Sincerely Paul
July 28, 2006
Sincerely Paul was an early Christian goth band comrpised of vocalist Jim Strawn and several other members. The band released an independent custom-made cassette demo in 1989, followed by a full-length album, titled Grieve, which was released two years later on Blonde Vinyl Records.
Sincerely Paul’s music was a brooding mix of the alterna-rock and goth sound popularized by The Violet Burning and L.S.U., with the late 80’s synth-pop of The Cure and Depeche Mode. Although this style of music was pretty innovative for Christian music at the time and Grieve was criticaly acclaimed by the market’s then-fledgling alternative and goth scenes, the album and band were overlooked by most major labels and publications and faded into obscurity after Blonde Vinyl Records folded in late 1992.
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I was really into this CD when it came out. It was my understanding that this band evolved into a different band called Slide, which featured Jim Preston on vox. They had a song on the R.E.X. Demo-Lition II comp called “The Black and the Blue.” Anyways, I was always interested in hearing more, but a CD by the band never materialized. So, if anyone has any info as to whether one was released independently, I’d be interested in hearing it. Thanks!
Didn’t know that Sincerlely Paul became another band called Slide, nice info. I have the Demo-Lition compilation but I cant remember if it’s the first one or the second. Must be interesting to hear how the band evolved musically.
Sorry no info on the independent release. Maybe getting a hold of the band would be a great idea unless a die-hard Sincerely Paul fan comes out and saves the day. : )
Just added an audio sample of Jim Preston’s band Slide. It still sound like Sincerely Paul in some way. : )
The Black and the Blue was one of the last songs Sincerely Paul wrote and recorded. Jim re-recorded the song via a solo project – Slide. The remaining 4 original members of SP went on to form Big Ox Laughing and later, Laughing Stock, performing and recording through the mid 1990’s.
Great info! Did Big Ox Laughing – Laughing Stock have anything realeased commercialy?
No commercial releases unfortunately.
I remember seeing SP at Atlanta Fest sometime in the early 90s, maybe 92. I remember being totally blown away by them. I bought their cd and played it until it stopped working in my player. Back in early 2001, I finally got another copy of Grieve off of Ebay. I immidiately ripped it to my computer so that I’d never lose it again.
They were awesome. Its a shame that they were overlooked and weren’t able to make it.
i loved that record. very atmospheric, but you could never point down its influences. Great tuine, the title track…
Jim Strawn is a good friend of mine. I’ve known him for a few years now, but only just heard his music (in my truck). I’m certainly impressed, and am looking forward to sitting down and really listening to it. Jim has grown into a fine man, and I’m very glad to have him for a friend.
Hey Lee,
I bought “Grieve” in my Christian Music store in the early 90’s and always wanted to hear more. Any chance you could get Jim to get a website (even a MySpace page) and make available his music for download? Not the Grieve CD (it can still be found on eBay and other places). I mean the songs on SP’s Demo tape that came out before “Grieve” and the songs written since “Grieve”. I have been looking for it for years and can’t find it anywhere for any price (or even pirated, for that matter). Just asking. Thanks.
I second Kerry’s motion.
Kerry,
I’ll try to bring the subject up with him. But, I get the feeling that he doesn’t really like talking about that period of his life.
I spoke with Jim yesterday. I told him about this blog and he did say there were some other tracks that he had that could be transferred to CD. I forwarded him the link to this blog as well, so you may here from him. More to follow.
Cheers,
Wow! Thank you very much, Lee. I am excited to hear that he may be willing to check out the blog and who knows, maybe submit some dialogue or something. I hope that he is in a better place now and can talk about those days with you, a trusted friend. I’ve had some rough ones, too and could understand not wanting to relive the experience. Even if nothing else is said, please pass on to him the love expressed here from SP fans and the encouragement of another Christian brother.
Jim tells me he would consider opening a “my space” page if there is some interest in him doing so. He has music & video from “Sincerely Paul” and “Slide” that he could make available for download, but he’s not 100% sure he wants to do the whole my space thing yet. I get the impression that part of him does but another part of him does not. How about it? What should I tell him?
I’ll pass along your kind words Kerry, I’m sure they will mean a lot to him.
Lee
I’d be interested…and I know there are folks on the Northern Records board, Velvet Blue Records board, The 77s board, and the Choir board, etc. that would be interested. You/he could always ask the people at these boards:
http://www.thechoir.net/pages/home.html
http://www.77s.com/wbb2/index.php?sid=caa04bd17f48a24a2879ba6fb0e032f7
http://www.northernrevolution.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=28
http://vagrantcafe.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=27:
http://forum.cmcentral.com/index.php?s=3f4d5612ed90fd31b17df6a2584cec0f&showforum=1
That last board is a little more mainstream.
I always enjoyed this band. I had gotten a Shareware version of Commander Keen and played it into the Ground while listening to Grieve over and over again (strangely enough mixing it with Mike E and the G Rap crew). I wrote a lot of good college papers while listening to this album as well. I recently found it in my collection and it has been revived in my listnening. I did a search to see where the band went and found this blog. I would be interested in a lyrics page as well.
OOPS! I meant to chime in earlier. PLEASE PLASE PLEASE do the MySpace thing! I miss all the good music of the 80’s and 90’s sometimes. Unlike secular artists, Christian artists blend in all too well with the general populace and I wonder what became of them. Sincerely Paul is one of several bands that I would have liked more from. Others include Raspberry Jam, Black and White World, Painted Orange, Luxury, Raving Lunatics, and Under Midnight. Anyone remember them? Where are they now? I know Painted Orange is on the next page but what about the others?
Thank you Lee for being an encouragement to Jim for us. God Bless!
yes, please. wouldnt be a biggey, right. I love to see a s.p. my space…
better yet.
myspace.com/sincerelypaul
!! come on, jim!
WOW, a chance to say something to one of my childhood heros. Come on jim, please post that stuff. I even created a myspace page because of you (and I swore I would never join myspace).
Sincerely Paul was my favorite christian band and it really spoke to me as an adolescent. Sincerely Paul, mortal, code of ethics, lsu, violet burning, 77’s, etc, etc, etc, had a strong impact on me at that time. There are still days that I will pull out and listen to Grieve. And shame last sunday is permanently located on my MP3 player.
I hope are able to do this for us.
A very devoted fan to this day,
A Lake
Hi,
Just to let you know, I to am a friend of both James (Jim) and Lee. The reason I found this blog is because Jim let me know about it tonight. It sure is cool to read all of this to know that his old band was so loved. Jim is one of the nicest guys I have ever meet and I am so lucky to be able to call him my friend/ family. I will be with him this weekend and I will ask him what he thinks of all this. Maybe he will get in touch with the fans. I’ll keep my fingers crossed. Gail
Hey Kerry…you were asking about Black and White World earlier. A couple of years after his stint with Undercover, Rob Gallas formed another OC- based band with Dave C. called Oscar. That band eventually evolved into Free Spin. Rob sent me a CD of Oscar a long time ago and it was decent stuff – kind of lively. I followed up with him later about Free Spin but never received anything. I think he is probably finished with those 2 bands.
hi! please tell Jim to accept me as a friend. he sent me a message and everything but he didnt accept me as a myspace friend! PLEASE! I want to a SP fanclub member :)
Great memories of the Sincerely Paul crew… we’d love to hear what’s been happening over the years, Jim, Brian, etc…
guys! Jim emailed me and told me he may make a page and add us as friends if we send him more emails to show him we really are interested in revisiting the PAUL. so, go to his email AND SEND HIM A MAIL. Hes a really nice guy, apparently.
a stranger in THIS land, sei
I’ve got a few threads going on message boards getting people to express interest. Getting some responses…..
Well, It’s nice to know that we have 3 or 4 fans who still remember us. I was the drummer for SP for almost 5 years before Jim and I left and Ray, Brian, Mike Hackett joined with Noah (thier first drummer) again and formed laughing stock. Jim and I went into the studio with Ray and our long time sound engineer Brian Webster and recorded the Black & the Blue. The Black & the Blue was one of the last songs we wrote as a band and we performed it a few times before we all went our own ways. We were working on material for a new album when things kind of fell apart. If anyone is interested in more SP history I would be glad to provide it. I would also like to post the whole CD somewhere for all to hear and enjoy if the other guys are up for it. Art is for all to enjoy, don’t you think? Once I get my old boxes out I will scan some old photos and post them somewhere. I’ll let you all know where it is.
I have been out of contact with the guys for over 5 years now. I would love to hear from them. Funny we have to get back in touch this way! Jim and Ray .. I would really love to hear from you! I’m going to leave my email address here. Be kind to me guys! Reach me at —————–.
Thanks again everyone for remembering. It was a GREAT time in all our lives and we really enjoyed touring and meeting everyone. The show at 6 Flags in Atlanta was cool, I’m glad Tim enjoyed it.
Signing off for now
Mike Baker
yes, Mike , please do. If I could help you, I would. Fanboys for life.
sei
would one of you guys who knows Jim let him know that I am trying to get in touch with him? THANKS.
I will create a site for SP fans in the next couple of months. I gather material and post it there.
SP fact. We played several shows in Hollywood that we cool. We played the Troubador several times and played the ROXY and the Whiskey a go go as well. Knotts Berry Farm used to have a night for Christian bands … we played there twice. More triv to come. FYI. One of my fellow comrades did get a hold of me last night. Thanks for this forum.
Please MAKE THE SITE! Im dancing in anticipation now.:)
Sorry about the type-O’s in my last post. I posted it with my smartphone and it seems that I have some sort of weird “butcher the English Language” disorder when using that small interface!! The SP site is now in it’s early planning stages … sort of. Just be patient. It could be the start of something great! Thanks to all who are reading or posting on this blog.
SP Fact: Grieve was recorded at a studio run by the Hindelong (Spelling?) brothers who recorded several projects themselves and produced several projects with others. The studio was built into a parsonage that was in the back of a church pastored by their dad. We recorded mostly in the late hours of night and ungodly hours of the morning! After the project was recorded we mixed it in Fullerton, CA with our long time friend and incredible sound engineer Brian Webster who worked his magic as usual. Brian also recorded and mixed the Slide song. That’s all for now.
shivers and rubs hands in anticipation…
Just FYI…I’ve got a few threads going:
http://vagrantcafe.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24050
and then there’s one in The Choir forum:
http://www.thechoir.net/pages/home.html
I can’t wait to hear new tunes. I loved your gig with mortal. I think it was at a small place on the campus of Cal State Northridge or something. I still listen to you disc.
Jason
To Mike Baker,
Thank you for running with this for us. I also look forward to hearing some new SP content. I never had a chance to see you in concert (that I was aware of) so I missed out on some good times. Because of that I have another suggestion/request. Did SP ever record a concert (audio or video) that you guys played and could it be made available on the Website when it goes up?
To Lee,
Are you still following this thread? We haven’t heard from you in a while. Hope all is well with you. Send Jim our best.
To Kit,
Thanks for the information on B&WW (Oscar and Free Spin) I will have to check them out although with names like “Oscar” and “Free Spin”, I bet google gives me way too many results to sort through.
Kerry:
Thanks for your interest in SP. I really don’t know what we are or aren’t going to do at this point. At least these threads have us talking again and that’s something in and of itself. Of course we have audio and video that has never been published. This includes 5 or so songs that were written for our next album. We performed these songs in 1993 at a show in Orange County, CA. I just got to hear them again for myself for the first time in 13 years! Everyone will just have to let us work things out. A lot of life has happend since we were together as a group. Sorry you missed our shows too. Right now we are working on a trying to contain rumors. Nothing is set in stone and things have a way of falling apart. At least its been good conversing with some old fans. It’s my opinon that our music should be availble for all to enjoy in what ever form it came in. Keep us in prayer. Thanks again.
A big thanks to all of you for your incredibly kind emails. I admit I have been hesitant to post but all your messages have encouraged me to finally jump in and respond. We truly do appreciate your continued interest and glad to know people still listen to the CD after all these years. Mike Baker has expressed interest in possibly doing a web site or my space page for Sincerely Paul (and possibly Slide and Laughing Stock material). Please be patient with us as we hammer out the details. There is a LOT of catching up to do. Believe me when I say most of us have not been in touch for many years. In fact, I met with Mike Baker last night for the first time in 10 years? In the meantime, I am wondering if there is any interest in hearing a podcast interview from some of the guys in the band? A sort of VH1 “where are they now?” thing. I can’t make any promises, but in the meantime, let me direct you to a website of mine that I designed for Disney/Twilight Zone fans. http://www.serviceelevator.com –Once there, click on the link for the first floor, then click on the link “to become a member of the serviceelevator.com community”.
Scroll down in the discussion area box to find the topic “Sincerely Posts”. Here’s another room you can all meet in to discuss all things related to the bands. To use this forum, you will need to register with EZ-board first, but its easy. I will make sure to post in the Sincerely Post forum as well. Until next time, be safe, and thanks again for the emails.
i joined and we already got the first tidbit of trivia from Jim. COME ON EVERYONE COME IN!
Sorry I didn’t really fall off the edge of the planet, just went to Oklahoma for a month and didn’t have web access. After that, no really good excuses. Jim has asked me to transfer a cassette to digital format, which I will gladly to do. Just gotta get it now. But, it looks like things are rolling.
P.S. Hey Gail, you’re the best!
Well I’m glad to hear Jim has asked Lee to transfer a cassette to digital format. But most of all I’m so glad Lee has not fallen off the edge of this planet because if he had this world would not be the same. I have his CD Lee if you need a copy just let me or Jim know and I will get it to you.
As you fans and myself know Jim is a talented young man not only that he is a great person and he has some of the best friends around him that I have ever seen. Lee being one of them. Always remember when you follow your own dreams make sure that the people around you believe in your dreams as well and support you. Check out Jim’s website and see more of his GREAT talent.
P.S. Hugs to you Lee !!!!
Well I’m glad this thread has taken a life of it’s own. When I first came here I really didn’t think this would lead to anything. So….WOW.
Thanks for humoring us fans and I hope you’re able to publish some of this stuff online, (and heal if necessary.)
Alan
Just finished transferring the songs to hard drive. Three songs with vocals, and five instrumental. Don’t know exactly why, but Jim only wants the first two songs with vocals, and only the first instrumental. Will find out when I get them to Jim on Friday.
Off to bed.
Lee
http://www.somewherecold.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=171&page=1
here’s a NEW interview with JIM! from formerroadie at the vagrant cafe! oh yeah!
Just a bit of trivia for those of you who are interested. In 1992 we (SP) played the L.A. Marathon. I remembered this when I saw an TV add yesterday for the marathon this year. That year they had bands playing all up and down the marathon route. They had TV stations filming and radio dj’s going up and down talking to the bands. It was really strange to setup in a parking lot, plug into their PA and go for it. One of our more unusual gigs for sure.
MB
According to a very old CCM magazine posting, REX records had a scheduled release
for a full length “Slide” project. You can check out the article by following the link below. Big Thanks to KIT for sending this in (you may need to enlarge the article, and the mention of this is on the right hand side):
If you don’t care to see the Slide thing in the above link, at least click on it to see the Grace Bible College ad.
yeah, that bible college ad is from like 1997, but it looks like its from 1983.
man, these threads went DEAD real quick. guess were waiting for the pages?
Wow, thank you all for taking me back to a special time in my life. I was there to watch the band grow and I have a special fondness for the CD, Grieve. When you spend a lot of time with the lead singer, you get to hear the songs in a new way.
Jim, If you read this, Im so proud that you followed your counseling career and I wish you the very best. I would love to catch up with you.
Yeah! I saw those guys back in 1989 in Los Angeles. Our youth pastor took a couple of us to go see them play a small gig. The band was awesome. I was JUST thinking about them a few days ago, and I then I saw this post! I’m going to try and track them down on the web and buy the albums again. I had their first release on tape back in ’89.
St. Worm
To all –
We haven’t forgotten about you guys. I know Jim is watching the serviceelevator site and I’m kind of watching this one. We are still a ways out from working on the SP site. We will announce when it is up on all the places we know fans are posting. We all have busy, busy lives now and have to set time aside for projects like this. We are also collecting material and digitizing it for the site. Just be patient guys (and gals). I want to thank the guy who put this site together and made it possible for us in SP to get in touch with each other again. I also want to thank those of you who remember the band and our music.
Till next time
Sincerely Yours :-]
Mike Baker
Just to start a new set of questions…
Have ALL the bandmates been in communication about this new SP site and if not, which ones?
Without being too specific, it has been mentioned that you guys have of course moved on to new things since SP. What are those new things and how far apart do you guys live from each other?
Could (or would) a reunion ever happen? Or a Cornerstone appearance (bands that aren’t even together anymore still manage to do this (prayer chain, anyone?))?
Just curious…
No, all the bandmates have not been in communication with each other. Until just recently, 3 of the 5 (Jim , Mike Baker, and Harold Raymond) have been in communication with each other. I can’t speak for the other guys, but you can read my responses to some of your questions in an interview I just did at http://www.somewherecold.com
Perhaps the other guys will respond as well so you can get their point of view. After all this time, we all still live close to one another–some in different counties, but no more than a 2 hour drive.
JPS
After reading through these posts, I decided to relay a message to Jim. At the time Grieve came out, I was engaged. I had recieved Sincerely Paul & Deitiphobia in the mail on the same day. I let my fiance choose what to play first. She chose Grieve. That was monumental, considering the reaction I witnessed. She was resting on my couch, & I was on the floor leaning against it. After the first few songs, I glanced up to ask her what she thought. She was devastated. Tears were flowing. I asked her what was wrong. “Nothing”, she replied. I replied back, “That’s the biggest case of nothing I’ve ever seen!”All she could mutter was “They know me, they know my life!” Every track was a room in her soul, each door locked, now being shattered. Nineteen (She came to Christ at 19), Bare My Soul (She grew up with an alcoholic, verbally abusive father. He’s a great guy now, been sober for yrs!), Shame Last Sunday (Gave her permission to have problems, even as a Christian!), Those That Kill (She watched her sister’s self esteem slowly murdered through the yrs.), Grieve (The most honest worship she could offer), Wait (C’mon, no coincidence we’re engaged, listening to this, trying to make it through a year long engagement!). The next C-stone, I noticed someone wearing a sincerely Paul Tee, pointed it out to her, & had to restrain her from mugging (in the most Christian manner possible, of course)the attender. I then decided to create a tee for her. I simply bleach stenciled the word “Grieve” in the font as shown on the CD artwork onto a black tee (still have it). Nobody hurt, nobody mugged, everybody happy! Sometime after returning from the fest, I flipped through a back issue C-stone, & noticed an ad for Creation, featuring Sincerely Paul. I pointed this out to her, then realized the date had already passed. Alas, We never did manage to experience a Sincerely Paul performance. One last note, as Grieve became harder to find, our (her) cassette was wearing out. A good friend of mine gave her his copy of Grieve, knowing what the album meant to her. Again, nobody hurt, nobody mugged, everybody happy. Be encouraged, we still are. Grieve is one of our most important albums in a collection of 800+ CDs.
To st. jebbus – I can’t answer for the other guys, but I am touched by your story. Connecting with people the album had an effect on was one of the best parts of being in SP. I know Jim’s lyrics have meant a lot to me as well over the years. I am just glad that I was part of something so positive. I will be digging through my old boxes of stuff sometime soon (I hope) and if I run across a SP T-Shirt I would like to find a way to get it to you. Maybe Jim and I could sign it for you if you want. Leave your email address here if you dare and I will get back to you when I get a chance to dig stuff out. SP was more than just music for us. I was art, ministry and an outlet for our creative instincts. Thanks for still listening after all these years.
Again, WOW. Thank you “Sincerely Paul” for providing me with a musical way to explore my “pain” in a very safe way. Your Grieve album touched me so very, very, very deeply when I first listened to it. I think back when it was released it was too far ahead of the “christian world view” (though shall not explore you painful past), much like most of the “alternative” music that came out in the 90’s. Musicians like Michael Knott come to mind (how dare you talk about alcoholism and a pastor having a divorce).
Any ways, like I said, listening to your music, I felt safe exploring my “pain”. In essence it helped me cry about my losses.
When I would listen to your music, I was able to envision videos that would go with the music. It’s too bad I can’t bring them to reality. Thank you for sparking a release in me, back then.
After reading some of the posts here this morning (yeah, yeah 4am now), I can say that I would be very honoured to help out with a “Sincerely Paul” web site. I operate web hosting services and I would be happy to provide the web space and any other assistance I can. I have provided a spam catching email address (this only means that if it gets abused I turn it off) and my personal home page (not much there other than family memorials) but I also have a multitude of IM’s. Let me know if I can help!
Thank you all, and I know God will continue to bless you since I know your music blessed me!
Mike – Thank you so much (from both of us) for your response. My wife is thrilled to know you’d be willing to dig for a shirt (She’d be ecstatic if you & Jim could autograph it). Size L for her, & XL for me (if another can be spared/found/autographed). Don’t want to be greedy, but just very enthusiastic about the possibility.
Good Art follows you through life, never growing stale. Grieve has life because of the ministry of the Holy Spirit (the Comforter). Sincerely Paul certainly succeeeds (past, present & future tenses intended) because Grieve comforts the afflicted (us) & afflicts the comfortable (us, also).
We’ve talked often about the Holy Spirit’s touch on Grieve. Without His prescence, we’re certain Grieve would still be good, but not nearly as effective in it’s ministry of healing (still needing it, ’til we’re done here). Of course, for one to receive it, one has to be receptive to Grieve’s message, beyond the lyrics, & behind the music. Unfortunately, the church today can still be as numbing as any vice the world offers, rendering the Spirit’s voice through Sincerely Paul mute. Fortunately, we attend a very ground based church in Madison WI (Mad City Church) that continually embraces brokenness in every arena of life. We’ve met a few xtian goths through our attendance there.
Mike Yaconelli (Youth Specialties) wrote a book (shortly before his untimely death) called Messy Spirituality (God’s Annoying Love For Imperfect People). This book echoes much of Sincerely Paul’s music. Anyone reading this post will be well rewarded in reading it. It is dangerous, & won’t fix you (as one friend thought it would, we gave it to her to let her know she was already beautiful) Ok, enough with commentary. Grieve needs none. Neither does Messy Spirituality.
to respond, our email is —————– . We’ll risk the spam to keep in touch.
I would like to answer Kerry’s question about any chance of an SP reunion. Unfortunatly I don’t think that will ever happen. It has been 13 years since we last played together as a group. We are all in very different places musically now and in very different places in life. There are other barriers as well. Sorry to disappoint those of you who would like to see an SP reunion concert (for the record, I think it would be fun) –
I have to agree with Mike on this one. However, their are always possibilities for another recording featuring some of the members of Sincerely Paul. So keep your ears and eyes open…and as soon as the website is up, we will of course update you with the latest news.
Just wanted to update everybody on the progress of the upcoming Sincerely Paul website. A domain name has been secured and we will release the name of the site soon. Keep checking back here for the latest information on the SP website. Mike and I will be posting updates. Appreciate everybody’s patience. Feel free to spread the word on other threads out there in the cyber world.
Jim or Mike, who was the members of Sincerely Paul who was involved with the Sacred Blue group? I can seem to determine whether if it’s Jim singing or not. The song I heard was mellow and a farcry from Sincerely Paul’s dark overtones. It was just simply sad and melancholy.
Sacred Blue… This was our friend Matt’s project. I think the song was called Rest. I recall that Jim recorded a nice background vocal. Matt was singing lead. Mike and Brian provided the rhythm section. I don’t think Mike H. or I played on that – I honestly can’t remember. I see or hear from Matt once a year – maybe. He’ll love to hear that someone asked about his “sad and melancholy” song. :-)
I had forgotten we assisted Sacred Blue on this track. I remember doing the harmonies and background vocal, and I know others from S.P. were involved with the music (see Ray’s blog above). I think this track was engineered by Brian Webster who worked alot with S.P.. And Matt, if you read this, hello and I hope all is well!
Tnx Ray and Jim for that info . . . I don’t suppose you guys were also the band behind the full release album of Sacred Blue. Matt sounded like Lee Bozeman from Luxury. I love the arrangements on the song especially the guitar feedback/sampled glass breaking at the very end the song.
I’ll post a sample of the song so the fans of S.P. can get to hear it. Pretty interesting stuff.
Sincerely Paul thank you for your music. I thank God for Christian music. My album Grieve is frequently listened to.
Sacred Blue Write-Up
Sacred Blue – Rest (Snippet).mp3 1.7 Mb
Hector:
You are welcome. We are just grateful that people are still touched by our music all these years later. May the LORD richly bless you in all you do.
To the band,
Referring to my earlier post, do you guy still have a complete copy of your songs that were on your demo tape? What were the names of those songs on it? How likely are we to be able to hear, download from the SP site, or buy copies of the demo (maybe on the site, itself)? It would even be cool to see both songs from the demo tape and Grieve available at the iTunes store!!! Like iTunes or hate it, it is becoming the defacto standard location for buying downloadable music online.
Just curious…
BTW, thanks to all of you guys for getting involved with your fans.
Kerry, we thank you and all the fans and are so grateful to you all for connecting with us. The original demo tape was a 4-song demo and was noticed by some industry decision makers. It helped to secure our first appearance at Cornerstone in 1988. The names of the songs were (in order) 1. Whats the difference? 2. You gotta love 3. The Real Me and 4. Crime of Persecution. I can tell you that Mike and I are working on making these tracks available via downloads. I agree, iTunes is one of the ways to go with this, and when all is said and done, SP music will try and take advantage of all the new technology that is out there to get our music to people. Copyrighting is an issue on our minds, and these issues are being addressed. We have some interesting ideas that we will release once the status of these ideas are confirmed. Hope this is helpful information.
man, theres already a sincerely paul.com! its a british butlers website! thats wacky!
so is the myspace opened yet?
Hi All,
I bounced over here after doing my semi-annual peek at Undercover’s message board, and I saw a name I hadn’t thought of in fifteen years – Sincerely Paul. I mentioned over there that I recall an interview with one of the guys – I’m assuming Jim – and he explained the meaning of the band name: he said he had a copy of the “Hippie Bible” from the early 70’s (The Living Bible edition for teens called “The Way” – quite hip for the time – I’ve seen a copy of it before). Anyway, if you’re familiar with TLB, you know how all of Paul’s epistles are signed off: Sincerely, Paul. I remember thinking how incredibly cool that was. I own the original 4-song demo tape (buried in a box in my garage). “You Gotta Love” was my absolute favorite song the entire summer of… what would it be, ’89? Hard to remember now, but that’s what it appears to be, based on the things other folks have said.
So, is there going to be a SP website? Or even a MySpace? To the guys from the band, here’s another almost 40-year-old fan who was very touched by your music and ministry so many years ago. Thanks for the great tunes.
Yes, Mike Baker and I are working on a website. We have secured a name for the site and will release it shortly. Keep watching this site for upcoming details on the website (and thanks scottrainey for your kind comments). You are correct about how the band name came about. My father originally gave me that “hippie bible” during my teen years.
Hey waddya know, there’s a band pic up. I never knew what any of the band looked like until now.
i have always love sp and will forever. have it playing continually in my mp3 player. not only great christian rock band which my adoptive parents let me listen to, but great vocals. i saw sp at a concert in mesa AZ at a calvary chapel. one of my good friends henry was able to have these 5 guys stay over at his place, while he had the band play at our church. everytime i go to the gym the playlist always has house of fire on it. thank you and looking foward to more.
Aaron –
I remember playing this show. I was a sick as dog that day. The AZ show was the first in a series of shows we played ending on the East Coast. Your friend had a big apartment if I remember correctly. We played that show with B&W World didn’t we? We appreciated the opportunity to play and for the place to rest our heads. Thanks for listening after all these years. We are honored that the music still blesses you!
Hello, Your site is great. Regards, Valintino
Jim, Mike, and Ray –
How random…stuck here in Beijing of all places, killing time. Don’t know how I ended up on this message board but it was great to find it and hear about what you’ve all been up to.
Matt:
Good to hear from ya – I hope all is going well. We will be putting up an SP site later this year. Hope you get a chance to check it out. We will announce when it is up and running right here.
Take care,
Mike
Hi Matt. Just recently heard your “Rest” track after all these years. Brings back good studio memories. Stay safe, and be on the lookout for the Sincerely Paul website. As Mike said above, we will announce it here.
best, JIM
hey guys very anxious to see what you are putting on the website, but im very patient. hey just little more info bout that show. kinda sounds like stalker but it was just a good time in my life. i had just divorced my parents, moved in with adoptive parents, had a first real girlfriend, and had real first kiss at that concert, i know weird huh. yeah i remember even that jim was wearing a dr. martens shirt black, with blue shorts, and docs. weird just a nice memory, along with songs.
Aaron, we appreciate your patience as it will be rewarded soon. We have uncovered a whole bunch of SP stuff that will be using for the site. Mike Baker has also approached me with an interesting idea that I can’t talk about at this moment, but when I can, we promise to release the news here.
I am blown away that finally there is some Sincerely Paul information on the web. Every once in a while I do a search and this time I found something. I saw you guys at Creation 92 0r 93 in Pennsylvania and it changed my life…I got serious about my faith when I realized that you didn’t have to become a DC TALK fan. I bought the Blonde Vinyl cassette of ‘Grieve’ and played it for all my friends and tried to get them to come to church. I played it so much the tape was falling apart…then someone stole it. Years later I found the cd in a bin by some miracle…I played that until it was too scratched and then I lost it somewhere…
I have met some of my best friends through talking about Sincerely Paul…One friend listened to my own music and convinced me to make a cd of my own…I dearly love every song on ‘Grieve’ and somehow no matter how jaded I am all these years later, it still pierces to the heart. You guys really had something magical!
luke
[heart of darkness]
http://www.heartbreakbeat.com
I’ve sat down and rewrote and re-rewrote this text a couple of times because i really wanted to post some kind of response. But something tels me that right after i post this comment, i will want to re-re-re-rewrite this comment again…
What can i say about SP? Except that the festival that i’ve organized in my fantasies features Sincerely Paul, LSU (Shaded Pain era) and the Last Dance sharing a stage.
Memories about SP: I remember that the first time i’ve heard the “Grieve” album, i felt it were honest songs. Not the kind of Christian songs where “everything is hunky-dory as long as you believe and we’ll see eachother in heaven”, but the kind that tells you that even as a Christian, life isn’t all rosey and that we all (well, most of us anyway) have our problems and ghosts from the past.
In almost every song i can find things that apply to my life and my past and some even apply to my present.
Grieve is still and will probably one of my favorite albums which touch me every time i play it.
Hey Balaam! How’s it going? Just want to mention that this guy inspired me to put up this Christian New Wave site as well as the online radio station. Not that my site and the station would be comparable to his site at http://www.balaamsmiracle.com which is totally amazing! — Check it out for comprehensive Christian industrial/EBM/Goth/New Wave music and reviews.
Jim, Mike and Ray : I highly respect Balaam’s judgment to put “Grieve” as one of his best albums and more to say even to the underground public. He has a vast knowledge of this genre of music that would makes him a real connoisseur.
Maybe “Grieve” should be re-release as a 2 disc special limited editon CD with added bonus materials/Demos. Even better a bonus DVD with interviews and concert materials. How about it SP Heads? : )
Wow – all of this interest in Sincerely Paul – that is great. I remember that there was a SP song on the ACM Journal Volume 1. I think it was called “I Saw Sin”? Was that song only on that compilation?
Hey Matt, I believe that “I Saw Sin” was only part of the ACM Journal Vol. 1 CD. I’m not sure if it was intented to be part of the “Ego Mind” album which never got released.
I would realy want the album be made available with added bonuses like demos and stuff. Most of all a new generation of listeners will also be able to get access with the music and once more be bless as we have been. Maybe you could start a site called SP Heads as a tribute to the band? Sort of the Knottheads site that you have going there. : p
I love those Blonde Vinyl Videos that you have there. Love your site as well. BTW this is the site for everyone — http://www.knottheads.com Enjoy!
By the way, for those who ever wanted to see some Blonde Vinyl videos, here ya go:
http://www.knottheads.com/videoViewer.php?id=blondevinyl
Thanks about the site. I do want to get a section going for many underground/unsung bands from the 80s and early 90s. Just getting all of Mike’s stuff cataloged is taking forever! It will happen, though…
Hey Kit,
You da man, dawg! (doing hip hop pose) We Appreciate your help and support for the blog.
Peace out bro! (doing peace sign)
Matt, Mike & Kit,
Had to edit some of the stuff being written down. I’ve been advised to take it down to respect and protect privacy. You’ll know what I mean. : )
Peace!
when you say it’s ove. Ulf Raharjo.
I did an interview with them over the phone back in the early 90’s. When I was a writer for a small christian magazine article writer. It was a phone interview, but I left a message on their booking line and the lead singer actually called me back about 2 weeks later. I would give anything to find that ablum again.
Thanks everybody for your continued patience. Mike and I will finally be releasing some solid official news related to Sincerely Paul. If all goes well, we plan to post the first wave of news here sometime during the first week of October 2007. So keep checking back…it should be posted any day now. Thanks again to Tim and everyone’s posts/emails, etc…Cheers
Mike Baker and I would like to announce that we will be re-releasing Sincerely Paul’s “Grieve CD” as a 2-disc special edition CD. A big thank you goes out to Mike Knott for making this possible as I met with him recently to obtain the publishing rights to Grieve. Some of the things you can expect on the re-issue are live cuts, demo tracks from our early years, new art work (including pics and a narrative timeline from the beginning years to the end of the band)and possibly an unreleased song or two. We are shooting for a release sometime in 2008. I imagine this will also be available as a download, but the CD will come first. Also, the website for Sincerely Paul related information is currently under construction. More information on all of this and other news will be posted as soon as possible. So stayed tuned here.. thanks again for your patience!
Awesome news…it is so cool that this is happening.
luke
[heart of darkness]
Nice! Can’t wait. I’ll spread the word…
This is exciting, can we expect new music in the future?
I am enthused beyond words…
Haven’t been here since a little over a month and now i read about the 2CD re-release! That’s awesome news!
I’ve noticed that, judging by the reactions of the band members, SP (as a band) never realized how much of an impact they have had on their listeners.
I’m sure that the responses inhere and on the forums are merely a fraction of the tip of the iceberg. Imagine how many people do not yet know about the latest developments and how enthousiastic they will be! The re-release is a good, nay, great call. You’ll see :-)
Please put the SP site online soon, even if not every section will be fully functional, some basic info and a forum or guestbook will go a very long way.
To christiannewwave: Thanks for your kind words, but hadn’t you already started this blog before we met?
About my knowledge of Christian New Wave, i’m afraid my knowledge pales in comparison with yours. I’ve discovered quite a few New Wave bands thanks to your efforts. after all, my expertise lies more in the Christian side of the Gothic, Industrial and EBM genres, although i do much enjoy New Wave as well.
SP fans will love this little morsel….
I have heard Jim sing Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” and several Peter Murphy songs. His voice was incredible. It will be a treat for all SP devotees if he records again.
they’ll have you suicidal suicida. Andreas Tennyson.
Ok, a second wave of huge news is coming your way in about a week. We will finally put some rumors to rest and step up with some more official news.
Again thanks for the emails reminding me I had some news to post. Myself and former Sincerely Paul member Mike Baker are in the early stages of writing new music. Where it goes is anybodys guess, but we have enough ideas for a full length release. We are in the midst of collaborating with other musicians with the hopes for a 2009 release. We want to make it clear this is NOT a Sincerely Paul new release. The release itself and marketing for this release will be under the band name of SLIDE. There are good reasons for
this and hopefully all your questions will be answered when we launch our SLIDE website (which will have a nice Sincerely Paul nostalgia section built into the site). I am hoping the SLIDE website will be up and running by the first of the year, but keep checking back here for updates (where we will be posting the domain name of the site and more definite launch date)
Well, if this prospect doesn’t excite anyone else, it certainly excites me.
Rock!!!
For Jim Strawn, wow, great to hear from you. This is Susanne from NJ. We met at Creation in PA and became phone buddies for a few years. You were going to stay with my family and I when you came to the East Coast and we were going to go the Jersey Shore and I’d show you around NYC but something came up with school and you had to head back to CA early. Look me up. I’d love to hear from you. This is so cool!!
Can’t wait for the website & the myspace page!
This The best news. Can’t wait for Slide.
Great news about the “Grieve” reissue 2CD and the launch of SLIDE! Looking very much forward to both.
We have some SLIDE/SINCERELY PAUL website news for you. The website gets launched on January 1, 2008. You can access the website by typing in http://www.slidemusicgroup.com or http://www.sincerelypaulmusic.com
Either domain name will get you there. Happy 2008.
wow, 111 posts. its on man. congrats!
beautiful site guys.absolutely thrilled about the new slide project.i will be chat on your message board.
Wow. I always wondered what had happened to the guys in this band.
I used to correspond with them and they sent me tickets to see them in Mt. Vernon PA one summer.
The recording “Grieve” was a very integral part of my life back then and it helped me through a very difficult time. There are no words for how much that recording means to me.
I still have my two SP Tshirts that a guard carefully and patch as needed (lol).
It’s good to hear that Jim is doing well and that he is so well-loved by his friends/family.
I know it can be painful to try to dredge old band things…I’m going through that with a band I was in. It’s a love hate thing in a way. The music and creative process is a good memory, some of the life situations at the time are bad memories. So do whatever you feel led to do, Jim. Don’t feel you have to because of what other people want. But, yes, SP filled a niche for me that nothing else could at the time. I’d enjoy sharing SP with another generation.
Jim and Mike
I have to say that I am truly and deeply thrilled to find you and all of the other SP fans! I honestly had never heard of you guys until I saw you play at AtlantaFest (you were followed by Mortal if I remember correctly!). I was so blown away and moved that I thought of nothing else for days. I remember after the show I bought one of your t shirts and had Jim sign it for me. I wore that shirt for years and years until it literally fell apart!
I have every hook, every line, every part of Grieve memorized. I played my cassette until it wouldn’t play any more ( that was truly a sad day). Then one day, in late 2000 I came across a copy of the CD on Ebay. Needless to say I jumped on it! I ripped the files into MP3 then put the CD in our safe deposit box—true story!
That album meant so much to me. And that Saturday afternoon in Atlanta ranks up there as probably the greatest concert I have ever attended. It is a memory that I still cherish and get lost in from time to time.
So, that brings me to tonight. For whatever reason, on a whim I googled Sincerely Paul, as I’ve done many times over the years. I found the Slide site and learned of the reissue. And then, of all days, just 2 days before the release date!!! As you can imagine, I bought my copy as fast as possible. SP is, to me, one of those bands that ended before its time.
Thanks so very much for going to all this trouble and effort to reissue the album and release all of the new stuff as well. You can’t know what this means to me. I am forever in your debt for doing this and will support you all in any way I can.
Yours,
Tim
Guys
So, I got my cd in the mail. It sounds better than I ever imagined it being (and better than the mp3 tracks I got from the cd I bought off ebay!). Great work on the remastering job. I love the artwork as well.
I have a question, one that I’ve never been able to answer… What is the girl saying on the answering machine on Helpless? I can get a word here and there, but not the whole thing.
Love the album and am thankful its finally here!
Tim
JANUARY comes out very very soon (Oct 13th I think).
http://www.myspace.com/slide
The Black and the Blue (the 1st Slide song from that R.E.X. sampler) gets reworked for the 2000’s and features a guest guitar spot by, ME! Check it!
Thanks for the writing this! I’m new at this game so am trying to catch up.
por favor alguem pode me enviar a letra da musica turnaway em ingles e portugues
Wow – I’m really late getting here, but glad I found this! I gave my life to Christ in 1991 and came from the original goth scene. Needless to say I was greatly disappointed in what the Christian world had to offer, musically speaking. Then came Sincerely Paul and I loved it. I thought your music was great and for some odd reason I decided to Google SP and found this. So glad I did and so glad to reconnect with old “friends” that I never met but really enjoyed. Just a question – I can’t seem to find any SP music on the site. Am I missing something?
Steve, click the ‘Sincerely Paul’ tab at http://www.slidemusicgroup.com/. There’s plenty to be read and enjoyed there. From a fellow listener, I wish you peace.
Try this website:http://www.slidemusicgroup.com/
It is the website of the Slide Music Group that includes former member(s) of Sincerely Paul. They have a store link as well and they sell the recently released 2 cd version of Grieve in which disk 1 is the original recordings and disk 2 is chock full of music from them that you have probably never heard. I bought it early and opted for the autographed version but I am not sure if they are still doing that.
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[…] for approx. 10 years. I have to give a big thanks to the Sincerely Paul blog page that was started https://christiannewwave.wordpress.com/2006/07/28/sincerely-paul/ because that page has helped me reconnect with both SP band members Mike Baker and Harold Raymond. […]
What’s up all, here every one is sharing these familiarity, thus it’s nice to read this weblog, and I used to visit this blog daily.
Man, I recently rediscovered SP and am more in love with the music today than ever before!
First time I saw them was at Creation (92?) , just by happenstance walking by the stage (instead of going to a pool that day) and hearing a style of music I fell in love with.
My older brother and a friend of ours would constantly play their album over & over & over again wherever we were, especially at a youth “over night” we had at our church- the disc was on repeat so often, finally the leaders were about to break it in half 😂.
But as time went on, more of my musical influences have been introduced (ie Dream Theater, RED and many others) , SP went by the way side- I have no idea where that CD & cassette went to this day but chances are it’s in a storage box somewhere with the likes of my childhoods musical memories and mix tapes made for my teenage year crushes.
Years later, here I am with a wife & almost 2 year old, after all my life experiences- both very good & very bad- Sincerely Paul speaks more to me now more than ever. Back when I was a kid, all that matter was that they were a Christian band and just went along with the message, not fully understanding the power. But here & now, each song is tied to an experience that I had lived within the past 25 years.
Recently, I was going through a nostalgic kick on spotify and created a playlist of all the music I was listening to in my early years. Believe me when I say, I was THRILLED to see SP on their -and with music I hadn’t heard before!
Once again, their album is on a constant rotation, annoying my wife from the continual rotation and playing guitar along with them in my office.
The music, the WORDS, speak to me in a way that teaches into my soul and cant thank the guys from SP enough for it.
Although I would LOVE to know, after all of these years, the song “helpless”…. what in the world does that say on the answering machine?
In the early ’90s I was singing with an SLO college band called The Remnant that eventually released an album with a different and more modern (and fitting for the times) lead singer. Before I left the band, at a school gig, an interested person came forward and told us that we sounded like a band called “Sincerely Paul”. We were totally clueless! It must have been my years of listening to and singing the likes of Depeche Mode, The Cure, Mad at the World etc. I have always remembered that but this blog is the first time I have been able to understand a little of who that band was. Glad this is out there as it is a salute to the best the internet is capable of in making obscure connections in our lives become real. This tech can certainly be a gift from God even when it is also used in so many negative ways. SP, awesome music in the new wave tradition!