Paul Woodrow Chrisman (born August 23, 1949), better known by his stage name Woody Paul, is an American singer, fiddler, and composer, best known for his work with the

Western swing Western swing music is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the West and South among the region's Western string bands. It is dance music, often with an up-tempo beat, which attracted huge crowds to dance ...

musical and comedy group Riders in the Sky. With the Riders, he is billed as "Woody Paul — King of the Cowboy Fiddlers". He was inducted into the National Fiddler Hall of FameWoody Paul
at the National Fiddler Hall of Fame; retrieved December 20, 2020 in 2012 and is "known in the music industry for being proficient and innovative across many musical genres including western, jazz, bluegrass, old-time, and Celtic." He has won two

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

with his band.

Biography

Early life

Chrisman began playing fiddle when he was 11 years old. He played with Sam McGee and others regularly at the

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a weekly American country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM. Currently owned and operated by Opry Entertainment (a divi ...

in the mid-sixties. He is also extremely adept at lariat tricks. He attended

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

, and has a Ph.D. in theoretical plasma physics from

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

, where he wrote his thesis, "Inertial, Viscous, and Finite-Beta Effects in a Resistive, Time Dependent Tokamak Discharge", Thesis Nuc. Eng. 1976, PhD, supervised by James E. McCune. He returned to Nashville and began playing recording sessions and recorded and toured with

Loggins & Messina Loggins and Messina was an American rock-pop duo consisting of Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina, who achieved their success in the early to mid-1970s. Among their well-known songs are " Danny's Song", " House at Pooh Corner", and "Your Mama Don' ...

.Cusic, Don. (2003). "It's the Cowboy Way". Lexington, KY. University Press of Kentucky Press. .Inertial, Viscous, and Finite-Beta Effects in a Resistive, Time Dependent Tokamak Discharge, Thesis Nuc. Eng 1976 PhD, Paul Chrisman, MIT, Supervised by James E. McCune

Riders In The Sky

In 1978, Chrisman approached the Riders (then consisting of just

Douglas B. Green Douglas Bruce Green (born March 20, 1946), better known by his stage name Ranger Doug, is an American musician, arranger, award-winning Western music songwriter, and Grand Ole Opry member best known for his work with Western music and the grou ...

and

Fred LaBour Frederick Owen LaBour (born June 3, 1948 in Grand Rapids, Michigan), better known by his stage name Too Slim, is a Grammy award-winning American musician, best known for his work with the Western swing musical and comedy group Riders in the Sk ...

) backstage after a show and inquired about joining the group. Shortly before Chrisman approached the Riders, Williams "Bill" Collins had just left the group, so Green and LaBour were already looking for a replacement member, and Chrisman seemed like the perfect fit. Chrisman's first show with the Riders was at the 1978

Kentucky State Fair The Kentucky State Fair is the official state fair of Kentucky which takes place at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville. More than 600,000 fairgoers fill the of indoor and outdoor exhibits; activities include sampling a wide variety of f ...

. As of 2021, Chrisman is still with the Riders.

Songwriting

Prior to joining the Riders, Chrisman had already written "Blue Bonnet Lady" and "Cowboy Song" (both of which would be featured on the Riders' first album, ''

Three on the Trail ''Three on the Trail'' is the debut studio album by the Western music (North America), Western band Riders in the Sky (band), Riders in the Sky, released in 1979 by Rounder Records Group. Riders in the Sky specializes in Western singing in the s ...

''). Chrisman also wrote "So Long, Saddle Pals", what many would consider the Riders' equivalent of " Happy Trails".

Notable filmography

Television

Film

References

External links

Riders in the Sky website
American country fiddlers Living people 1949 births {{US-country-musician-stub