Paula Cole

Artist Description

Paula Cole was born and raised in Rockport, MA and went to the Berklee College of Music to study jazz singing and improvisation. After she graduated from Berklee, Cole became a professional musician in order to make a living; she continued to write original material on the side. She would go on to rise to prominence in the mid-'90s in the wake of alternative's commercial breakthrough. Cole created songs that relied equally on dreamy melodies and poetic, introspective lyrics.

Her first big break arrived when Peter Gabriel invited her to perform on his 1992-1993 world tour. Shortly afterward she released her debut album, Harbringer, in 1994. Cole returned with her second album, This Fire, in October of 1996. The album and its accompanying single, "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?", became hits, breaking through into the mainstream in the spring of 1997. That summer, Cole participated in the first Lilith Fair, a traveling festival Sarah McLachlan designed to showcase female artists.

In 1998, Cole won the Grammy for Best New Artist. That same year she released the single "I Don't Want to Wait," popularized as the theme to the television hit Dawson's Creek. Her much-anticipated third album, Amen, followed in 1999.

Eight years passed before she returned with the single "14" and her new album, Courage, in 2007. When asked what Courage means to Paula Cole, she says, “I am searching for the truth. Somewhere, it’s in the music.” An intimate and heartfelt collection of songs, Courage is delivered with raw emotional honesty, creating a rare, disarming vulnerability with these eleven new songs.

And now, Paula is back to bring the ethereal beauty of her alt-pop back to the live stage at Joe's!