Paula Cole On Her New Album “American Quilt,” Her Berklee Roots, Future Plans & More

Last month, GRAMMY-winning songwriter and producer Paula Cole released her new album American Quilt through BMG off-shoot Renew Records. Prior to the release of American Quilt — which has been praised by Rolling Stone, USA Today and No Depression alike — Cole had debuted her original song “Hidden In Plain Sight” via Grammy.com. The song honors the story of women artists who created clues within their quilts and hung them in plain sight for other slaves seeking to flee to the Underground Railroad. The song conveys something of a statement of purpose for American Quilt, given Cole’s propensity as an artist to give voice to acts of humble, everyday revolution.

American Quilt was produced by Cole, who was the first woman nominated — without collaborators — as “Producer Of The Year” by the Grammy Awards. She garnered a total of 7 Grammy nominations in 1997 and won “Best New Artist” for her second album and major-label debut This Fire, which yielded the timeless hits “Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?” and “I Don’t Want To Wait”; the latter song later the theme song for hit TV series Dawson’s Creek. As on previous albums, Cole was joined by a longtime “family” of musicians for American Quilt, including drummer Jay Bellerose and guitarist Kevin Barry, who have been collaborators of Cole’s since the trio’s days at the Berklee College Of Music.

On June 14, 2021, I had the pleasure of speaking with Paula Cole via Zoom, as embedded below. More on Cole and American Quilt can be found by clicking here, here, here, here and here.

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Tags: Berklee, BMG, GRAMMY Winners, Paula Cole, Renew Records

About the Author

Darren Paltrowitz Darren Paltrowitz is a New York resident with over 20 years of entertainment industry experience. He began working around the music business as a teenager, interning for the manager of his then-favorite band Superdrag. Since then, he has worked with a wide array of artists including OK Go, They Might Be Giants, Mike Viola, Tracy Bonham, Loudness, Rachael Yamagata, and Amanda Palmer. Darren's writing has appeared in dozens of outlets including the New York Daily News, Inquisitr, The Daily Meal, The Hype Magazine, All Music Guide, Guitar World, TheStreet.com, Businessweek, Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times, and the Jewish Journal. Beyond being "Editor At Large" for The Hype Magazine, Darren is also the host of weekly "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" series, which airs on dozens on television and digital networks. He has also co-authored 2 published books, 2018's "Pocket Change: Your Happy Money" (Book Web Publishing) and 2019's "Good Advice From Professional Wrestling" (6623 Press), and co-hosts the world's only known podcast about David Lee Roth, "The DLR Cast."