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Worth the Wait
Back after nearly a decade out of the spotlight, Paula Cole '90, shares insight and advice.
By Lesley Mahoney
Berklee.edu Correspondent
February 27, 2007
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Paula Cole performs at the Berklee Performance Center, marking her first performance in seven years.
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Photo by Phil Farnsworth
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Seven years ago, Paula Cole walked away from the music industry and never looked back. Until now.This time, rejuvenated after her nearly decade-long hiatus, it seems that the Berklee alumna is here to stay.
"I needed to heal," the 1990 graduate told more than 100 students at a clinic she gave at the Berklee Performance Center on February 16, just hours before she took to the stage for her first concert in seven years. "I felt like I was a plant in shock and I couldn't bloom anymore. So I stepped off that hamster wheel of the music business and I was a human being for seven years and ate humble pie."
All that healing has proven beneficial for Cole's music.
"It made me a better musician," the Rockport, Massachusetts native said of her departure, which came several years after she earned a Grammy for Best New Artist. "All of that humility and not singing and longing for music, struggling with being depressed and dealing with an asthmatic little baby and going to the emergency room, and a crappy marriage and getting out of it. On the other end, even though I'm not shedding, it made me a better musician because I'm working on my humanity."
Cole spent most of the time at the clinic sharing insight, doling out advice, and answering students' questions before handing the microphone to her producer and manager Bobby Colomby, who offered his own candid assessment of the music industry. But before she excused herself to rest her voice for the night's performance, Cole offered a small, but powerful taste of the breadth of her vocal talent during a sound check. She belted out the end of "Mississippi" from her celebrated album This Fire, while accompanying herself on piano, and treated the audience to a glimpse of her new album Courage—to be released in June by Universal/Decca—with the soulful "Comin' Down."
Cole, who was part of Berklee's gospel choir and a cappella groups, encouraged students to believe in themselves, recalling how she turned down the first deal she was offered from a jazz label that she wasn't crazy about. "It came so easily that I thought, maybe if I apply myself, I can get what I really want. And I dared to have that dream secretly inside," she said. "It's like I just knew it in my heart."
She also emphasized the importance of originality. "We need more honesty, as thinkers, writers, singers. That's the whole point. Who are you? What do you have to say that's unique and honest and not so derivative?"
Knowing first-hand what rejection feels like, Cole explained how adversity can serve as a learning experience. "It's like some big teacher in disguise," she said, recalling getting turned down for Singers Showcase twice before earning a spot and years ago, hearing her former manager tell her, point-blank, that her career was effectively over.
Cole credits her return on the scene to Colomby, founder and drummer for Blood Sweat & Tears whose producing credits include the Jacksons' comeback album and Jaco Pastorius's first solo album.
After he heard that she "needed a friend," Colomby reached out to Cole, who had done him a favor once by singing on an album he produced. They reconnected, and ultimately he got her a record deal.
"She has no idea how good she is," Colomby told the audience. "She is standing alone as a singer."
Berklee faculty members were equally enthusiastic about Cole.
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Paula Cole, '90, talks to students about taking time off to heal and the importance of staying true to oneself during a visiting artist clinic. |
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Photo by Phil Farnsworth |
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Bob Stoloff, assistant chair of the Voice Department, whom Cole credits for putting her on the path to Berklee, and ultimately, the music business, gave Cole voice lessons while she was a high school student. Just before introducing Cole to the crowd at the clinic, he remembered Cole's mother inquiring about how her daughter was faring."After a few lessons, she asked, 'Do you think Paula has any talent?' I said, 'Lady, this girl's got some talent.' She sounded great at 16, just outstanding at Berklee, and ever since then, she has just created history."
Jan Shapiro, chair of the Voice Department, remembered Cole's quiet, but effective presence. "I just remember how talented she was. I remember her quietly roaming the halls and quietly participating in this and that," she said during her introduction. "And the next thing you know, she was famous."
In this second phase of her career, Cole is approaching the business with a new perspective, reinvigorated by her time off, and strengthened by the bumps in the road.
"I'm back," Cole stated simply. "My life is so much better now because I took that really hard time off and I'm really happy to be singing again. It makes my whole life better and I bet you know how that feels, right?" she asked the audience. "When you sing, it's just like liquid ecstasy or something. Like tapping into some creative divinity. It's so incredible. Like surfing the greatest wave ever.
Lesley Mahoney is a writer/editor in Berklee's Office of Communications.
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