Meet Paul Vinson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Paul Vinson. 

Hi Paul, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I’m originally from a small town outside of Pensacola, FL close to the Florida Alabama state line. I grew up attending an evangelical Southern Baptist megachurch which gave me my first real exposure to music performance, music education, and the technical side of things. From 6th to the 12th grade, I spent every week playing for crowds of hundreds of my peers, organizing sets and practices, setting up and breaking down stage equipment, etc. It was in many ways the only chance in my small town I had to engage in a professional level of music production and performance and helped me understand all of the ins and out of music. As I aged into high school, I began writing my own songs and performing around town playing cover shows. I started to drift away from “worship leading” and my childhood beliefs and found a place where I could be more myself while continuing to do the things I loved. After having some decent success for a 17-year-old; releasing my first EP, going on an east coast tour, and selling hundreds of tickets to local shows I decided I wanted to be an artist for the rest of my life. I planned to move to Nashville, TN and go to Belmont University after graduating high school in 2016 but upon seeing the tuition prices I decided it would be better to go into sizable debt making my own music instead of getting a degree in music. So, I took an extra year to stay home and prepare myself for the move and relocated to Nashville in 2018. My first year in Nashville I knew no one, it was miserable but in many ways that misery was detrimental to my future. I found myself and rediscovered my love for music in a deeper way than I ever thought possible. I wrote 100 songs that year in my bedroom in-between working long hours to pay my rent and as I kept writing and releasing the ones that stuck, I saw my style evolve into what I had been trying to do the whole time. I recorded my most recent EP in 2019 entitled ” Good God Get me out of Here” at Tracehorse studios in Berry Hill with some of my new Nashville friends and no producer. Just the band and I playing the songs to tape until they sounded right. All the while I was trying to play as many shows in and out of town as possible. Then in 2020 when the Covid-19 lockdown began I was struggling to understand where to go and what to do with myself as an artist. I quickly settled down and began writing the album that I will be releasing this year; Tunnel Vision. A 9-track album of songs all centering around honest stories and struggles in my life. In the past year, I was diagnosed with OCD which is one of the common themes in the lyrics of this album. I recorded it at Club Roar another studio in Berry Hill and it was produced by a newfound friend of mine Bryce Dubray who plays in another Nashville local band called Future Crib. Working alongside a producer on this project has allowed me to give these songs the work and attention they deserve and I couldn’t be more proud of how they have turned out. For the rest of the year, I plan to release this record, continue playing shows around Nashville as much as possible, and slowly but surely start working my way back out on the road touring. 

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There have been plenty of struggles along the way. The first one I remember was breaking the news to my parents and peers I wasn’t going to college. My parents were really just worried but ultimately became very supportive. On the other hand, I was mocked by my peers and other adults around me. I was discouraged to pursue a career in something I loved because to them it was a pipe dream (which in many ways it has to be) but to me, it was a very realistic future that just took a lot of persistence and dedication. I knew then and I still know now that I can do it and it is worth whatever chaos it carries along the way. 

After that I mean truly Nashville just kicked my ass as I was hoping it would do. That is one of the biggest reasons I moved here in the first place. I wanted the challenge of being around so many people my age doing exactly what I was doing to such a high caliber. I wasn’t fully prepared for the mental battle I would face upon moving here. The struggles of comparison topped with the heartbreak and loneliness I felt leaving my family and friends behind was almost too much to bear but I persisted and through that persistence, I found joy and confidence in what I was doing. 

Since then, the biggest struggles have been maintaining my mental health all the while balancing a full-time server job and creating a workflow for myself as an artist that allows me to get things done without overwhelming myself. 

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a music artist and at the end of the day there’s nothing I want more than that. I will settle for nothing less. I want to write, produce, and perform my own music. I want to book shows, create visuals, sell merch, do interviews, engage with fans, send emails, anything and everything that comes with being the head of an artist career. In this industry, there are so many jobs for musicians but I wouldn’t do any of this any other way. 

As an artist, my style is going to evolve though I find my biggest enjoyment in rock and folk music which are the two genres that my music encapsulates the most for now. I am proud of many of my achievements along the way; selling some of the biggest local shows in my hometown, hitting over 1m streams on Spotify, being featured on Brazilian television, but most of all I am proud of my persistence in my career, the new album I’ve been working on and what is to come. 

What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
What I love about Nashville is the music scene. Everything here is so tight nit and supportive in all the right ways. I feel challenged, encouraged, inspired, understood, and loved every day by my peers and that support is what allows all of us to keep doing this and make something real out of it. 

My dislikes; the traffic, the terrible infrastructure I mean for god’s sake we have no real public transportation and there’s potholes everywhere. It is also incredibly hard to go out to eat in this city or make a reservation anywhere which can be a bit of a buzzkill and there’s no real late-night food options other than cookout. 

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://paulvinson.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paulvinson/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paulwvinson/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/paulwvinson
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/PaulVinson/

Image Credits
Betsy Black