KING PARIS W. PETUNIA & THE VIPERS @ DON THE BEACHCOMBER 1/23
King Paris and his “Hip-notic” dancers and guitar are all set for two shows in Hawaii, specifically (Mick) Fleetwood’s in Lahaina, Maui. This will occur Thursday and Friday, May 29 & 30 at 8 PM. Appearing with King will be the rarely seen “Chandu, the Genie Giant” on drums!
King then will do one show at Don the Beachcomber (a fantastic Tiki nightclub) in Huntington Beach, CA on Friday, June 6. Don’t miss it!
King Paris & the Hip-notics performed for John Paul De Joria, president of Paul Mitchell Hair in Austin, TX.
Pictured L-R are King, Nathalie, John Paul, Krysta.
Photo credit: Tony Novak-Clifford
Ready to leave behind your everyday world? Fancy a magic-carpet ride to a land of mystery and intrigue, where belly dancers undulate and sari-clad beauties sway to the cliché-free, can’t-get-it-out-of-my-head sounds of a guitar-slinging swami? Yeah? Well, then, we’ve got a place for you: kingparis.com.
King Paris’ electric sitar and guitar playing is nothing short of brilliant, his sub-continent-tinged slide figures fresh and sublime. As his homepage rightly asks and explains, “Who before has ever fused the influences of Ravi Shankar’s sitar with Johnny Cash, Martin Denny’s Island romance with Nat King Cole, Ustad Ali Khan’s Indian sarod with Screaming Jay Hawkins, or Olatunji’s African drums with the Rolling Stones? What musician has ever forged his craft listening to as diverse artists as Alvino Rey, George Harrison, Elmore James, Mohan Bhatt, Les Paul, and Muddy Waters?
“King Paris combines musical elements of American Rock and Roll, World Beat, Exotica, Bhangra, House, and Slide Blues Guitar into a uniquely Universal and original style that is all his own, and dazzles with the newest, boldest, most exciting concert show to emerge from the imagination in centuries. His ‘west-meets-east’ entourage also includes exotic Bollywood and Belly dancers backed by the pulsating rhythms of his astonishing, internationally-flavored band, ‘The Hip-notics.’” In other worlds, under another name, the King, a.k.a. Rick Vito, has graced the recordings and performances of Fleetwood Mac, Bob Seger, John Mayall, Little Richard, and many others. We give his King Paris project the Pure Guitar double thumbs up and hope record companies take notice.
A King Paris show is not just a concert; it’s an experience – a magical ride across fields of enticing sounds and alluring visions.
The King meshes flavors of House and Punjabi/Bhangra music with bluesy slide-guitar riffs to create an enthralling west-meets-east sound that is uniquely his own.
Backed by Bollywood-style belly dancers, the King lays rockabilly jams over his band’s exotic rhythms. Flooded in colors of a foreign bazaar, the mood created by the visuals and the music fills the air like sweet smoke from a gypsy’s lamp.
Don’t get me wrong. A King Paris show is not just smoke and mirrors. The pulsating sound is moving and the vibe is enchanting; more importantly, the musicality is top-notch, Grammy-nominated fare. The variety of guitars alone is enough to impress even the most discriminating of music aficionados.
Maui Zan highly recommends that you take the magical journey that is a King Paris concert. You will be pleased.
Suzanne Kayian
After his stunning performance at Deke Dickerson’s Guitar Fest in Anaheim CA, two major guitar enthusiast magazines published a photo of King Paris, the Hip-notics, and lovely dancer, Nathalie, in their April, 2012 issues. “Guitar Player” actually ran a two-page spread of the photo! Look for more press coverage of King soon.
“King Paris hypnotizes you into remembering what all great guitarists have led you to dream of!”
Cindy Paulos, KAOI Radio Maui, HI
“KING PARIS can open your eyes/take you wonder by wonder/over, sideways and under, on a magical ride…”
MauiEvents.com
The following is a quote from a new fan who attended King Paris’ show at the Deke Dickerson Guitar Fest:
“I went to sleep that night, after the most incredible evening (actually, it was more like 5 am) and had vivid, exotic dreams… I dreamed I was the mysterious and amazing King Paris, accompanied by a bassist wearing a fez, and several beautiful belly dancing ladies. . .
upon waking, I wanted to be in that beautiful cloud, If I couldn’t really be King Paris I could at least be on the stage, a band member who gets to wear the fez sometimes. I want to live there!”
FROM MOTORBREAD.BLOGSPOT.COM
King Paris… What can I say? You kind have to see him to understand or really hear his music to understand. I was first exposed to King Paris very recently. I have been an acquaintance of Will Ray of The Hellecasters for many years and recently I was searching Youtube for some Hellecasters’ videos because the guys in that band are amazing guitar players. At any rate, I found some videos of them performing at Deke Dickerson’s Guitar Geek Festival. While watching one of these videos youtube suggested another video from the same show and it was King Paris. I was hooked. I took in everything from the belly dancers onstage to his outfit to his amazing slide guitar work and even his bass player with the eye patch. He was simply fantastic.
Since I became enamoured with King Paris from watching the live videos I searched for me and found one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard done with a guitar and it is his version of “Ave Maria”
King Paris and company will perform at the premier tiki culture event, “Tiki Oasis” in San Diego, CA on Friday August 17, 2012. Backing King will be the amazing Martini Kings and the fabulous King Paris dancers. The event will be held at the Crown Plaza Hotel San Diego on August 16-19.
Go to www.tikioasis.com for tickets and more information.
