For Ellis Paul, there is no debate. Music, says the Maine native, with convincing assurance, is no less than "the most important art form."

      "It's writing and it's a very visual art form. You can see pictures in your head," the veteran artist explains. "You mix in the audio component and it's the way to connect to ourselves as human beings, and to our lifelines. You really feel like you're not alone when you hear someone writing about life in a way that reflects your own."

      One of those "someones" most assuredly is Paul himself, critically acclaimed as a singer, songwriter, poet and troubadour; hailed by director Peter Farrelly, who uses his music in his Farrelly Brothers films, as "a national treasure," and recipient of an unprecedented 13 Boston Music Awards.

      He also is the author of Notes from the Road, a well-received book of poems and stories, and currently is at work on a book of short stories.

      Paul, on the phone from—where else?—the road, says that at the age of 41 and after 20 years of music making, he feels like he is at the "starting over point" once again. "I feel like the first half is over and maybe I have another 40 years left of doing this. Hopefully, I'll write even better," he muses.

      He brings an urban, literate folk-pop approach to that writing and his music. The Boston Globe praised him as a "songwriter's songwriter." That is reaffirmed in the Philo/Rounder Records release of Essentials, a two-CD retrospective of his work that provides a generous 34 tracks.

      "A singer-songwriter tends to write personal songs, songs about personal life experiences and personal pain," Paul says. Sometimes that can speak to a broader audience, he believes. "A folk musician might incorporate a broader sense of communicating and broader problems. It speaks to us in a broader sense. It's more about what we are going through as a country or race or as a nation," he explains.

      He strives for a combination of the singer-songwriter and folk musician sensibilities. "I realize I do slip between the two frequently. I feel like a folk musician mainly because I'm telling stories, and they are not all my own, and I'm singing about broader social issues."

      He is convinced that his hero Woody Guthrie remains a teacher today for all who want to learn from him. "He had the finger on the human condition like no one I've ever seen. There are a ton of lessons in that music. He knew how to explore the well of the human condition," Paul explains.

      Ellis Paul compositions have been used in such Farrelly Brothers films as Me, Myself & Irene, starring Jim Carrey, and Shallow Hal, with Jack Black and Gwyneth Paltrow. And they have provided the soundtrack for TV's Ed and MTV's Real World.

      In approaching Essentials, his retrospective CD, he says he wanted it to be his best record, "a collection of music that defined me in the event I get hit by a bus or something." He laughs again.

      He elaborates further on Essentials by saying it defines the spectrum of songs that he writes: "Poppy, folk-rock, and voice and guitar songs and story songs and romantic songs. I wanted to make sure every personality of song I've written was somehow represented." That includes both studio and live material. There are some newly recorded versions of familiar work, and some songs heard in their original incarnations.

      What has not changed, he implies, is the fundamental approach to this most important of art forms. "I always tell young songwriters to write what they know and care about," he explains.

      Ellis Paul is counting on that advice continuing to serve him well for decades more down his most interesting artistic road.