About Schnell & Paris

In 2017, Morgantown, West Virginia guitarist and singer Terry Schnell was getting a little tired of playing solo gigs – just him, his 6- and 12-string acoustic guitars, and a handful of harmonicas. He missed his college days playing coffeehouse shows with his roommate, relishing the interplay among multiple instruments and voices. Hoping to find a band to join or perhaps another guitarist to add texture to his music, he was scanning a musicians’ networking site when he saw a profile for a local keyboard player named Steve Paris. Paris looked like a versatile and seasoned pro, and when a Facebook search disclosed that they both had day jobs at the same company, Terry decided to contact Steve. Their subsequent jam session left no doubt that they needed to play together.

A recurring comment from audience members goes something like this: “You guys sound like more than two people.” Much of that full sound can be attributed to Steve’s high vocal harmonies and artful playing, his left hand laying a solid bass foundation while the right provides the perfect fills and chords to complement Terry’s guitar and voice. Some of it comes from Terry’s exploitation of the acoustic guitar’s percussive characteristics to fill in for a drummer and his melodic harmonica solos over the guitar and piano accompaniment. The rest comes from the duo’s musical sensibilities and sensitivity to what each member is doing with phrasing, dynamics, and rhythm.

The combined effect is especially evident in their cover of McCartney’s “Blackbird,” where Steve overlays an intricate piano part on the iconic guitar progression; in Andrew Combs’s “Emily,” in which Terry and Steve provide energetic harmonica and piano solos over a rocking 16-bar blues; and in the interweaving of guitar arpeggios and piano in Terry’s own “When You Come Home.”

Oh yes -- the original songs. In addition to “When You Come Home” (about working to keep love alive), there are songs like “Me Without You,” a melancholy meditation on loneliness; “Doc Played The Quiet Knight,” about a life-changing Doc Watson concert; “Maybe There’s A Way,” a mandolin-driven rocker suggesting an alternative to current social interactions; and others, all delivered with an emphasis on musicality that produces a whole greater than the sum of its parts.