PASSAGES: In Praise of Paul Flaherty
Looking back on a notable & creative life in the hills of West Virginia | march8.2025
Paul Flaherty (1954-2025)
I don’t usually post obituaries in this occasional publication devoted to the life and times and the notable people in the villages of WestVirginiaville. But the lovely remembrance and acknowledgment below of Paul Flaherty’s rich life, written by Rebecca Kimmons, pays homage to a notable person who for decades played key roles in the cultural, creative, and musical life in West Virginia’s capital city and beyond. I got to know Paul as he settled into his reign as Sound Man par excellence in Charleston, W.Va. (And if you were a performer, you were glad indeed to see Paul’s smiling face at the board in the back of house.) He was also a go-to-guy for recording and I have paired Rebecca’s obituary with a recording he did with my former group, The BrotherSisters (in our trio incarnation with Albert Perrone, Marylin McKeown and myself), on a cover of the Brother Sun band’s sweet song ‘Love Is the Water.’ Paul recorded us live in the basement bar space where Third Eye Cabaret unfolded for many years in downtown Charleston, and the tune was later mixed and mastered by Bob Webb. The song seems an appropriate send-off for a guy whose loving spirit enriched the lives of so many of us. Peace along your way, Paul. ~ Douglas John Imbrogno
Paul John Flaherty | May 12, 1954 – January 28, 2025
By Rebecca Kimmons
Paul John Flaherty, Charleston’s Sound Man at Large, died on January 28, 2025, from complications of COPD pneumonia. His many friends and associates in Charleston’s music scene will miss his expertise in sound mixing, recording and production, and his reliably joyful demeanor and quick wit which contributed to many a good time at work and play.
Born May 12, 1954, in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Paul moved to Charleston, West Virginia, with his family in 1969, where at age 14, he began to establish himself as a guitarist in the local music community. After graduating from George Washington High School in 1972, his friend and fellow musician, Bob Nicklin, invited him to Norfolk, Virginia, where Nicklin was drydocked on a Navy ship. Still pursuing his music, Paul trained as a welder there, then worked briefly in the naval shipyards.
Paul studied music for two years at West Virginia University in Morgantown, then moved back to Charleston in the mid-1970s to become a prominent fixture in the vibrant local entertainment scene where live music was played nightly in several downtown bars. The Flaherty Brothers Band, featuring Paul and his brother EJ, could often be found at The Corner Lounge, the legendary Cheers (now Bar 101), and The Lobby on the East End. In those years, he supplemented his music career with jobs in the restaurant business. He was a manager at Muldoon’s during that restaurant’s brief but brilliant lifespan, then moved on to manage the Tidewater Grill.
In the 1980s and ‘90s, the Flaherty Brothers Band morphed into the jazz combo Still Portrait, then once again into Blues du Jour, demonstrating his broad interest in musical styles. His bandmates remember him as one who thoughtfully communicated through his playing, bringing a sense of fun and camaraderie to each ensemble. Musicians who performed with him include Steve Dreyer, Tim White, Dave Porter, Steve Burczyk, Al Peery, Lisa Thomas, Josh Barrett, Julie Adams, Stan Lynch, Rich Katz, Steve Hill, and Steve Broughton.
Beginning in 1992, he continued developing professional skills under the tutelage of Tom Pasinetti at the West Virginia State Culture Center. For many years, he handled sound production for events on the Culture Center Theater stage, and for the annual Vandalia Gatherings at the State Capitol. Throughout the 1990s he was in charge of sound at The Appalachian String Band Festival at Clifftop, helping to build that event’s international reputation for respecting and celebrating the region’s traditional music through an insistence on top quality production. He earned a reputation as the go-to sound guy for live performance, working as part of Pasinetti’s team for the Charleston Light Opera Guild, the West Virginia Symphony, and the Charleston Ballet.
In the mid-1990s, Paul moved to the tech team of WV Public Radio’s Mountain Stage, eventually attaining the position of production stage manager for the nationally distributed live radio show. His colleagues at Mountain Stage remember him as selfless and big-hearted. Larry Groce, a Mountain Stage founder and the show’s host until 2021, praises Paul as one who took pride in his work, whose judgment was respected, and who performed well in high-pressure situations in close quarters.
Paul also developed a reputation for excellent studio recording, engineering sound for such notable recording artists as Bob Thompson and Ron Sowell, and often providing expert mixing for live performances such as Live on the Levee, and FestivAll concerts.
In the 2000s, he worked with Pasinetti at the Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences, returning to the building he helped wire when it was under construction. He worked alongside the tech teams of many national acts. He also developed mastery in sound design, co-creating systems with Pasinetti for CLOG, and working with Mountain Stage co-founder Francis Fisher on complex radio broadcasts. He worked with the Clay Center and Mountain Stage through 2018 when his health began to fail, curtailing his career as an audio engineer.
Paul was part of a large and loving musical family. He influenced nephew JC White to follow him into the music industry as an audio engineer.
He is survived by his wife of twenty years, Rebecca (Becky) Deitzler Flaherty; his cat, Billy ‘White Shoes’ Johnson; his sister, Loretta White and her husband Tom of Charleston; their sons, Thomas Michael White and his life companion, Rose Denny, of Hurricane; grandnephew Max and grandniece Victoria Denny; and Jon Conor White and his fiancée, Katie Lester, of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
Surviving Paul in Rebecca’s family are Harry Dietzler and wife, Kathe, of Parkersburg; Eddie Dietzler of Charleston; Susie Dietzler Fletcher and husband, Carter, of Fernandino Beach, Florida; nieces Rebekah Fletcher, Jessica Fletcher and her husband, Michael Creasy. His father, Joseph Edward Flaherty; mother, Mary Anne Flaherty; brother EJ, and sister, Joanne, preceded him in death.
Paul’s family thanks the staff at WVU Thomas Hospital ICU and 3 Pavilion for caring for him more than a few times in the past year. Rather than flowers, the family would appreciate memorial contributions in his name to Mountain Stage at MountainStage.org, and to Thomas Memorial Hospital Foundation at thomasfoundationwv.org.
CLICK TO VIEW MUSIC VIDEO: ‘Love is the Water’ performed by The BrotherSisters and recorded live by Paul Flaherty for the band’s album “You Can’t Be lost.”
Thanks for sharing this.
Wonderful person. Got to know him back in the days when Mountain Stage did poetry.