Paul Speer (born 1952 in Lewiston,

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

) is a

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

nominated

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

, and

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

. He has released several solo albums,

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

albums, and collaborations with other artists such as pianist David Lanz, drummer

Scott Rockenfield Scott Rockenfield (born June 15, 1963), also known as SRock, is an American drummer and composer. He is best known as the drummer for the progressive metal band Queensrÿche, which he co-founded in 1982, and the hard rock band Slave to the Syste ...

Queensrÿche Queensrÿche () is an American progressive metal band. It formed in 1982 in Bellevue, Washington, out of the local band the Mob. The band has released 16 studio albums, one Extended play, EP, and several DVDs, and continues to tour and record ...

, Paul Lawler, and vocalist Satine Orient.

Early years

Paul Speer took up guitar at the age of nine and played his first paid gig at age twelve in a trio with brothers Neal and Gary. In 1969, the expanded group now known as the Stone Garden, recorded the single "Oceans Inside Me" and pressed 300 copies, a rare collector item today. Speer 0076s

Speer attended music school at the

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho, United States. Established in 1889 and opened three years later, it was the state's sole university for 71 years, until 1963. The un ...

in Moscow before moving to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

to play in nightclub bands. In the mid 1970s, he took up residence in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

where his interest expanded into audio production and engineering. Speer returned to Seattle in the late 1970s and began producing records in local recording studios and in his own studio.

Career highlights

Catero Records ( Fred Catero) of

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

signed Speer and released his first solo album ''Collection 983: Spectral Voyages'' in 1984. That was followed by two very successful music and video collaborations with David Lanz and director Jan Nickman, for the films ''Natural States'' (1985) and ''Desert Vision'' (1987). Speer and Scott Rockenfield, drummer for the metal band Queensrÿche, teamed in 1997 to create another music and video work, the Grammy nominated ''TeleVoid''. They also recorded ''Hells Canyon'' in 2000, a progressive rock opus inspired by places and events in the spectacular

Hells Canyon Hells Canyon is a canyon in the Western United States, along the border of eastern Oregon, western Idaho, and a small section of eastern Washington. It is part of the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area which is also located in part of ...

region of Idaho. ''Oculus'', a music and video album inspired by places in Italy, was released by Speer's imprint label Rainstorm Records in 2008. In 2009, he collaborated with British musician Paul Lawler and French vocalist Satine Orient on the album ''Wonders''. In addition to his own productions, Paul Speer has been a prolific record producer with more than 250 albums to his credit.

Discography

Solo *''Collection 983: Spectral Voyages'' - 1984 - Catero Records (re-released on Rainstorm Records 2000) *''Collection 991: Music+Art'' - 1992 - Miramar Recordings *''Quiet Thoughts'' - 1998 - Rainstorm Records *''Oculus'' - 2008 - Rainstorm Records *''Ax Inferno'' - 2013 - Rainstorm Records *''Sonoran Odyssey'' - 2020 - Rainstorm Records *''Adventures in Space'' - 2024 - Rainstorm Records Collaborations *Stone Garden (band member) - "Oceans Inside Me" single - 1969 - Angelus Bell Records *''Natural States'' (with David Lanz) - 1985 - Narada/EMI Record

*''Desert Vision'' (with David Lanz) - 1987 - Narada/EMI Records *''Shades of Shadow'' (with Leroy Quintana) - 1990 - Miramar Recordings *''Bridge of Dreams'' (with David Lanz) - 1993 - Narada/EMI Record

*''TeleVoid'' (with Scott Rockenfield) - 1997 - Miramar Recordings *Stone Garden (band member) - 1998 (full album of music recorded 1965–1972) - Rockadelic Records *''Hells Canyon'' (with Scott Rockenfield) - 2000 - Rainstorm Records *''Wonders'' (with Paul Lawler and Satine Orient) - 2009 - Rainstorm Records

References

* Paul Speer Interview https://mwe3.com/reviews/PaulSpeer2013/ * Review https://bluewolf-reviews.com/music/electronica/sonoran-odyssey/ *Magazine - ''New Age and New Sounds'', September 2008, vol 188, pgs 86-88, www.agendo.it, Italy *Magazine - '' Shindig! magazine, Shindig'', January–February 2009, Vol 2, no 8, pgs 28-29, UK

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Speer, Paul 1952 births Living people People from Lewiston, Idaho New-age guitarists Guitarists from Idaho 20th-century American guitarists