Paul Kopasz, a.k.a. Paul K, the Detroit native and Kentucky-based songwriter/guitarist best known as the frontman of Paul K & the Weatherman, passed away this week from throat cancer at his home in Lexington.
Once called “the greatest unknown songwriter of his generation” by Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune, Paul made over one hundred records and wrote upwards of three thousand original songs between 1983 and 2019, both solo and with Paul K & the Weathermen.
His steady output of handmade cassettes in the ’80s and ’90s led to deals with labels like Silenz, Homestead, Fiasco, and Thirsty Ear. He also made three albums for Alias Records, including 1997’s Love Is a Gas (produced by The Velvet Underground’s Mo Tucker) and the 1998 rock opera A Wilderness of Mirrors.
In the 2000s, Paul went DIY and self-released several dozen albums on Farnsley Recordings and Beacon Hill Recordings. Even during six months of cancer treatment, he produced three career-spanning, double-CD anthologies—his very own recorded epitaph. Two of these releases are now available on Bandcamp.
