Woody Paul is the fiddler and a lead singer in Riders in the Sky, the Western music group he joined in August 1978. The band bills him as the King of the Cowboy Fiddlers. Riders in the Sky has played more than 7,200 shows, held Grand Ole Opry membership since 1982, and won two Grammy Awards. Paul entered the National Fiddler Hall of Fame in 2012. He also holds a doctorate in plasma physics from MIT.
Why Paul matters
Paul kept the old Nashville fiddle sound alive inside a comedy cowboy act that reached millions of kids and parents who never heard of Howdy Forrester. He learned tunes backstage at the Opry from Roy Acuff and Forrester, then carried that repertoire onto network television, public radio, and two Pixar soundtracks. His career shows that Opry fiddling, Western swing, and bluegrass share one bow arm.
Life and career
Paul Woodrow Chrisman was born on August 23, 1949, in Nashville, Tennessee. He started fiddle at about age 11 so he could play duets with his father, who played banjo, the way Paul Warren and Earl Scruggs did on television. As a teenager he lived near Sam and Kirk McGee and rode with them to the Grand Ole Opry. Backstage, Roy Acuff and Howdy Forrester taught him tunes. When he finished high school in 1967, Acuff gave him a fiddle and signed the back of it. He plays it to this day.
He earned a physics degree at Vanderbilt University, then a Ph.D. in theoretical plasma physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1976. Music never stopped. In 1975 he won the junior division at a fiddle contest in Smithville, Tennessee, and faced senior champion Frazier Moss in a playoff. Blaine Dunlap filmed it for Showdown at the Hoedown, the first folklore documentary PBS broadcast across the country.
Paul returned to Nashville in 1976. He toured with Loggins and Messina and then with Wilma Lee Cooper and the Clinch Mountain Clan. Ranger Doug Green and Too Slim LaBour had played their first show as Riders in the Sky on November 11, 1977, and had lost their third member. Paul told them “you need me.” He joined in August 1978, and the trio played the Kentucky State Fair that year. Rounder released their first album, Three on the Trail, in 1980.
The Grand Ole Opry made Riders in the Sky members on June 19, 1982, after 26 guest appearances. The band had a CBS Saturday morning show, then Tumbleweed Theater on The Nashville Network, then Riders Radio Theater on public radio from 1988 to 1995. Accordion player Joey Miskulin became an official member in 1999. Disney’s Woody’s Roundup, from Toy Story 2, won the Grammy for Best Musical Album for Children in 2001, and Monsters, Inc. Scream Factory Favorites won the same award in 2003. Paul no longer tours full time, but he performs with the band at Opry shows.
Playing style
Paul plays Opry fiddle. His breaks use the long bow strokes and full double stops of Howdy Forrester and Tommy Jackson, with the clean shuffle of Paul Warren under a vocal. He learned Forrester’s hardest show pieces as a teenager, and that gave him a habit of playing complete melodies rather than licks.
On stage he mixes styles inside one song. A Western ballad gets double stop harmony behind the singer. A hot number gets swing phrasing that traces back to Cecil Brower and Charlie Parker. He also sings lead and tenor, does rope tricks, and plays for laughs, so his fiddle parts stay short and land on the beat.
Influences and legacy
Paul names Paul Warren, Benny Martin, Howdy Forrester, Gordon Terry, Buddy Spicher, Roy Acuff, and Tommy Jackson as early influences, along with Kirk McGee, Cecil Brower, Charlie Parker, and Richard Greene. Acuff and Forrester taught him in person.
His legacy is the Riders in the Sky catalog and the songs he wrote for it, including The Arms of My Love, Blue Bonnet Lady, Cowboy Song, and So Long, Saddle Pals. The National Fiddler Hall of Fame inducted him in 2012, and the Western Music Association Hall of Fame holds the band.
Signature tunes and songs
The Arms of My Love Blue Bonnet Lady Cowboy Song So Long, Saddle Pals Big High Wire Hop West Texas Cowboy.
Essential recordings
Three on the Trail (Rounder, 1980) The Cowboy Way (MCA, 1987) Riders Radio Theater (MCA, 1988) Woody’s Roundup Featuring Riders in the Sky (Walt Disney Records, 2000) Monsters, Inc. Scream Factory Favorites (Walt Disney Records, 2002)
Awards and honors
Grand Ole Opry member, with Riders in the Sky (1982) Grammy Award, Best Musical Album for Children, with Riders in the Sky for Woody’s Roundup (2001) Grammy Award, Best Musical Album for Children, with Riders in the Sky for Monsters, Inc. Scream Factory Favorites (2003) Academy of Western Artists Western Music Group of the Year, with Riders in the Sky (2006) National Fiddler Hall of Fame (2012) Western Music Association Hall of Fame, with Riders in the Sky
Watch and listen
The 1975 Smithville playoff between Paul, then billed as Paul Chrisman, and Frazier Moss, from Showdown at the Hoedown. Watch how much melody he fits into a contest round.
The National Fiddler Hall of Fame introduction video from his 2012 induction.
What to learn from Paul
Learn a Howdy Forrester show tune the way Paul did, one full melody at a time. The technique to steal is his double stop backup behind a singer. Put on a Riders in the Sky ballad and play only the harmony line under the vocal, in long bows, without a fill. Then add one fill per verse. That restraint works in a bluegrass jam as well as in a cowboy band.
Sources
Woody Paul Chrisman, National Fiddler Hall of Fame Inductees, National Fiddler Hall of Fame History, Riders in the Sky Riders in the Sky, Grand Ole Opry Woody Paul, Wikipedia Riders in the Sky (band), Wikipedia Grammy Award for Best Musical Album for Children, Wikipedia Riders in the Sky, Three on the Trail, Discogs Riders in the Sky, Woody’s Roundup, Discogs Riders in the Sky, Monsters, Inc. Scream Factory Favorites, Discogs
Related players
See the fiddle players hub and the fiddle guide for more players. Paul learned in person from Roy Acuff and Howdy Forrester. He built his sound on Paul Warren and Tommy Jackson, and he counts Buddy Spicher among his early influences.