NOAH
PALEY
P.O. Box 506
Hatteras, NC 27943
phone: (252) 986-2402
fax: (252) 986-9949
npaley@mindspring.com
Noah Paley picked up his guitar in 1999 after a two-decade hiatus and
began writing songs. Within months, he was performing them before enthusiastic
audiences at theaters, coffeehouses and festivals in and around North
Carolina. In January, 2004, Paley opened for Grammy-award-winning saxophonist
David Sanborn at the Carolina Theater in Durham.
The
Acoustic Café on UMass Public Radio selected Paley’s
second CD, Small Truths, as one of the best CDs released in 2002, along
with albums by Norah Jones, Bruce Springsteen, Ryan Adams, and Richard
Shindell. And a track on Small Truths made the Best of 2002 playlist
aired by Kansas Public Radio, along with selections by Eva Cassidy,
Gillian Welch, James Taylor, Dixie Chicks, and Patty Griffin, among
others.
Paley
was a finalist in the 2002 Carolina Calling talent competition, and
appeared on a June, 2002 episode of the music variety show, which was
rebroadcast statewide on UNC-TV in October, 2002. He was a semi-finalist
in the 2002 Independent Music Awards, and was selected to showcase at
the 2002 ArtsMarket by the North Carolina Arts Council. Paley also appears
in the NC Arts Council’s 2002-2004 Touring Artist Directory. In
November, 2000, the NPR affiliate in Chapel Hill, WUNC-FM, chose Paley’s
song “Moonlight Still” for inclusion on the Best
of Back Porch Music Vol. III compilation CD, along with songs by
Doc Watson, Alison Krauss, and Nickel Creek. Several of Paley’s
songs have received high marks in the Billboard and John Lennon songwriting
contests.
Paley’s
work has been praised by critics from Georgia to Oregon. His debut CD,
Sticks & Stones
(October, 1999), was dubbed “perfectly formed” by Playgrounds
Magazine and “magic” by The Eugene Weekly. WRFG-FM in Atlanta
has called Small Truths
(May, 2002) “a wonderful recording,” and The Ocracoke Observer
described it as “a delicious piece of musical art . . . produced
to perfection . . . .”
Production
of Paley’s third CD of original music, Better Days, is scheduled
for completion in April, 2004. Better Days will feature performances
by an array of top-notch musicians, and should be released shortly after
production is complete.