I'm On Tour Again /////////////

I'm on tour again! This time with a good friend of mine, David Archuleta.
We kicked off the tour with two amazing shows at The Abravanel Hall in our hometown of Salt Lake City! Next stop: Bakersfield, CA.
Hopefully I'll type a few things here and there to keep you informed to how the tour is going. But if you're craving a little more than this, follow me on Twitter.com/bentonpaul
Happy Thanksgiving to my readers!

Walls & Moon Lyric //////////

more lyric requests...

Benton Paul // "Walls"

It seems like blood has stained this place
From all the noise and tired mistakes
What a waste

How do we clean the mess we made
Is it too late

When the walls come down
And we find higher ground
I can see the sun come out

War can be small, it can be great
Within our homes and in our state
Are we safe

When the walls come down
And we find higher ground
I can see the star come out again

It seems like blood has stained this place


Benton Paul // "Moon"

Everywhere I look today
Things fade away
Nothing ever seems to last
But when I turn to the sky
In your eyes
I see my future and past

Moon, will you keep falling onto my side

Though you're many miles away
That's okay
You always do come back around
If gravity didn't control me
I'd jump off the ground
Into space

Moon, will you keep falling onto my side
Moon, I'm okay knowing that you'll stay the night

Up in the sky two stars align
Up in the sky two stars align tonight
Up in the sky two stars align

Moon, will you keep falling onto my side
Moon, I'm okay knowing that you'll stay the night

Run Lyrics //////////

Lots of people have asked that I post my lyrics to Run... so here you are!


Benton Paul // "Run"

We're moving fast
Faster than ever
Breaking the barrier of the common yesterday
Not looking back
Waving our goodbyes
We stop for no one, turn our heads and run

We're catching up
Up to the moment
In every moment lies a chance to win
It's not enough
To say we matter
Do we matter if we fade away

Run for your life
We're gonna break through the fire and come out alive
Run for your life
No one will ever deny if we survive
So just run

We'll never know
If we don't let go
To the things that hold us and control us
We're catching up
Up to the moment
In every moment lies a chance to win

Run for your life
We're gonna break through the fire and come out alive
Run for your life
No one will ever deny if we survive
So just run

It's not that far
It's not that far
So hold on, and just run

Trois /////////////

My new EP comes out on iTunes TOMORROW with one track as iTunes FREE discovery download of the week! Please spread the word!

Writing from the Road ////////

I'm so grateful to all my fans and friends for coming out to the shows on this tour. I hope you've enjoyed the free wrist bands, ear buds, and headphones thanks to my tour sponsor iFrogz(.com). They've done a great job in helping me get out on the road and present myself and my products the way I envision.

I don't get much sleep in my personal coffin. Clarification: my coffin is a 7 ft. long, 3 ft. wide, and 3 ft. high sleeping space, equipped with a personal tv and curtain to scare the bed bugs away. The personal tv is misleading, since this space is really not that luxurious to spend 8 hours a night in. However, this is not a complaint, since I've dreamed of being on the road since I was 8 years old. It's quite an exhilarating experience playing shows every night. In fact, I can't think of anything better... well...

David sang with us on stage the other night! It was a pleasant surprise for everyone.


God is love. Music is in the trees and the air you breathe. I'll see you soon.

R & J ////////

A moment I can't forget.

NEW TOUR DATES ////////////////

Hi friends,

I just posted new tour dates on myspace.com/bentonpaul
I'm happy to announce that I have been invited to tour with my friends Brooke White and Michael Johns from last year's American Idol.
TICKETS ON SALE NOW! Go check it out!

Live at E Center Arena ///////////

There and back ///////////////

Hello friends,

You know that point where you feel so busy, you don't want to do anything? That's where I am right now. It's like a car when it overheats or a computer when it freezes. Sometimes, it's just too much to handle... so I shut down and blog.

Welcome to my thoughts and ideas: I feel very fortunate to be in the music business. It's a fickle and corrupt business, yet it houses one of the most powerful and important things in my life -- music. I marvel at the fact that I can create a song, post it on the internet, and people from the Philippines can hear it, learn it, and cover it on YouTube. I'm fascinated how I can meet someone at a party, which leads to playing a show in LA, which then leads to meeting some of the biggest producers, performers, and label reps in the business! I love how everything ties together. Part of God's great plan? Possibly. Results of hard work and sleepless nights? Maybe. A bit of both? I like to think so.

I'm learning and growing every day as I plow through daily routines, quarrel over contracts, and write more music. I'm very excited to keep moving forward on my little adventure. I'm equally excited to take you with me. So follow me on Twitter! haha.

Dateup ////////////////////

There's a very good chance that Twitter has caused my lack of blogging. I feel bad about it. I don't blog much anymore, do I? Well, here's an update:

I've been recording a few new songs in Arizona and Utah. It's been fun. I'm working with my producer/engineer Scott Wiley again, and had the chance to track drums with Jimmy Eat World's drummer Zach Lind. Both are totally solid and great guys. We're working on vocals and acoustic guitars now, and then we'll be wrappin it up.
We might release these new songs as an EP. Maybe release just one of them as a single. Or we might hang on to them and release them a little later with a full-length album. But either way, you will hear them soon.
I've been traveling quite a bit recently. Performing in different cities, taking time to write new songs. It's been quite the adventure. I've been fortunate to meet some great musicians and industry workers over the past couple years and am very grateful to be able to do what I'm doing.

Thanks for the support, and have a great week everyone!

Stand By Me ////////////

Phoenix ///////////////////

One of my favorite bands.

Gigs ////////////////

Last week I was in Las Vegas and St. George attending and playing shows.
I had a really unique experience playing for some kids who have had a rough past.
They were extra receptive. And the scenery was something to behold.

I took these pics from my cell phone.
Next week, I get to hang in LA for a few days for some co-writing, meetings, and a show. I'm playing an intimate, acoustic venue called Genghis Cohen at 10pm on May 6th. I've played there before and the room is hardly big enough for the sound board. Which is why it'll be cool. Almost like a private show. I haven't done those in a while.

This morning I received a cartoon drawing of myself... ha.
Thanks Stephanie, for the gift.

Don't forget to grab tickets at www.JimBand.com if you want to see me perform with my whole band in Portland, OR on May 23rd. It's gonna be a really fun show.
See you soon.

iTunes ////////////////

Made it to the front page of iTunes this week.
Go check it out!

Segway Adventures //////////////

At the E //////////////////

Sound checking at the E Center, March 27th.

Meet the band. Brian Burke, Scott Reams, Joel Stevenett, and Mark Adkins.

Playing to the sold out crowd!

Chatting with David after my set. Generous gentleman.


Overwhelmingly wonderful line to sign my CD after the show.

Twitter ///////////////

...yeah...
after the many requests...
i decided to give into popular demand and jump on the twitter train.

http://twitter.com/bentonpaul

Fatigued but Content /////////////

I quite enjoyed my jaunt to South By Southwest this year.
It's amazing how so many people wearing plaid shirts can be in one place at one time. Even more amazing was the amount of venues/bars/hotels/cafes/whatever-corner-you-can-set-a-couple-speakers-on were there! Music everywhere. An artist's dream. Or nightmare... I guess it depends how competitive you are.

I played at The Belmont on 6th street a couple nights ago... here are some pics thanks to Tara:

Happened to stumble upon and chat with a favorite musician of mine, Matt Hales from Aqualung, which was pretty unique.
Ate at Rudy's BBQ... hello!
And then flew home over some snowy mountains...
...whoops, wasn't supposed to have my cell phone turned on was I?
All in all, a well worth while trip to Austin, TX.

Brilliant Music Video ///////////////

Landon Pigg //////////////////

For some reason, Landon's music has always had a strong impression on me. The production, the melodies, the vocals, the lyrics... it's wonderful.

I hadn't seen these music videos until today.
Here's "Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop"


And here's a link to watch "Can't Let Go," an all time favorite song of mine.

Aqualung Vids /////////////////////

I thought everyone could use a small sample of beauty today...

Bright Eyes ////////////////////////

Powerful video to an old favorite love song of mine...

Why I enjoyed the Grammy's ///////////

Coldplay:
Song of the Year (Viva La Vida)
Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals (Viva La Vida)
Best Rock Album (Viva La Vida or Death and All his Friends)

John Mayer:
Best Male Pop Vocal Performance (Say)
Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance (Gravity)

Radiohead:
Best Alternative Music Album (In Rainbows)
Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package (In Rainbows)

Jennifer Hudson:
Best R&B Album (self-titled)

B.B. King:
Best Traditional Blues Album (One Kind Favor)

Ladysmith Black Mambazo:
Best Traditional World Music Album (Ilembe: Honoring Shaka Zulu)

They Might Be Giants:
Best Musical Album for Children (Here Come the 123s)

Rick Ruban:
Producer of the Year, non-classical (Weezer, Metallica, Jakob Dylan, Niel Diamond)

Weezer:
Best Short Form Music Video (Pork and Beans)

Robert Plant, Allison Krauss and T-bone Burnett cleaned it up... which was cool... I just wasn't TOTALLY diggin' that record... so there you go.

Oren Lavie ///////////////////////////

I remember finding Oren Lavie in iTunes a year or two ago. I seem to recall him being from Israel? Let me double check on that... yep... here's his bio.

Anyway, kind of unique, kind of cool. Didn't latch onto him for dear life... but enjoyed his unique voice and melodies.

Well, now he's made something quite brilliant -- an innovative music video that he co-directed to one of his songs called, "Her Morning Elegance." It was a free download on iTunes last week... and I've recently stumbled upon it on various blogs.

Check it out!

Joe Jonas thanks /////////////////

Thanks to Joe Jonas for saying "I Only See You" is his favorite song right now!

Mute Math Video ///////////////////

The music video "typical" by Mute Math is one of my favorite music videos ever. I remember discovering it last year...
Have you ever wondered how they put it all together? Did you see their Jimmy Kimmel Live performance?

Here's how:

Coolest Site //////////////

http://producten.hema.nl/

Happy New Year ////////////////