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Article on Prairieton Sessions, June 21, 2015

30-year road Spirit in the music keeps foursome together, creating new material

By Mark Bennett/Tribune-Star | 

For Paul Bertsch, music began to matter once he found its source.

A college student, he started writing songs and formed an acoustic guitar duo with a dorm buddy, playing coffeehouses and pubs around the University of Evansville campus as the 1970s gave way to the ‘80s. “I was really shaped by the singer-songwriters of the time — the [Bob] Dylans, the Neil Youngs, the Paul Simons, the Harry Chapins,” Bertsch said. “That’s who I wanted to be.”

A deeper motivation, though, soon took root in Bertsch.

“The time I really got serious about music is when I had one of those fork-in-the-road moments with my faith and God,” Bertsch said. He chose the spiritual path, joining the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship campus ministry after earning degrees from Evansville and Ball State University in clinical psychology. Music followed along with him.

More than three decades later, the 54-year-old still creates songs, including a newly released CD, “Prairieton Sessions,” with the same three guys he formed a band with back in 1987. The 10 tunes — nine written by Bertsch and another by fellow guitarist and singer Dave Tyra — reveal their back stories. Bertsch wrestles with the presence of evil in the world in “I Wonder Why,” thanks God for “Every Good Gift,” and keeps life’s busyness in perspective in a love song to his wife of 26 years, Roxy, in “Beautiful,” while Tyra anticipates heaven in “Lay My Burdens Down.”

The music reveals something to listeners, even Neal Wagner, longtime bassist for the Paul Bertsch Band. “Every time they bring a song in, really, I get to know them a little bit better through that,” Wagner said.

The songs blend stories, spirituality and personality in subtle doses.

“I feel like I’m on a 30-year journey as a writer and artist that doesn’t do exclusively Christian music, but does write from a Christian world view,” Bertsch said.

Occasionally, that journey leads Bertsch to perform in venues, such as popular night spots, that might seem ironic to some. Bertsch sees it differently. “I’ve always felt that I’ve been given the opportunity to bring the message to people who may have never had any interest in it,” he said.

“Some people ask me, ‘What’s the point of what you’re going for?’” Tyra said of their fifty-something foursome. “We gave up a long time ago on being ‘discovered.’ Now,it’s just, don’t die with music still in you.”

The gigs and recordings serve as their outlet. As Bertsch sings on the band’s new album, “I’m not too old for rock and roll, but I’ve become an older soul, arms ‘round the one that I love, and suddenly it’s clear that every good gift comes from above.”

January 14, 2011

Mark Bennett Fri Jan 14, 2011, 05:00 AM EST

TERRE HAUTE — Dust and gravel never seemed so smooth.

The new album by Terre Haute musician and songwriter Paul Bertsch, “Red Dirt Road,” rolls gracefully through 58 minutes of deft guitar work, introspective lyrics and pleasant melody lines. There isn’t a pothole on the disc, just 12 likable songs by a guy with savvy classic-rock chops. It’s a momentary stop at life’s halfway point to look in all directions and recalculate the internal GPS.

Musically, some of its style reflects inspiration from Neil Young, Bob Dylan and Jimmy Buffett. Still, the hints of those icons in a handful of songs aren’t a detour from the rest of the CD. Each tune blends neatly into the next, with Bertsch leading the way, vocally and instrumentally.

Ultimately, “Red Dirt Road” leads to Mozambique. Bertsch spent part of last spring in that nation in southeastern Africa on the Indian Ocean coast. The title track — the strongest in the collection — opens with an Easter-morning recording of the women’s choir at Foursquare Church in Milange, Mozambique, before kicking into an infectious guitar hook and anthem-like chorus that Young would be proud to claim. The only disappointment is that the choir recording sounds a bit too distant; otherwise, it’s a clever gem.

Lyrically, the fourth track, “Change of Pace,” stands out, with Bertsch adroitly assessing midlife. He sings, “Some folks can bless you just by bein’ in their space; some make you long for a change of pace.” Besides its ponderous theme, “Change of Pace” is just plain catchy.

The album doesn’t lose steam toward the end of its path. Its spiritual high point comes at Track 10, a brave submission to love, “What Can I Do For You?” With a taste of Dylan-esque imagery and a snazzy harmonica intro, Bertsch declares, “I don’t jump from airplanes, or go grabbin’ tigers’ tails; I’m too scared of heights, and those cats don’t clip their nails; I don’t play the horses, or believe in horoscopes; I guess I don’t take many chances, I’d rather have a surer hope, like the love that you have given me.”

He gets solid backing from Dan Lampton (who also recorded the disc) on mandolin, Neal Wagner on bass, David Tyra on electric guitar and John Dufek on drums. Bertsch handles lead vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, piano, plugged-in keyboards and the blues harp. Together, they get plenty of opportunities to flex their skills, especially on “Prevailing Winds,” which clocks in at a hefty 6 minutes and 56 seconds, and “Soul Combine,” the 5-minute, 57-second penultimate cut.

By the end of “Red Dirt Road,” Bertsch has worked through any fortysomething restlessness and finishes with a gentle, glowing, romantic celebration of contentment in “A Life.” Over shimmering chord changes, he looks ahead and behind and then concludes, “Alone no more, since I found you; if we’re still here tomorrow, you and I will see it through.”