Paul Metsers (born 27 November 1945) is a New Zealand/British

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fo ...

songwriter and solo performer who toured the UK

folk club A folk club is a regular event, permanent venue, or section of a venue devoted to folk music and traditional music. Folk clubs were primarily an urban phenomenon of 1960s and 1970s Great Britain and Ireland, and vital to the second British folk r ...

s extensively in the 1980s, before effectively retiring in 1989. He released five albums of his own songs over that period; one of his most widely known songs is "Farewell to the Gold" which was also popularised by

Nic Jones Nic Jones (born Nicolas Paul Jones; 9 January 1947) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. Regarded as a prominent figure of the British folk revival, he has recorded five solo albums and collaborated with various musicians. Biography ...

. "Farewell to the Gold" was recorded by

Peter Case Peter Case (born April 5, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. His career is wide-ranging, from rock n' roll and blues, to folk rock and solo acoustic performance. Biography Early career Case was born in Buffalo, New York, B ...

on his 2021 release, ''The Midnight Broadcast''.

Biography

Paul Metsers was born in

Noordwijk Noordwijk () is a town and municipality in the west of the Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water and had a population of in . On 1 January 2019, the former municipality of Noordwij ...

, Netherlands. His family emigrated to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in 1952 and there he bought his first guitar and started writing songs, performing them locally until he decided to move to

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

in 1980 and try to establish a reputation on the UK

scene. He did successfully over the next several years, assisted by the popularity of one song in particular, "Farewell to the Gold" which as well as being performed by its writer was sung widely by the well known performer

and included on the latter's 1980 album ''

Penguin Eggs ''Penguin Eggs'' is the fifth and final studio album by English folk musician and singer Nic Jones, released by Topic Records in 1980. After establishing himself as a sought after figure on the British folk revival scene, Jones recorded ''Penguin ...

''. Colin Irwin, music writer for '' Melody Maker'', has described Metsers as "a songwriter of genuine depth and versatility". Metsers released one album ''A Song For You'' on cassette in New Zealand followed by five in the UK on the Highway and Sagem labels, after which he decided to retire from professional performing in 1989. ''The Paul Metsers Songbook'', published in 1986, contained many of the songs from his first four albums, plus one that would appear on ''Fifth Quarter''. He currently lives in

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. C ...

in the English Lake District. Since 2010, he has been performing again on a limited basis, and has a collection of new songs for eventual planned album release.

Discography

* ''A Song For You'', Jolly Roger Records CHEST 6014 1979 (cassette release) album details
/span> * ''Caution To The Wind'', Highway Records SHY 7014 1981 album details
/span> * ''Momentum'', Highway Records SHY 7021 1982 album details
/span> * ''In The Hurricane's Eye'', Sagem Records SGM 279 1984 album details
/span> * ''Pacific Pilgrim'', Sagem Records SGM 379 1986
/span> * ''Fifth Quarter'', Sagem Records SGM 479 1987 album details
/span>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Metsers, Paul 1945 births Living people British folk musicians New Zealand folk musicians