Atta boy, Spence, that’s what I’m talking about! I’m gonna run out and buy this album…wait a minute, that’s right, I already own it. Shoot, I’ll buy another one in case this one wears out! And then I’m gonna hire you to write about ME! What? Aw shucks, as it turns out, the mighty Spence passed away last New Year’s Eve. Well, he lives on in the hearts and minds of those whose lives he touched, and in this post on CD Baby. And if he had had the chance to hear my record, he might have said, “Paul Vernet is no Neil Diamond, but he may be a Neil Diamond-in-the-rough.” Of course, we’ll never know, it’s all just conjecture. All we know for sure is that “Vernet” rhymes with “Hey”. So, hey - check this record out.

And Neil’s too. It’s really, really good. Just like mine!