Paul Allen Wood Shaffer, CM (born November 28, 1949) is a Canadian musician, actor, voice actor, author, comedian, and composer. Currently, he is the bandleader and sidekick on the Late Show with David Letterman. His memoir, We'll Be Here For the Rest of Our Lives: A Swingin' Show-biz Saga was published by Flying Dolphin Press on October 6, 2009.

Early years

As a child, Shaffer had lessons on the piano, and moved on to playing the organ by his teenage years, in a band with his schoolmates in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Educated at the University of Toronto, he began playing with jazz guitarist Michael Muñoz, performing in bands around the bars there, where he found an interest in musicals, and completed his studies, with a B.A. degree in Sociology in 1971.; Michael Posner, "Paul Talk", Toronto Globe and Mail, October 17 2009