Paul Sanchez grew up in New Orleans,in the Irish Channel,a working class Catholic neighborhood with it's share of rough edges. Sanchez saw some neighborhood buddies get into trouble with the law.He watched other friends stay on the straight and narrow only to be derailed by unexpected tragedies.And he witnessed his widowed mother work hard to raise 11 children and send them safely out into the world.

After he successfully avoided the pitfalls that claimed others,it's no surprise that Sanchez developed the strength to suffer the slings and arrows of a rock n' roll music career.

Following a stint in the Backbeats in New Orleans (with Fred Le Blanc and Vance DeGeneres of The Daily Show on Comedy Central), Sanchez joined the burgeoning "anti-folk" scene in New York in the late-1980's.He had a deal as a solo acoustic performer with CBS records, but the deal went sour after a change in management at the label.

Retreating from the music business he worked as a production assisstant on films (his favorite remains "Miller's Crossing"). Sanchez ultimately returned to New Orleans and helped form Cowboy Mouth,the live rock powerhouse that has won over fans across the country thanks to years of constant touring.In his time away from the group,Sanchez has released five solo cds. His latest release is called The Lonesome Travelers, a band with John Thomas Griffith and Eddie Ecker (featuring a guest appearance by Rob Savoy).

Sanchez has supported himself for awhile in the music business and he thinks his good fortune might have something to do with those early lean years. "Being poor gave me a hunger," he says. "Not having the most natural gifts in the world, I had a tenacity born of wanting to survive." Perhaps it was also those days in the Irish Channel that gave Sanchez the courage to bare his soul in intimate rock and folk songs. That honesty has become the trademark of his solo career.

In contrast to the guitar-slingerpersona he assumes with the Mouth, Sanchez uses his own discs-and acoustic shows-to tackle themes that are intensely personal yet universal at the same time. His songs draw on his experiences growing up in New Orleans, struggling with the ways of the world and ultimately finding the love of his life.

Sanchez says he just likes to write about what he knows.

"I don't consider myself a writer of fiction,I think I should stick to real life, remain as true as possible. Then it's true to someone else's life."