Paul Geremia (born April 21, 1944) is an American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

singer and acoustic guitarist. Geremia was born in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

, United States. He recorded his first album in 1968, having been significantly influenced by both the rural blues tradition and the

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

revival of the 1960s. Geremia has never recorded with electric guitar, hewing steadfastly to a traditional ethic with his acoustic playing.

Discography

*''Just Enough'' (

Folkways Records Folkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987 and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways. History The Folkways Records & Service ...

, 1968) *''Paul Geremia'' (

Sire Records Sire Records (formerly Sire Records Company) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Records. History Beginnings The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer ...

, 1968) *''I Really Don't Mind Livin''' (

Flying Fish Records Flying Fish Records was a record label founded in Chicago in 1974 that specialized in folk, blues, and country music. In the 1990s the label was sold to Rounder Records. Bruce Kaplan, the label's founder, was a native of Chicago and the son of ...

, 1982) *''My Kinda Place'' (Flying Fish, 1986) *''Gamblin' Woman Blues'' (

Red House Records Red House Records is an independent folk and Americana record label in St. Paul, Minnesota. The label was founded in 1983 by Bob Feldman after seeing a performance by Iowa folk singer Greg Brown. Origin The label is named for a farmhouse in ...

, 1993) *''Self Portrait in Blues'' (

Vanguard Records Vanguard Recording Society is an American record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York City. It was a primarily classical label at its peak in the 1950s and 1960s, but also has a catalogue of recordings by a n ...

, 1995) *''Live From Uncle Sam's Backyard'' (Red House, 1997) *''Devil's Music'' (Red House, 1999) *''Hard Life Rockin' Chair'' (Genes Records, 2000) *''Love, Murder and Mosquitos'' (Red House, 2004) *''Love My Stuff'' (Red House, 2011)

Achievements

*Geremia's rendition of

Fred McDowell Fred McDowell (January 12, 1904 – July 3, 1972), known by his stage name Mississippi Fred McDowell, was an American hill country blues singer and guitar player. Career McDowell was born in Rossville, Tennessee, United States. His parents were f ...

's "Get Right Church" was the opening track on ''Preachin’ the Blues: The Music of Mississippi Fred McDowell'' (

Telarc Telarc International Corporation is an American audiophile independent record label founded in 1977 by two classically trained musicians and former teachers, Jack Renner and Robert Woods. Based in Cleveland, Ohio, the label has had a long associ ...

), which earned a

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

nomination in 2002. *Two of his Red House releases,'' Gamblin’ Woman Blues'' and ''Self Portrait in Blues'', were both nominated for W.C. Handy Awards. *Inducted into the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame, 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Geremia, Paul 1944 births Living people American blues singers American blues guitarists American male guitarists Singers from Rhode Island Guitarists from Rhode Island 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians Red House Records artists Flying Fish Records artists