Braiding music & poetry into her own distinct weave...
In 2006, Paula was inspired to set her favorite poems to original music, interpreting the poets' captured images and timeless metaphors with her wide vocal range and acoustic guitar.
Paula's first poem-song sprung from her passionate response to Langston Hughe's 1926 "Lament over Love", which she recorded on her cd Avalanche. Avalanche was reviewed by Don Campbell in The Oregonian in July 2006.Read the review.
Honoring Oregon Poets...
By 2007, in love with the process of melding songwriting with poetry, Paula headed into the studio to record The Good Horse, which includes songs based on the work of noted Oregon poets William Stafford, Dorianne Laux, Joseph Millar, Jarold Ramsey and Debbie West.
Fronting the Symphony in Tribute to William Stafford...
In 2008, Paula's musical treatment of Stafford’s poems caught the ear of Allan Halbert, conductor and music director of Starlight Symphony, a Tigard-based community orchestra. Halbert conducted a program with Paula as headliner that included local composers John Pospisil, Jeff Olenick, Rachel Sakry and Andrew Todd. Read the article.
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