Paul Metsers (born 27 November 1945)[1] is a Dutch-born New Zealand-British folk songwriter and solo performer who toured the UK folk clubs extensively in the 1980s, before effectively retiring in 1989. He released five albums of his own songs over that period; one of his most widely known songs is "Farewell to the Gold" which was also popularised by Nic Jones. "Farewell to the Gold" was recorded by Peter Case on his 2021 release, The Midnight Broadcast.[2]

Paul Metsers
Metsers at the 1981 Norwich Folk Festival, England
Background information
Birth namePaul Theodore Metsers
Born (1945-11-27) 27 November 1945 (age 78)
Noordwijk, Netherlands
GenresFolk
Occupation(s)Singer, songwriter, guitarist
Instrument(s)guitar, appalachian dulcimer, mandocello
Years activeca.1970-1989, 2010-present
Websitehttp://www.paulmetsers.com/

Biography

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Allan Taylor (L) and Paul Metsers (R), Norwich Festival 1981
 
Metsers sings and plays his dulcimer on stage at the 1982 Trowbridge Village Pump Festival

Paul Metsers was born in Noordwijk, Netherlands.[1] His family emigrated to New Zealand in 1952 and there he bought his first guitar and started writing songs, performing them locally until he decided to move to United Kingdom in 1980 and try to establish a reputation on the UK folk club scene.[1] He did successfully over the next several years, assisted by the popularity of one song in particular, "Farewell to the Gold" which as well as being performed by its writer was sung widely by the well known performer Nic Jones and included on the latter's 1980 album Penguin Eggs. Colin Irwin, music writer for Melody Maker, has described Metsers as "a songwriter of genuine depth and versatility".[3] Metsers released one album A Song For You on cassette in New Zealand followed by five in the UK on the Highway and Sagem labels, after which he decided to retire from professional performing in 1989. The Paul Metsers Songbook, published in 1986, contained many of the songs from his first four albums, plus one that would appear on Fifth Quarter.

He currently lives in Cumbria in the English Lake District. Since 2010, he has been performing again on a limited basis,[4] and has a collection of new songs for eventual planned album release.[citation needed]

Discography

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 1679. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
  2. ^ Newcomb, Brian Q. "Peter Case: The Midnight Broadcast [Album Review]". Thefirenote.com. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  3. ^ "Queens Park Arts Centre and Limelight Theatre: Paul Metsers". Qpc.org. Retrieved 2020-05-20.
  4. ^ "Paul Metsers News". Paulmetsers.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2020-05-20.