Despite performing for a living, singer-songwriter Paula Cole considers herself an introvert. "I'm totally not in it for the spotlight, the attention, the interviews, the fame," said Cole in a recent email interview with Play. "I'm in it for the love of it, for seeking betterment through writing the best I can."
Best known for hit songs "Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?" and "I Don't Want to Wait," the theme song for the 1990s television series "Dawson's Creek," Cole's career spans two decades and seven albums. She credits her musical passion for keeping her in business. "As I enjoy some longevity in this odd business, I see the labels collapsing, merging, dying. It is an obsolete paradigm unless one wants to use music as marketing to sell a hotter commodity like perfume or clothing or segue into acting or hosting. As a digital stream, music is not so profitable now, so one must truly do it for the pure love of it."
But Cole points to a different emotion as her lyrical muse. "I'm not necessarily happy or easy. Was it Charles Bukowski that said, 'anyone who is happy can't write a damn?' My introversion writes, my extroversion sings in public. They are complements making a whole," said Cole. "I prefer having my true blues now rather than radio fans in 1998."
Cole will visit Anchorage on Nov. 14 during what she describes as a seven-year-long tour. Cole kindly answered a few more questions for Play:
Play: What is the message of your music? What do you want audiences thinking and talking about when they walk out of your show?
Cole: I'm moved and inspired by autobiographical singer-songwriters like John Lennon, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young. I hope people don't think, I hope they feel.
Play: When did you know you would be a professional musician? What was your moment?
Cole: I had an epiphany in music college when I realized I wanted to write out my own truth instead of sing others' songs. I saw the path ahead in rejecting a record deal with a jazz label, left the notion of becoming a jazz singer and stayed the course with my very personal process. My music is an amalgam of many styles.
Play: Tell us about your album "Raven" and the process of funding art through Kickstarter.
Cole: I came to be known in the 1990s, a time of bigger budgets on bigger labels. I am dedicated to the music. I still tour even though I see less and less women of my generation doing so. And I saw positivity in the act of fan-funding. It grew team spirit and helped me create a larger launch for "Raven," my sixth studio album of originals.
Play: Have you seen the YouTube video for "Dachshund's Creek"? What's your critical analysis? Did they nail it?
Cole: I haven't seen "Dachsund's Creek," and I've only seen moments of "Dawson's Creek." I'm not such a consumer of TV. It was funny, anomalous to me that my song was associated with a TV show. And it was a hit! A bigger hit than Paula Cole ever was! I still think of myself as an artist with longevity and I don't attach myself to any one show or era.
Play: What advice do you give young people, in particular young women, with a dream of being a professional musician or entertainer?
Cole: You need a big toolbox of skills. Talent is but a small element. Hard work, grit. Persistence, vision. Social and emotional intelligence in leading a band and connecting with fans and community. I tell any singer to play an instrument. That will you make you a much better singer. Live within your means. Marry well. I'm not kidding. One must be wise, hardworking, entrepreneurial and willing to give it everything.
Play: What's the best advice you have ever gotten?
Cole: My first beloved manager, Carter (now deceased), told me many Carterisms, all wise. Some were, "Personal equals universal." "Don't bore us, back to the chorus." "Use proper nouns."
Play: If you could pick three people, dead or alive, to have dinner with tonight, if cost and reality were no object, whom would you choose?
Cole: I'd like to tell Stevie Nicks I'm sorry I lost her phone numbers back in 1998 -- I've meant to apologize and would love to have a glass of wine with her. Also Dolly Parton. Some of the best hours were spent with her and I'd like a reprise. And though I've never met Keith Richards, I adore him and would love a conversation just for some godfatherliness.
Play: What do you consider your greatest achievement professionally? And otherwise?
Cole: I'm proud of sticking to my guns. For being a young female producer in America when there essentially weren't any. I was the first solo female to be nominated for a Grammy for best producer. I think I'm a producer; I hear a lot.
Play: What are your perceptions about Alaska?
Cole: I've never been to Alaska. Though this will be a short trip, it will be my first and I will be curious, curious, curious. I'm sure I'll fall in love and come back. I want to bring my family too.
Play: How is this tour going?
Cole: When did it start and when does it end? I've been essentially weekending it the past seven-plus years after I took my long hiatus to have my daughter. I've stayed in America, though. I miss Europe and will need to make a concerted effort to get there. Since I'm a mother and my family needs me, I just can't tour like I used to. I will probably tour more again once the kids are out of the nest, but for now it's weekends in America.
Play: What's next for Paula Cole?
Cole: I'm working on a new album. It's my seventh album of originals. It feels significant. I'm still inspired. I'll be like Grandma Moses. I see very few female peers hanging in there. I feel blessed.
Play: I personally don't want to ask you this, and I'm sure you have heard it many times, but it is my duty as a journalist: Where, do you think, have all the cowboys gone?
Cole: It's a rhetorical question.
Play: Are there any other questions you'd like to answer?
Cole: I simply ask that folks come to the show. It is in a live show that one truly sees the performer, all they've got. Come to the show. You will see.
Paula Cole
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 14
Where: Discovery Theatre, Alaska Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets: $40.25-$53.75 at centertix.net