Paul remembers standing by the piano bench, flanked by two older sisters, while his Mom led nursery rhymes and other classic songs in her beautiful operatic soprano. At nine years old, Paul began to dream of a life in rock-n-roll, listening to the Beatles and playing electric guitar in a neighborhood band. In high school, Paul starting singing close harmony, acoustic guitar-based music in a group called Fog, and began writing and performing his own songs.

Fearing life without an embossed piece of parchment with his name on it, Paul entered Harvard College for both the schooling and the fabled Cambridge folk music scene. Four years later, with many books read, songs written, and guitar strings broken, Paul married his high school sweetheart, theatre director Julie Beckman, and moved to Washington, DC. He played solo acoustic gigs and played Edge-influenced lead guitar for a rock-n-roll band that faded quickly after its lead singer went off to jail for hitting a cop.

Paul continued playing and writing and recording occasional demos while pursuing not one but two more pieces of parchment in Evanston, Illinois. The arrival of Paul’s children gracefully jolted the machinery of  academia and commerce and left Paul sitting on the living room floor playing music for neighborhood friends, kids and parents alike. The universe whispered, “Eureka!” and a couple of years later, just after moving back to Cincinnati, Paul believed the voice enough to make his first album, “Rainbow In The Sky, ” and release it on his own startup Raspberry Records label. His goal was to take the playful energy of the living room and blend it with fine musicianship in a package that would appeal to all ages, especially youngsters. This was so much fun, and so well received, that one thing led to another, and Paul made a second album for kids and families with a wonderful singer and storyteller, Sue Ribaudo, called “In The Same Boat” (taking its title from a Leadbelly song Paul found and made the album’s musical and thematic centerpiece). This album won a Parents’ Choice Gold Award, Paul heard himself singing on the radio for the first time, and a busy time of performing began.

Paul and his family moved to the Seattle area in 1996, where they all are involved in performing and creating music or theatre, along with learning to garden, grow apples and pears, and navigate in a household with three daughters and one shower.  Paul’s newest album for kids and families, “Humpty Jumpty,” was recorded with a stellar crew of musicians and continues Paul’s earlier successes in bridging from American folk music to that from other cultures, delivering fun in flavors from hot acoustic rock-n-roll to afro-pop to peaceful ballads. His most recent album, “Life Is Changing”, opens wide a door that listeners of his family albums have only been able to peek through until now. This first album intended for listeners “of age” shares some of Paul’s songs of hope, longing, dreams and loss, in styles ranging from up-tempo Americana rock to gentle ballads. Paul’s voice is clear and strong throughout, revealing a singer and songwriter of passion, reflection, and purpose.

Along the way, Paul has had the opportunity to play in concert halls, festivals, parks, schools, conferences, coffeehouses, subway stations, libraries, bookstores, and on public radio. Some of his favorite gigs include appearances at the Children’s Museum of Cincinnati, the South By Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas, the Chicago Public Library, and Seattle’s Bumbershoot Festival. He performs for children and “other humans”, both together and separately, and loves to hear voices joined in song.

For complete information on Paul Lippert’s performances and recordings, please visit www.paullippert.com .

For more information on Paul’s performances and recordings especially for kids and families, please visit www.talltunes.com