Music Eases The Way

A transfer to a new country, a baby born prematurely, a young son just entering kindergarten, and an inability to find a job in the profession you’d worked successfully at for years due to cross border licensing differences—this collection of difficulties would daunt most people.

But Swampscott resident Paula Pearce is not most people.

Newly in the United States after her husband’s job transfer, knowing no one and at home with small children, Pearce took the time think about what it was she’d always wanted to do.

And that was to be in a band. This despite the fact that she had no formal training in either voice or an instrument, and had never, not once, sung in front of strangers. 

Yet, when you hear Pearce’s clear, emotive voice, which “has gotten stronger as I’ve gone along,” it’s hard to understand why it took her so long to go public. 

As a child growing up in Cardiff, Wales, she’d watched her father “singing in the pubs. He was a real crooner … he sang a lot of American songs, a lot of Johnny Cash.”

Although she’d thought about music, “I’d never, ever had the guts to do it. Maybe I just decided time was running out.”

She began her search on Craig’s List. After some false starts—other musicians were welcoming, but sometimes played in styles she couldn’t relate to, such as country, she found Matthew Doyle, who, like Pearce, plays guitar and sings. After some more fits and starts, they pulled in Doyle’s old college band mate and friend, Tommy Walsh, who added percussion and more vocals.

Now, almost four years later, they are Corduroy—“a no frills array of acoustic Indie rock …strongly influenced by the sounds of Radiohead, The Smashing Pumpkins, Nick Drake, and Elliott Smith.”

 A listen to their covers reveals a raucous rendition of “Fulsome County Prison Blues;” while their original pieces are heartfelt and melodic. A fan says they sound like “Radiohead on Spanish guitars with a female Johnny Cash singing vocals.”

They play regularly, in Salem, Lowell and Chelmsford, and they do “lots of benefits.”

What’s their secret to making music so seamlessly?

All three are social workers by day, including Pearce who, although her nursing license from Great Britain didn’t transfer, was eventually able to find work as a social worker. 

They all look forward to practices. Pearce says, we “kid each other mercilessly but love each other dearly.” Our approach is to “just go and make some fun music and see what happens.”

In March they will record six original songs. For that event, they’re inviting other musicians to join them to “flesh out their sound.” They’ve already lined up Swampscott resident Caoimhe Ni Mhaoileoin, who hails from Ireland and is an accomplished tin whistle player, as well as another fiddle player. 

Pearce says, “If you want to come and play” just get in touch with her. There’s “no pressure,” they just want to see how big they can make their sound for the upcoming CD they plan to press from the session.

 You can hear a sampling of their original music on their MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/theworriedwell Due to copyright, to hear them play their covers, you’ll have to go on March 4 to the Claddaugh Pub, 333 Canal Street, Lowell