From Watertown To The Stage, Paul Stretch’s Musical Journey Unfolds

Paul "Stretch" Diethelm has been a long time band member of the Fabulous Armadillos but there is more to his story.  This is the My Life series featuring with Paul Diethelm.

Early Years

Paul grew up in a small town south of St. Cloud and west of the Twin Cities....Watertown, Minnesota.  His dad was a school teacher and administrator for Watertown-Mayer schools.  Paul is the youngest of 4 kids with 2 sisters and a brother.

Musical Family

Paul comes from a musical family and he recalls gravitating toward music at a very young age.  He started learning to play drums around 3 to 4 years old.  When he was 6 his parents got him a small 4-piece drum set. Paul recalls being the tallest kid in the 4th grade despite height not really running in the family.  Paul is 6'6 today.  Paul's sisters were both woodwind players in the school band and his sister Barb brought the first guitar into the house. His brother was a trumpet player and later learned to play guitar.  He is 10 years older than Paul and later joined a rock band after high school.

School Band

Paul started in the Watertown-Mayer band in the 5th grade and played percussion from 5th grade through the 12th grade.  He says he also played some trumpet, trombone and piano because they were available in the house.  Paul played some sports as a young person as well.  He played hockey early in life but later dropped hockey for basketball since he was the tallest kid in the class.  Paul also ran track.

Career Path

Paul recalls at an early age wanting music to be his career path.  Two weeks out of high school Paul joined his first band (Silver Rose) where he played guitar.  He started learning guitar at the age of 16.  Paul recalls making the switch from drums to guitar because of the musicality of the guitar but still considers himself a drummer.  Rock music was always his preferred interest with bands like Chicago and many others from the 70s and 80s.

SCSU

After graduation Paul enrolled at St. Cloud State in 1983.  Paul refers to the nickname "stretch" being the most unoriginal nickname for a tall person.  He says it was given to him by his college roommate at St. Cloud State.  Paul began at SCSU as a Special Education major but finished with a Bachelor's Degree in Elective Studies many years later.

Early Bands

In his time at St. Cloud State he joined a rock band called the "The Greystone Rockers".  He says they did a lot of R&B and blues stuff.  Paul stayed in the band for 5 years.  He says after the band broke up he and 2 others from the band formed a 3-piece group in 1989 called "Slip Twister".  Paul recalls playing with Slip Twister at the Red Carpet Wednesday nights for 6 years.  All 3 of the members of Slip Twister are in the Fabulous Armadillos today.  The other two are Mike Zeleny (bass), and Jay O'Donnell (drums).

Fabulous Armadillos

The Fabulous Armadillos were formed when Greg Armstrong (keyboards) and his wife were adopting a child from China.  He was wanting to get out of playing gigs at the time but before he did that he wanted to record 12 of his own songs.  Armstrong hired Slip Twister to be part of the backup band for his CD release party.  Paul says Armstrong had guest singers sing on this project.  He says the release party went so well that the Barth Brothers at Pioneer Place encouraged them to do a series of shows.  That is how the Fabulous Armadillos was born.

How the Name Happened

The name of the Fabulous Armadillos came from Greg Armstrong.   Paul says the original name of the group was "Gary D and the Fabulous Armadillos featuring Slip Twister".  It was later shortened to the Fabulous Armadillos.

What's Happening Now

Paul and his wife have two kids, who've recently graduated from high school.  He anticipates continuing to play the music that he loves.  The Armadillos will be doing a 20-year Anniversary of the Fabulous Armadillos in April of 2026 at Pioneer Place.

If you'd like to listen to my 4-part conversation with Paul Diethelm, click below.