Paying their dues on the club circuit for many years, the Swedish band BLACK PAISLEY are ready to take the biggest and most important step of their career.
  So, here we go. Welcome to the world of BLACK PAISLEY.

  Welcome to ”Late Bloomer”, the debut album loaded with guitar driven, hook laden, catchy and classic melodic rock.

  Earning the chops since starting out in 1998, BLACK PAISLEY today stands shoulder to shoulder with their peers in melodic rock and AOR. Now they’re breathing down the neck of the giants in the business.

  It’s a big step for BLACK PAISLEY.
  It’s a giant leap for a genre that combines heavy guitars and power with subtle keyboards, songwriting skills, a unique sense for melodies and choruses, harmony vocals and hooks that sticks like fly paper/velcro.

  Now, listen for yourself.
  Don’t blame me when your hooked on BLACK PAISLEY.
  Because this band has that effect: once you hear them out they get to you in the most delicate and seductive way.

  I know, ’cause I’ve been around in the business as a rock journalist for a very long time and BLACK PAISLEY is one of the most interesting bands I ever had the pleasure to encounter.
THE BAND IS firmly rooted in a tradition of both hard rock, blues rock and AOR/Melodic Rock: one can hear traces of Led Zeppelin, Kansas and Lynyrd Skynyrd, but also classic bands like Scorpions, Triumph and AC/DC. Add to that a healthy portion of Whitesnake and Journey.

  Listening to ”Late Bloomer” I also hear a band that don’t shy away from contemporary country rock, like the young mavericks in Nashville cut it.
  But first and foremost BLACK PAISLEY manages to find their own ground: the album has that personal touch, that twitch and songs that most certainly are their own, both emotionally and musically.
  ”I write my songs on guitar. I have an idea of the final result but working with the band, I see the songs going in all kind of directions. I love the dynamic we have in the band”, says STEFAN BLOMQVIST, songwriter, lead singer and lead guitar player in BLACK PAISLEY.
 
Lyrically, BLOMQVIST already got a lot of praise as both a wordsmith and the ability to put his heart in the songs. Says BLOMQVIST:
”I want the lyrics to be more than just words, and, of course, there’s a lot of me in them. But I know that many can relate to them. All of us in the band have families and professional careers, and what I think and feel now is so different to when I was in my late teens or early twenties ”.
  But one thing remained. Nothing that being a husband, loving father and working hard at their professional career, could change.
  The rock’n’roll dream.

  And here we are with ”Late Bloomer”, the result of pursuing a dream, writing more than a thousand songs and just waiting for the right moment.

BLACK PAISLEY STARTED out as the cover band StephMetal, formed in 1998, and comprising STEFAN BLOMQVIST, bass player JAN EMANUELSSON, drummer ROBERT KARASZI and guitarist BIRGER LUNDGREN. The band played gigged frequently in Sweden, U.K., France, The Netherlands and Norway, 2009 keyboard player ROBERT WIRENSJÖ, a seasoned musician who played with renowned singer MIKAEL RICKFORS and ANDREAS JOHNSON.

  ”The dream of making an album with our own songs had often been discussed during the time of StephMetal”, says BLOMQVIST. ”For years I’ve written material tested both live and in the rehearsal room”.
  As an avid guitar collector, BLOMQVIST named the band BLACK PAISLEY after Richie Sambora’s Fender signature guitar, and in the autumn 2014 the band started the process, recording in Sundsvall with producer JOHAN DEREBORN (Gaston, E-Type, Takida). During those sessions guitarist and songwriter ULF HEDIN joined the ranks and quickly became a kind of musical engine in the BLACK PAISLEY project.
  Springtime 2015 BLACK PAISLEY recorded more songs in a studio in the south of Stockholm city, used by Rammstein to name but a few.

  In the autumn of 2015 producer MATS LINDFORS (Talisman, Norum, Candlemass) started leading the project, both recording, mixing and producing together with ROBERT WIRENSJÖ. The album was finsihed in famous Soundtrade Studios and mastered in Cutting Room.

THAT’S THE WRITTEN story on BLACK PAISLEY.
  The real story is the songs. They may be late bloomers, but, as you know, it’s never too late to make a dream come true.

  Rock’n’roll is not an age thing. It’s passion, determination, musical skills, a knack for melodies and a statement: ”Well, fuck it, now it’s our turn!”
 That’s BLACK PAISLEY for ya’ all.

  
The songs are released on Black Paisley’s own label.

This is Black Paisley:

Stefan Blomqvist
Lead vocals and lead guitar

Ulf Hedin
Solo guitar and backing vocals

Jan Emanuelsson
Bass

Robert Wirensjö
Keyboard, piano and backing vocals

Robert Karaszi
Drums and percussion

 
IT’S BEEN A long time coming.
By Stefan Johansson