Rye resident Paul Jensen’s newly released first solo album, “Journey Back Home,” is a vibrant patchwork of country twang, R&B, and soulful storytelling. 

Yet his album might never have been made if not for a promise Jensen had made to himself at 27, when he set aside his dream of becoming a professional musician. 

Jensen had spent the previous three years writing and recording songs in his post-college New York City apartment while working grueling hours as a temp, proofreading legal documents. Dispirited by the lifestyle, and also the music business, he said to himself, “I love music. I don’t love the music industry. But I’m going to come back to this, if I ever am in a position.”

Jensen shifted gears and went on to a long and successful career in communications. He started and sold a public relations agency, and then headed the corporate reputation practice for Weber Shandwick, the world’s second biggest public relations firm.

Yet, even though he had a time-consuming, high-octane PR job, he never put down his guitar. He played in a band called “The Grateful Dads” at benefits at his daughter Sarah’s school when the family was living in New York City. He organized an annual, all-day poolside jam with his musician friends every summer. He ran and still runs an open-mike performance cafe at a summer camp for families on Star Island off the coast of New Hampshire.

After Jensen, with his wife, Jamie, and children, Anders and Sarah, relocated to Rye from the Upper West Side in 2010, he formed a band called the Urban Coyotes, telling himself then, “I’m not going to be any younger. And I never really had a band. I definitely never fronted a band.” Joining him were three New York City musician friends and Rye resident Jerry Pasquale on drums.

Drawing on his experience as a member of a Cornell acapella group, The Cayuga’s Waiters, he gingerly stepped into the lead singer spot. Their first gig was a benefit for Rye Middle School. Playing locally, he found, was a confidence boost. “I loved doing it and I definitely realized that I could be out front.” 

The group honed their sound in Greenwich Village and Lower East side clubs and became, and still are, regulars at music venues and events in and around Rye. They not only play cover tunes but also songs written by Jensen, and in 2017, they released an album.

While these endeavors stoked Jensen’s passion for music-making, the pandemic led him to do some soul searching. “As a musician of a certain age now, maybe I could work for myself and be in charge of my schedule,” he thought, “and I don’t have to feel guilty that I’m not doing this, or not doing that, rather, I decide what I spend time on.”

He left his job at Weber Shandwick and formed a one-person consultancy with the goal of working to pay the bills and no more. “I don’t need as much stuff in my life,” Jensen said. “I want to have more happiness and more music.”

His solo album, “Journey Back Home,” is the result of that choice to simplify his life. With more time for writing, he decided to record his songs and hooked up with Bridgeport, Conn., producer Mikhail Pivovarov, of Add9 Productions. With Pivovarov’s help, along with an ensemble of studio musicians and a backup singer, Jensen laid down nine tracks.

He describes his sound as Americana, a genre that evolved in rural America in the early 20th century, when musicians started to include elements of folk, blues, and country music in their songs about life’s trials and tribulations. Present-day Americana is often a mix of acoustic and electronic instruments. “I want an acoustic guitar, electric guitar, drums,” said Jensen about his musical style. “I always want a Hammond organ, piano. And then maybe fiddle, harmonica, slide guitar.” 

The album’s lyrics are inspired by what he’s reading, hearing, and thinking about. While some are autobiographical and others character driven, they all contain a narrative arc stamped by Jensen’s way of looking at the world. “How do you say something that’s either new or a little bit of a new twist on a theme that’s universally human, like love and relationships and grief?” 

He answers those questions in songs like “Give You Away” in which he imagines his 27-year-old daughter’s wedding. “Someday someone will take your heart away, and right then I will cry tears of joy. But as we walk down the aisle and you take his hand, don’t ask me to give you away.”

He ponders love, marriage and death in “The Other Side,” where he imagines himself sharing a moment with his wife near the end of his life. “Stay with me tonight, right by this firelight. It’s almost time to say goodnight. Ain’t no time to cry or asking questions why — I’ll see you on the other side.”

“Them Better Angels” tells the story of trying to bridge a relationship that’s been strained by different political views. Said Jensen, “That one came from hearing a million stories about people estranged from their families over this polarized country.”

“Matter of Time” was inspired by a National Public Radio interview after the murder of George Floyd about what it’s like to grow up as a Black man in America. Echoing the interview subject’s words about the lessons he learned from his mother to keep from getting shot, the song’s powerful refrain is, “Will my life matter or will you take me in my prime? Will my life matter or is it just a matter of time?” 

After Jensen recorded the song, although he was happy with how it turned out, he felt it should be sung by a Black singer. His producer put him in touch with Adam Taylor, who coincidentally grew up in Port Chester and sings in a local church choir, and Taylor took over the lead vocals.

“Drive,” another track, features not only Jensen’s musings on the therapeutic power of driving, but also nuanced trumpet riffs played by Jensen’s 24-year-old son, Anders. 

With his first album under his belt, Jensen is already back in the studio keeping with his plan to “every year, do a little less communications and a little more music.” One of his dreams is to have his songs played by professional artists so “more people can get enjoyment out of them.” And now he is working with a rep in Nashville who is pitching his songs to singers and TV and film supervisors.

Lately he has been getting some recognition. Through a mutual friend, he was able to send some of his songs to Scott Avett of the folk-rock band, The Avett Brothers, and was thrilled to learn that Avett loved what he had heard. And last month Jensen landed in Maria Shriver’s Sunday Paper in a feature titled, “4 Architects of Change Who Reinvented, Reimagined, and Rebooted in Midlife.” He shared that spotlight with Martha Stewart, among others.

It’s safe to say Jensen indeed has made that journey back home. 

“You never know how far you can go, what you are really capable of, until you cast fear aside and dive in,” said Jensen. “Regardless of where this journey takes me next, I’m just happy to be back on the road.”