Paleface is something of a legend to a lot of singer/songwriters. Initially discovered by Danny Fields within the New York anti-folk circuit, he's a personal friend of Daniel Johnston and let Beck sleep on his couch. He inspired musicians at the infamous Lach's Antihoot including The Moldy Peaches, Regina Spektor, and Langhorne Slim, as well as local acts Grropolis and Chance Jones. He's put out more than a dozen records, toured with Billy Bragg, and currently travels across the country playing music with his girlfriend/drummer Monica "Mo" Samalot.

"A lot of clowns think that they wanna be rock stars and live the high life," Paleface muses, when asked about his touring life. "When that doesn't happen in five seconds, they end up bagging groceries. Well, I guess they were in it for the wrong reasons. If they really like what they were doing, they would still be playing music and not caving to some pressures from family, friends, girlfriends or whatever."

PF, his shorter moniker, said he never cared about what anyone thought of his lifestyle, eventually finding a kindred spirit in Mo. PF does the driving and writes the songs, Mo books the shows and handles the business end of things.

PF describes the circle of musicians influencing musicians as a family tree:

"I met Daniel [Johnston] and he influenced me, then Beck met me and was influenced by what I was doing, then someone like Adam Green was influenced by Beck and I ended up being friends with the Moldy Peaches," he said. "You can trace all these things and sometimes they turn back on themselves or branch out in different directions."

In January, PF and Mo recorded One Big Party, their newest record. Slated for release in mid-October, PF says it's a more polished record than previous release, The Show is on the Road.

The title track was written about a woman with a broken arm drinking malt liquor midday who PF met by chance at a laundromat, who told him about her violent "crack-head boyfriend."

"I could kind of relate to her because alcohol took its toll on me and I ended up in unhappy situations and couldn't really see it or find my way out until the alcohol was removed from the equation," he said.

The tone of the subject matter aside, PF said most of the tracks are somewhat upbeat in sound.

‘We like that atmosphere when we are playing live — the more carnival-like and crazy the better for us," he said. "There is definitely a double-meaning. The title seemed to fit."

Photo: Cheater Slicks