Caught in the Carousel

Chase Pagan

By Alex Green

Chase Pagan

In The Philosophical Transactions Of The Royal Society, Daines Barrington wrote of a young Mozart: "His astonishing readiness...did not arise merely from great practice; he had a thorough knowledge of the fundamental principles of composition, as, upon producing a treble, he immediately wrote a base under it, which, when tried, had very good effect. He was also a great master of modulation, and his transactions from one key to another were excessively natural and judicious..."

Although Barrington was discussing what amounted to a rather thorough shock at witnessing the eight year old prodigy ("His execution was amazing."), if he were an aficionado of pop music and he stumbled upon Chase Pagan, it's hard not to think that his admiration would strike similar adorational tones.

Chase Pagan

That we've stumbled into Mr. Pagan at all is a stroke of good fortune; the universe quivers this way and that and sometimes you get completely screwed, while other times you get a handful of aces. Chase Pagan is the handful of aces in this instance, a singer/songwriter from Mountain Home, Arkansas who comes and goes in the course of a composition with a top hat and cane elegance, an almost mischievous pop mastery and a staggering sense of control. Armed with a voice that has both the expression of Rufus Wainwright and the prancing bravura of Freddie Mercury, Pagan knows exactly how to lean in on a melodic curve, muscle up a chorus with barroom bravado and boldly position himself over a single note. He is divinely melodious, his vocal and musical ingenuity a thing of true and stunning beauty.

The follow up to his 2006 debut, Bells & Whistles is a collection of tremendous variety. Sung from an abandoned father's perspective, "The Lonely Life" with its moving refrain of "I hope you've had a wonderful life" is deeply affecting; a theatrical stomp, "Life Garden" cautions "Nobody ever figures out how to live until they get too old" and the almost Vaudevillian romp "John And Betty" borrows a piano line from "Ob-La-Di-Ob-La-Da" to tell of a marriage between a john and a prostitute, the happy result of their nuptials, she reminds him, that he'll no longer have to pay for sex. Elsewhere, "Don't Be Gay" is a banjo-flecked meditation on sexual identity in the face of pre-determined gender-based toys; "Just Fine" pounds away with ramshackle abandon and "Summer Comes" laments, "summer left me nowhere but in the cold"

They call him the Arkansas Songbird, we call him The Senator Of Song. This is Chase Pagan.

Chase Pagan

FULL NAME: Chase Pagan

NICKNAME: "The Arkansas Songbird"

HOMETOWN: Mountain Home, Arkansas

WEBSITE: www.myspace.com/chasepagan

RECORD LABEL: Esperanza Plantation

DESCRIBE YOUR SOUND IN ONE SENTENCE: Piano, jumble, guitar, scattered, voices, drums, mess, banjo, bells & whistles, stories

PROUDEST PROFESSIONAL MOMENT: Making music that I enjoy.

STRANGEST PROFESSIONAL MOMENT: Winning "American Idol"

THE SONG YOU WISH YOU'D WRITTEN: So many.how about "Imagine" by John Lennon.

FIVE MUSICIANS YOU ADMIRE: All the Beatles as one. Rufus Wainwright, Jeff Buckley, Nellie McKay, Björk.

ALBUM YOU CAN'T STOP LISTENING TO: Delta Spirit--Ode To Sunshine

DESCRIBE YOURSELF AS A KID: I didn't really know myself as a kid, but I would say I was probably a lot of fun to hang out with.

THREE THINGS THAT KEEP YOU UP AT NIGHT: I do have sleeping problems: Caffeine, music and the idea of having to sleep.

LAST TWO BOOKS YOU'VE READ: I just started Henry Miller's Tropic of Capricorn. It's unfortunate, but I have just been listening to podcasts lately.

THINGS WE'D FIND IN THE TRUNK OF YOUR CAR: Paper, and things you could mistake for trash but not sure if you should throw them away.

HARDEST PART ABOUT BEING A MUSICIAN: Pleasing yourself and other people at the same time.

FAVORITE LATE NIGHT TV SHOW: "House Hunters"

IDEAL BREAKFAST: Coffee

DRINK OF CHOICE: Coffee

BEST ALBUM TO PLAY AFTER A BREAK-UP AND YOU'RE HOLDING A BOTTLE OF VODKA AND SOMETHING SHARP: Well, would I find myself with Vodka and something sharp? No. Album to listen to after breaking up: Ryan Adams—Love is Hell.

INDULGENCE YOU REFUSE TO GIVE UP: Again, it would be coffee.

WORDS TO LIVE BY: Don't live by words.

Internet: www.myspace.com/chasepagan

Bells & Whistles is out now on Esperanza Plantation