Konrad Wert, known as Possessed by Paul James since 2005, is an American folk singer, songwriter and musician from

Lee County, Florida Lee County is located in Southwest Florida on the Gulf Coast. As of the 2020 census, the population was 760,822. The county seat is Fort Myers (with a population of 86,395 as of the 2020 census), and the largest city is Cape Coral with an e ...

. His music is composed of string instruments including banjo,

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

and fiddle with roots within

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 ...

, blues and

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

. Raised within a small

Mennonite Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radi ...

Community among

pacifists Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigne ...

, service workers and transplants. He is currently living in Texas with his wife and sons meeting the music demand by touring, sales on line etc. He is also a special education teacher in Kerrville, Texas. Possessed by Paul James has starred in ''The Folk Singer'', a film b
Slowboat Films
in 2008 while in circulation internationally. In 2015 Wert along wit
Milk Products Media
embarked on a year documentary spreading the conversation and advocacy of Special Education awareness and the need for state/federal reform.
When It Breaks
completed production in 2018 and is soon to release.

Breakout album

At the end of 2013 'There Will Be Nights When I'm Lonely' was released with Hillgrass Bluebilly Records. The album initially charted at #12 on

Billboard Magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the musi ...

under the Country/Bluegrass genre.

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

, CMT, MTV featured both articles and tracks from the release.

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

stated "PPJ a one man folk wonder" as well as one of the top concerts at the 2014 Pickathon Music Festival of Oregon.

Current projects

After 19 years of working in social services and education, Wert and family are presently embarking on varied projects while continually teaching. "There must be a bond between the world of music performance and the world of social justice"; a strong theme in which the PPJ Family believes in and hopes to accomplish.

Discography

References

External links

www.ppjrecords.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Possessed by Paul James 1976 births Living people Musicians from Texas People from Collier County, Florida American Mennonites Mennonite musicians