QR Vant Interview and Gig Review

Up Close & Personal

More Music — Please!

A singer. A songwriter. A guitarist. A ukuleleist. A solo artist. A member of the band Slow Children at Play — and, lately, a new duo called Please. These are all music titles that Clarks Summit local Paul LaQuintano devotes his time to in one way or another. LaQuintano’s music career continues burgeoning as he and his wife just kicked-off with their new duo — Please. Aptly named, Please should please many audiences who already follow LaQuintano’s solo and band works, especially when he aims to pull and use previous songs he’s done in putting together the duo’s duets. His music focus centers around “70s singer-songwriter” songs. When performing live he will produce songs that are 50 percent hits, 25 percent original music and 25 percent obscure cover songs. Meet Paul LaQuintano …

Tell us a little bit about yourself. I’m from Clarks Summit. I graduated from Abington Heights and then attended Southeastern College, a small college located in central Florida. I studied there for four years to become a minister, but decided it wasn’t for me. I just really didn’t want that career path anymore. Before I moved back to Pennsylvania in late 2000, I called some friends of mine and they convinced me to return home and to start a party band — RUST — together. That’s when I began playing music locally. We lasted from Nov. 2000 to Aug. 2001.

Who or what initially inspired you to get into music? I think it was my parents. There was always music around our house. I grew up in Ransom, which is a really small country town out there. We didn’t get cable until probably 1989 or 1990. For entertainment, we’d either be watching one of three channels or playing records. When I was really little, we’d put a record on while we ate dinner. We’d listen to the A-side of the record as we ate. Then once dinner was over, Mom would wash the dishes and my dad and I would go into the living room and listen to the B-side of the same record. That’s where it all started.

Talk about your music. I play solo and in a three piece band called Slow Children at Play. Also, quite recently my wife and I began the duo, Please. I started playing solo after I met Bill Moore. I believe it was the band that played at McGrath’s Pub and Eatery in Dalton. They invited me to host an open mic night with Moore. He passed away more than ten years ago, but he taught me a great deal about showmanship and having fun playing alone and acoustic. I’m forever grateful to him. I discovered that I enjoyed playing solo just as much as I liked playing with a band. As far as what I’ve done solo, I released an album in 2005 titled Freedom Bridge. It’ll be turning ten this year. I recorded it in the Poconos with a group of very talented studio musicians. It was just such an incredible learning experience! It’s available on iTunes for anyone to purchase.

You mentioned you are in a three-piece band called Slow Children at Play. Yes. My three-piece band, Slow Children at Play, consists of my wife, Dave Perrotti and myself. My wife is our bass player. Perrotti, who also teaches at Abington Heights Middle School, is our drummer. We are taking a break while we get the duo off the ground, but I’m sure we’ll return, probably in the summer.

Talk about Please. The duo, Please, is just my wife and me. It’s really nice because the song selection we have to work with is huge. Since my wife is in the band, we have all the band songs to choose from. We also have all of the songs that I play solo too, along with a bunch of duets we’re going to do. We’ll be able to vary the set list quite a bit every time we play. And we just started the duo this year. It seemed like the right time to do it. I’m not sure why we didn’t start it sooner. It’s something that was so obvious that we could do together. My wife loves music as much as I do. She plays the bass and sings as well. We have a huge song list that we can pull from and have been working on for the past 10 years.

How did you come up with the names for both the band and the duo? The best man at my wedding, our good friend Doug, named our band Slow Children at Play because we took a ridiculously long time setting up and breaking down our equipment. But also, it’s nice to have the free advertisement on several street signs scattered throughout NEPA (laughs). And Please is simply sort of an amalgamation of my wife’s and my name. My name’s Paul and hers is Lisa. It’s no “Brangelina,” but it’s close.

Tell us about your music style. What will you usually play for crowds? I play a lot of 70s singer-songwriter type of stuff — Cat Stevens, James Taylor, etc. And it’s for both my solo and duo work. I’ll pull songs from my playlist for the duo. Instrument wise, I play the guitar, dabble in the piano a little bit and play the ukulele. I’ll use them all with my work, but not the piano so much. I do use the string instruments more often.

Do you have any projects currently going on that you would like to share with us? I’m constantly writing songs. I release all of my stuff via YouTube and Bandcamp. I’m trying to do at least a song a month, releasing each one on the YouTube Channel and Bandcamp.

Do you play a lot of gigs? Nothing weekly. I used to do that, but now with working full-time it’s more difficult. I get them when I can and play them when I can.

What are some memorable show experiences you have had? Last year I played at the Dalton Carnival during a hurricane. There was a lot of lightning and rain. But the crowd stayed with me, so I kept going until security told me to stop. They evacuated us all to this cinder block building where there was a bingo game going on. It was surreal, having stopped performing and then being crowded together with people playing bingo for the little while. And then when I asked security if I could go back out to play, they let me,but told me it was up to me. I went back out and finished up the show in a hurricane, during a lightning storm. It was probably very dangerous, but it was a very memorable experience.

What does your typical day look like with both work and your music? I work the night shift at a local psychiatric hospital and have my music and family life that circulate my schedule. I come home in the morning from work. I’ll maybe stay up until 8:30 a.m. Go to bed. Sleep to 5 or 6 p.m. Get up at dinner and then go fiddle with the guitar for a little while before heading back to work.

Does your work at the hospital ever influence your music? Yes, absolutely. There’s a song called “Song for Stephanie” that I did with my band. It’s exclusively about working the night shift at the psychiatric hospital.

What is most enjoyable about being able to keep up with your music? It’s one of those creative outlets that everyone needs to have. I mean you go out and pound nails all day and you have to come home and find a release whether it’s painting, reading or writing poetry or music — creativity, for me, is a much-required escape.

Tell us about any shows you have coming up. Is there somewhere you post upcoming events? Valentine’s Day, I’ll be playing solo at a dinner and wine party at Three Ponds Winery from 6 to 10 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 22, I’ll be playing the “Benefit for Ed” at McGrath’s in Dalton. Other bands performing include Nowhere Slow, Destination West and Mace in Dickson. I’ll also be playing solo at Three Ponds on March 14 and May 2. Both of these solo events are from 6 to 9 p.m. And Please will be playing at Wellington’s in Clarks Summit on March 27 and May 9. But we’ll be advertising our shows and show times on our Facebook page.

What’s next for you and your music? I’m just going to keep plugging along. My New Year’s resolution is to release an original song every month. I had eight last year. Hopefully, I can do 12 this year, along with gigging and recording.

— katelyn english