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JIM PRESTON (Lead/backing vocals and lyrics)
 Jim’s earliest memories of anything related to music began
in a small town in New Jersey. During Jim’s elementary
school years, he remembers wanting to sing and perform at a
very young age. His mother had him enrolled in weekly piano
lessons and he could often be found dancing and singing on
top of the family pool table in their basement. “My
father purchased this old retro juke box that stood in front
of our pool table. It contained all the top 40 songs from
that era. The catalogue of songs I had access to was amazing
to say the least...everything from the Beatles to the
Partridge Family. I would dismantle a small light bulb above
the pool table that would serve as a fake microphone, and,
well,,, lets just say I had a expansive imagination. I was
so young---thank God I didn’t electrocute myself.”
As Jim’s father climbed the corporate ladder, his family
soon found themselves transferred in 1976 to a place called
Orange County, California. This is where he remained for the
majority of his life. Jim still resides their today. He went
through jr. high, high school, and college in various cities
of Orange County. It was in his early college years when Jim
met the other members of Sincerely Paul. “I had just
graduated with my A.A. in general education, and was on my
way to securing my B.A. degree in Psychology. I was also
taking voice/opera training at my 4 year university.”
Like most students, Jim worked through college, and at that
particular time, he was working as a teacher aide with (bass
player) Brian Singer’s mother. She had mentioned to Jim that
her son’s band was looking for a lead vocalist. Jim explains
it this way—“My best friend ‘Lee’ at the time heard about
the audition before I did and tried out with the S.P.
members prior to my audition. He didn’t make the cut, so I
guess his loss was my gain. I handed over a demo tape from a
song I performed live at my church. Based on that demo the
guys thought they’d give me a try.” Jim also credits his
college English professor for her influence on his writing
skills. “She was an incredible teacher…so encouraging, so
supportive. I learned so much from her. I remember I would
write these stories and poems, and she would write on my
papers that my stories made her cry (in a good way). That
professor’s marked interest in my writing helped me to carve
out a style of my own.”
After Sincerely Paul ended in 1993, Jim formed a new band
named Slide. The band drew enough attention to have one of
their songs featured on R.E.X. recording label’s compilation
CD. The song was well received, and R.E.X. offered Slide a
recording contract. However, due to the non- negotiable
terms of the contract, Jim quietly bowed out of the music
business. Soon after, he was accepted to U.S.C. graduate
school. Jim credits the past writing skills he learned from
over the years in helping him get accepted into the
University of Southern California. “I literally had to
put my entire life story in writing to be considered a
candidate for U.S.C.’s rigorous graduate program.”
Today, Jim is a practicing licensed clinical
psychotherapist. “I find it ironic how the themes I
addressed on “Grieve” followed me into my career and
professional life. The helping profession is a challenging
one, but the patients I see on a regular basis always seem
to remind me how precious life is, and how we should have
thanksgiving in our hearts for all the good things we have
in our life.”
MIKE BAKER (Drums)
 I was born in Burbank, CA right next door to Hollywood. I
have lived in Orange County (south of Los Angeles, CA) most
of my life. I grew up a preacher’s kid and went though all
the rebellious stages PKs usually go through (believe me
when I say I have seen my fair share of trouble). I loved
music and entertaining from a very early age. I can still
remember sitting on the drums at age 5 in my dads church. I
would sit there and try to copy what I saw the drummer do
during the worship service. The love for drums never left
and when I was in 5th grade I began taking drum lessons in
grade school and played in the orchestra. I went on to play
in the marching band, joined drum cores and joined as many
garage bands as I could. I also played on Sunday in the
church orchestra and choir and have played in worship bands
most of my life.
Even though I pursued a degree in music at college I never
finished. I started working with several different bands,
teaching music and doing some session work. After a long
string of unsuccessful attempts to earn a living playing
music (and deciding to earn a real living like normal
people) a mutual friend mentioned that a band he knew was
looking for a drummer. This mutual friend introduced me to
the guys in Sincerely Paul. Most of the band members thought
I was too old for the group (just like Ringo Starr and the
Beatles, but not exactly the same). After the tryout they
must have changed their mind because they let me in.
I spent the next 5 years playing with Sincerely Paul
recording, touring and acting like we knew what we were
doing. Part of that adventure was the recording of “Grieve”.
I am still very proud of this work to this day. I ended up
leaving Sincerely Paul to start a family. Other than playing
drums on the 1994 release of the “SLIDE” track with Jim
Preston I have really only played guitar and drums for
church worship services. The only exception to that was a 2
year stint with some great old jazz and blues musicians –
which I enjoyed every minute of.
RAY FLOWERS (Lead Guitar)
Missing In Action
BRIAN SINGER (Bass Guitar)
Missing In Action
MICHAEL HACKETT (Keyboards)
Missing In Action
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