Award-winning Americana singer-songwriter Kevin Pakulis is a shining light in the Tucson music scene. His tight, edgy, guitar-driven compositions, delivered with plenty of raw energy, received national and international attention with the release of his debut album Yeah Yeah Yeah in 2004. No Depression Magazine put it most succinctly in their review: “His music represents the best of a genre.” Kevin's songwriting ranges from introspective and reflective to satirical and political, from rocking blues anthems to quiet acoustic pieces. Whatever the message or the sound, the constant is the soulful honesty of the art. Anyone who has ever been to Tucson in the summer cannot help but sing along when they hear the lines from the chorus of the title track to Yeah Yeah Yeah: “It's hot here, hot as hell here, swamp cooler and a cold beer,” a bluesy haiku on the Southwestern summer.
Following the success of Yeah Yeah Yeah Kevin went back into the studio with his band: bassist Larry Lee Lerma, drummer Ralph Gilmore, and keyboard-player Duncan Stitt. The result was the release of his long-awaited second album Mockingbird Radio in late 2007 on the San Jacinto Records label. Chris Hansen Orf of the Phoenix Arizona Tribune captured the feel of the album in his review: “Brilliant new disc...” veering from “...bluesy-Mark Knopfler- and Stevie Ray Vaughan-esque guitar workouts to acoustic folk to Tejano-influenced country to Springsteen-styled rock, with Pakulis peeling off a smattering of tasty hooks, riffs, and solos...”
In a nod to his folk roots, in 2008 Kevin Pakulis released his first acoustic CD with Larry Lee Lerma as co-producer. Larry Lee Lerma is an accomplished, nationally-recognized musician. He is the bass player for The Blues Brothers Band with Jim Belushi and Dan Akroyd. Larry Lee's expert melodic bass style provides an intricate rounding of Kevin's guitar and vocals. The self-titled Kevin Pakulis and Larry Lee Lerma continues exploring loss, love and irony with nine new original songs that twist and turn, taking the listener to unexpected places. The duo debuted the songs at the May 2008 Tucson Folk Festival, opening for headliners Marley's Ghost and Ruthie Foster.
Kevin and the band play regularly around Tucson, at venues ranging from large concert theaters like the Fox Tucson Theatre and The Rialto Theatre, to select clubs like Plush, Club Congress, and the Nimbus Brewing Co. One of their favorite venues is The Boondocks Lounge, where Kevin and the band are frequent Saturday night performers (sometimes followed by a Sunday night acoustic set with Kevin and Larry Lee). Kevin also gives his time to support the community, headlining a benefit for KXCI 91.3FM at The Rialto Theatre in Tucson in 2008, and another for the Casa Maria Soup Kitchen at Plush just before Thanksgiving 2009. In support of an effort to gain protected lands for jaguars in America, he wrote and recorded the song Jaguar Blues for the Sky Island Alliance which was published in Art in Wilderness: Tumacacori Highlands.
Along with the critical acclaim for his albums, Kevin has earned several other accolades. He won the 2004 Tucson Folk Festival Songwriting Competition, and made the finals at the 2004 Mountain Stage New Song Festival, finishing in the top ten. Kevin Pakulis was the “Most Played Artist” in 2007 on AAA and Americana reporting radio station KXCI 91.3FM in Tucson, Arizona. Kevin and the band have opened for numerous major acts including Willie Nelson, Leon Russell, Dwight Yoakam, Sonny Landreth, John Gorka, Little Feat, and Merle Haggard. Kevin has also achieved recognition as the leader of Rancho Deluxe, a much sought-after band in the Tucson resort scene, playing everything from roots country to blues rock.
Kevin is currently living in Casas Adobes, just north of Tucson, observing and writing. His 4th album, Shadesville, was released in September 2010.