At a time when bluegrass and classic country elements are often appropriated by hipster indie bands, Doug Paisley is a refreshing change-of-pace. The Toronto native is the real deal, a singer-songwriter who has steeped himself in roots music history, recording contemporary songs that could have been penned 50 years ago in Nashville. Case in point is “We Weather,” the tune he played at his FJ session that was originally found on his self-titled 2009 album.
As unlikely as it sounds, Paisley started out playing rhythm guitar in a reggae band (Toronto is home to a popular reggae scene). “I think I probably got into bluegrass through Old & In the Way,” he says. “I think I liked the technical demands of bluegrass. It’s very precise. I like the woodshedding; you have to work on your harmony singing. Aside from just being moved by Manzanita by Tony Rice and Whiskey Before Breakfast by Norman Blake, I really just wanted to play the music.”
“I’ve always stuck with Tony Rice,” he adds. “I never tried to emulate him, but I definitely listen to him a ton. He’s a real inspiration for the straight up bluegrass but also for where he goes beyond that with folk, and the songs. The funny thing, I used to walk by Gordon Lightfoot’s house on the way to school. Yet I never listened to him. And suddenly I knew all of his songs through Tony Rice.”
Up in Canada, Paisley continues to tour as a solo act. He’s also a member of a forward-thinking Stanley Brothers tribute band, where he and partner replace the acoustic guitar-and-banjo lineup for a Telecaster and a Wurlizter. As if that wasn’t enough, he often sits in with a traditional country band. “I just love playing in country bands where people are half listening and then, if they really like it, they’ll tune it,” Paisley says. “I still do a lot of that. I’ll go somewhere in Toronto and just play a bunch of George Jones and Lefty Frisell and music like that. I still love the challenge I get from that.”
Paisley is left-handed and plays a 1954 Martin D-28 that, at some point early in its life, was converted to a lefty. “I bought it from the family of the late owner who played it a ton. The acoustic guitar world is small, and then there’s this microcosm in it that’s the lefty acoustic guitar world,” Paisley says with a laugh. He found the Martin via the LeftyFretz forum and, sensing its rarity, jumped on it. “If you see a lefty you’re interested in, you have to go for it.”