Paul Pena ( '; January 26, 1950 – October 1, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist.
Pena's music from the first half of his career touched on Delta blues, jazz, morna, flamenco, folk, and rock and roll. Pena is probably best known for writing the song "Jet Airliner," a major 1977 hit for the Steve Miller Band and a staple of classic rock radio; and for appearing in the 1999 documentary film Genghis Blues, wherein he displayed his abilities in the field of Tuvan throat singing.
Early years
Pena was born in Hyannis, Massachusetts, to Jack and Virginia Pena. He was of Cape Verdean descent. Pena was born with congenital glaucoma, and was almost completely blind since birth. From the age of five, he attended the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Massachusetts, graduating in 1967. He then attended Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Career
Early career
In February 1969, Pena's band played at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, opening twice for both Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention and the Grateful Dead. Later that year, he performed at the Newport Folk Festival.
After moving to San Francisco in 1971, Pena opened for Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders at the Keystone in Berkeley and other area clubs many times over the course of the next three years. Pena said of Keystone owner Freddie Herrera, "His idea of an audition was for me to come and open up for Garcia and Saunders. That went on for some time. Whenever he would have somebody, not knowing who would open, he would call me."
Throat singing
While listening to shortwave radio in 1984, Pena heard Tuvan throat singing on a Radio Moscow broadcast. He also heard Jill Purce, one of the pioneers of overtone chanting in the West. Seven years later he found a copy of Tuva: Voices from the Center of Asia in a record store and listened to it continuously. Based on that record and extended experimentation, he was able to teach himself the vocal techniques called Khoomei, Sygyt, and Kargyraa, saying: