Singer-songwriter Noel Paul Stookey has had a rich and multifaceted career, both as the "Paul" in legendary folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary and, since 1968, as a spiritually oriented and politically engaged solo artist.

Born in Baltimore in 1937, Stookey began creating three-part harmony magic as the baritone voice alongside Peter Yarrow and Mary Travers in 1961. The trio recorded eight albums together — along with hit singles including "Puff, the Magic Dragon," Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind," and "Leaving on a Jet Plane" — before deciding to go on hiatus in 1970.

The sabbatical gave Stookey the opportunity to explore his newfound Christianity, move his family to Maine, and launch a solo career. His 1971 solo debut ‘Paul And....' included "The Wedding Song (There Is Love)," the adult-contemporary hit Stookey wrote for Yarrow's wedding. As a nod to the divine inspiration he felt while writing it, Stookey used the song's royalties to launch the Music to Life foundation, which supports politically engaged artists and advocates for music as a progressive social force. Another Stookey project, Hugworks, has provided therapeutic music for special-needs children in hospitals and other care centers since 1986.

Peter, Paul and Mary reunited in 1978 and continued performing together until Travers' death in 2009. Stookey's parallel solo career, which includes a half-dozen albums with the eclectic Bodyworks ensemble, mixes scathing political songs like the chilling "El Salvador" with Christian concerns. Usually recorded in his home studio, a converted chicken coop, Stookey's tunes display a healthy sense of humor and reflect his career-long faith in music's ability to illuminate complex real-life situations.

Stookey celebrated his four-decade Maine residency in 2015; his nine-town tour of the state resulted in the career-spanning CD and DVD ‘At Home.' The 2018 holiday season brought ‘Somethin' Special, A Noel Paul Stookey Holiday Recollection,' which mixes remembrances of Christmases past with new seasonal interpretations. But don't accuse this living folk legend of nostalgia. As he likes to quote his old friend Tom Paxton, "It's OK to look at the past, but you don't want to get caught staring at it."