"Weird" Paul Petroskey is a lo-fi musician and a YouTube personality in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area. He has been writing and recording music since 1984, and has written or co-written over 700 songs and appeared on over 50 released albums. Petroskey has played as part of an ensemble and has performed in the bands The Blazing Bulkheads, The Blissful Idiots, "57 Big End Halos and The WeirdPaul Rock Band. Petroskey formed his label Rocks & Rolling Records in 1987, through which he released his first album In Case of Fire Throw This In on cassette tape. He initially called himself "Off-the-Wall Paul" in an effort to differentiate himself from "Weird Al" Yankovic. In 1990 Petroskey began performing with drummer Manny Theiner and in 1991, signed with New York record labelHomestead Records. Through Homestead Records the two released the albumLo Fidelity, Hi Anxiety, but was not picked up for a second album. Between the years 2001 to 2004, Petroskey filmed a documentary with Chicago filmmaker Stacey Goldschmidt, who was creating a film about his music. Weird Paul: A Lo Fidelity Documentary was completed in 2005 and was released in April 2006, where it went on to show at the Chicago Underground Film Festival and Leeds International Film Festival. In 2015, Petroskey hosted and starred in the weekly local television series The Weird Paul Variety Show on WEPA-CD in the Pittsburgh area. The first airing was June 11, 2015. A documentary about Petroskey was released in 2019, called Will Work for Views: The Lo-Fi Life of Weird Paul'' which is described as "a documentary film 30 years in the making."
Selected discography
In Case of Fire Throw This In – Rocks & Rolling Records 001
I Need a Pencil Sharpener – Rocks & Rolling Records 002
Now I Blow My A-B-C-'s – Rocks & Rolling Records 003
Live at the Underground – Rocks & Rolling Records 004
Does Anyone Want This? – Rocks & Rolling Records 007
Songs For Santa – Rocks & Rolling Records
The Concept Track – Rocks & Rolling Records 008
My Last Tape – Rocks & Rolling Records 012
Lo Fidelity, Hi Anxiety – Homestead Records 166
Worm in My Egg Cream – Rocks & Rolling Records 015
Best Sled Ever – Rocks & Rolling Records 016
The Proliferation of Matter – Rocks & Rolling Records 017
The Blazing Bulkheads – Rocks & Rolling Records 018
The Dame That Drove Me Nuts – Rocks & Rolling Records 019
Your Favorite Gum – Home-Aid Recordings 005
Pine 'n Lose – Rocks & Rolling Records 020
Billy Joel Likes Cakes – Rocks & Rolling Records 021
2001 – Rocks & Rolling Records 023
The Mess of Weird Paul – Rocks & Rolling Records 026
I Punch You! – Rocks & Rolling Records 029
Weird Paul: A Lo Fidelity Documentary Soundtrack – Rocks & Rolling Records 031
Medically Necessary – Rocks & Rolling Records 032
As Heard in My Dreams – Rocks & Rolling Records 033
Police Baffled; Public Aroused - Rocks & Rolling Records 035
Simulating the Act of Love - Rocks & Rolling Records 036
