Paula Held

Next to giving birth to and raising my son John, making this record has been one of the most soul-stirring events in my life. Being under the radar of official press, me and myself opened a bottle of cab one night, and conducted our own interview through one long conversation and several glasses of wine.

Me: How does it feel to have made a record after so many years? How did motherhood affect the process?

Myself: It felt great to make the record, but it took a long time to own that feeling. It was hard to release myself from my role as a parent to follow my muse. I made a lot of leaps of faith to do it, but only after I knew John was on his own path, and I was just a gentle wind at his back. Being an artist, craving time alone, needing freedom from time constraints has never left me, but my priorities for 22 years were to give my son the best start I could. Though I've never felt settled anywhere, I practiced this odd ritual of constancy for so long, I learned to appreciate its merits. I've not been able to completely cut myself adrift from that, though I ache to totally give in to my wanderlust and create a life that would let me write all the time. I think often of selling all my stuff, my house, all my clothes except what I could put in a trunk, reduce my possessions to just what I'd need to live out of a pop up camper or small trailer; take a long trip. I want to so much, but I can't quite bring myself to do it.

Me: Why not?

Myself: I'd still need a place to live when I got home. I've dreamed of having a guest room since getting to Austin. I'd like to have a place for my son and his girlfriend to stay when they come to visit. It wouldn't solve the bigger issue.

I've been in recovery from so many things in my life. I can be addicted to anything. I was in AA long enough to understand the phrase “no such thing as a geographic cure.” We moved so much when I was a kid, every year and a half or so, sometimes less. Now, wherever I move to, at two years almost to the day, I start thinking that I've got to get the pictures down and start giving things away. For a long time I wouldn't put any pictures up until several months had passed. When John was growing up I made a point of staying in one town. But we moved from house to house at about the same rate we did when I was growing up.

I think there's a deep connection for me between movement and creativity, and an odd healing process is taking place that's showing up as this struggle between ditching it all and staying put. I'm trying to teach myself that it's okay to have a home and a life as a writer, have my wanderlust part of the year, without giving up every thing I own. That maybe it's the movement I want, not the move. Over the last 15 years I've been practicing resisting the urge to run, trying on the idea that I can be happy and settled in one place longer than five years. It's hard to change those road maps that make you want to do things that no longer serve you.

Right now though, it's going on a little over five years in my house here in Austin, and I feel that struggle in fine relief. Like a character from a Graham Greene novel, I live with my heart in two worlds. The title track of the record, I Need To Drive, is about that duality. The song was written as a letter to my house, the house I live in now in Austin.

Me: Tell me about Jeanette Walls ... you dedicated I Need to Drive to her.

Myself: Jeanette Walls is the author of a memoir called The Glass Castle. It's a beautiful, painful portrait of childhood chaos. The kind created by two brilliant, free-spirited parents unable to put down roots or offer any stability to their kids because of their creative urges and demons. The family was constantly on the move. I feel like the kid she was in the book, watching little pieces of your life disappear through the car's back windshield, trying so hard to hold onto it, and then, through that combination of resilience and denial that children are famous for, turning around and embracing the next adventure.

Me: Tell me about the record. How did you come up with the title “DRIVE.”

Myself: Stephen came up with it. And it was perfect. The title track, I Need To Drive, which was written for the record, touches briefly on the concept of flight vs settled-ness. The fact that we moved every 12-18 months till I was 12 years old shaped my relationship to relationships, and the rest of the record is one big song about the hellos and goodbyes to love.

The word “DRIVE” can mean something different to everyone. To me it means 'let go, surrender.' I made my way back to songwriting from motherhood by finally letting go of the need to control events in my life and trust the Universe, or God, to get me where I needed to go. My heart was set on songwriting and music. I started taking big leaps of faith. I reconnected with a divine source in AA, and learned that jumping was not only safe, but preferable, and that it's more crazy to not let go - By Paula Held, Becker Vineyards consultant & singer/songwriter

Next to giving birth to and raising my son John, making this record has been one of the most soul-stirring events in my life. Being under the radar of official press, me and myself opened a bottle of cab one night, and conducted our own interview through one long conversation and several glasses of wine.

Me: How does it feel to have made a record after so many years? How did motherhood affect the process?

Myself: It felt great to make the record, but it took a long time to own that feeling. It was hard to release myself from my role as a parent to follow my muse. I made a lot of leaps of faith to do it, but only after I knew John was on his own path, and I was just a gentle wind at his back. Being an artist, craving time alone, needing freedom from time constraints has never left me, but my priorities for 22 years were to give my son the best start I could. Though I've never felt settled anywhere, I practiced this odd ritual of constancy for so long, I learned to appreciate its merits. I've not been able to completely cut myself adrift from that, though I ache to totally give in to my wanderlust and create a life that would let me write all the time. I think often of selling all my stuff, my house, all my clothes except what I could put in a trunk, reduce my possessions to just what I'd need to live out of a pop up camper or small trailer; take a long trip. I want to so much, but I can't quite bring myself to do it.

Me: Why not?

Myself: I'd still need a place to live when I got home. I've dreamed of having a guest room since getting to Austin. I'd like to have a place for my son and his girlfriend to stay when they come to visit. It wouldn't solve the bigger issue.

I've been in recovery from so many things in my life. I can be addicted to anything. I was in AA long enough to understand the phrase “no such thing as a geographic cure.” We moved so much when I was a kid, every year and a half or so, sometimes less. Now, wherever I move to, at two years almost to the day, I start thinking that I've got to get the pictures down and start giving things away. For a long time I wouldn't put any pictures up until several months had passed. When John was growing up I made a point of staying in one town. But we moved from house to house at about the same rate we did when I was growing up.

I think there's a deep connection for me between movement and creativity, and an odd healing process is taking place that's showing up as this struggle between ditching it all and staying put. I'm trying to teach myself that it's okay to have a home and a life as a writer, have my wanderlust part of the year, without giving up every thing I own. That maybe it's the movement I want, not the move. Over the last 15 years I've been practicing resisting the urge to run, trying on the idea that I can be happy and settled in one place longer than five years. It's hard to change those road maps that make you want to do things that no longer serve you.

Right now though, it's going on a little over five years in my house here in Austin, and I feel that struggle in fine relief. Like a character from a Graham Greene novel, I live with my heart in two worlds. The title track of the record, I Need To Drive, is about that duality. The song was written as a letter to my house, the house I live in now in Austin.

Me: Tell me about Jeanette Walls ... you dedicated I Need to Drive to her.

Myself: Jeanette Walls is the author of a memoir called The Glass Castle. It's a beautiful, painful portrait of childhood chaos. The kind created by two brilliant, free-spirited parents unable to put down roots or offer any stability to their kids because of their creative urges and demons. The family was constantly on the move. I feel like the kid she was in the book, watching little pieces of your life disappear through the car's back windshield, trying so hard to hold onto it, and then, through that combination of resilience and denial that children are famous for, turning around and embracing the next adventure.

Me: Tell me about the record. How did you come up with the title “DRIVE.”

Myself: Stephen came up with it. And it was perfect. The title track, I Need To Drive, which was written for the record, touches briefly on the concept of flight vs settled-ness. The fact that we moved every 12-18 months till I was 12 years old shaped my relationship to relationships, and the rest of the record is one big song about the hellos and goodbyes to love.

The word “DRIVE” can mean something different to everyone. To me it means 'let go, surrender.' I made my way back to songwriting from motherhood by finally letting go of the need to control events in my life and trust the Universe, or God, to get me where I needed to go. My heart was set on songwriting and music. I started taking big leaps of faith. I reconnected with a divine source in AA, and learned that jumping was not only safe, but preferable, and that it's more crazy to not let go - By Paula Held, Becker Vineyards consultant & singer/songwriter

NEW PROJECT: "Sangre Triste"

I'm working on a collection of story songs. Individuals' struggles and their journeys of release. Stylistically intimate and panoramic, poetic and straightforward, they're drawn from a genre of poetry called Sangre Triste, which expresses the beauty of sadness.

"Leavin' Happy"
This song is the first in this body of story songs that are unfolding. I wrote it after traveling through the North Texas Panhandle town of Happy. I was passing through on my way to Colorado. I stayed in a little motel called the Lasso. This song describes one of its reluctant residents painful situation, and her determination to leave her home town.

"New Snow Falling"
This song came about as a result of my need for time alone in the snowy woods in New England. A place where you get the kind of quiet only new snow falling brings. The kind of place a writer longs for. It tells the story of a mother and wife, a woman who's lost touch with her own voice and creativity. Who has built her identity around her children and husband. Who has learned to sublimate her needs, emotions, goals, dreams and plans in order to be a model parent and wife. One snowy evening in a late winter, all her feelings of loss around her identity coalesce into one moment in time. She falls silent as she surrenders her mind to the intimate sound of new snow falling. She's in her kitchen fixing dinner while her kids and husband and home all whirl around her with noisy, mind-numbing activity. Suddenly, wthout warning, she folds. She tunes into the new snow falling, it's grace and simplicity and utter quiet as the flakes build layer after layer outside her kitchen window. Suddenly she's on the kitchen floor beneath the boiled over broccoli and the fallen souffle. She finds a pen and some paper and starts writing. There's a blizzard outside, and one in her mind, and she sits on the floor and writes, “and no one's talking, and no one's speaking save for the sound of new snow falling.” She finds her voice again. It is her rebirth.

"She'll Be Her Fred Astaire"
This song deals with alienation. The kind of non-acceptance teenagers in high school go through all the time. It's tenth grade in a small New England town. A young lesbian named Lena struggles with being an outcast. She's become dependent on pot to deal with her pain, and she's been delivered a school dare to dance at the Junior Prom with Doris, the woman she's in love with. Her best friend Julieann puts together a plan to help Lena by teaching her to dance. Lena wants to overcome her fear and dance with Doris. She also knows that Julieann is in love with her. She knows that Julieann loves her enough to sublimate her feelings for Lena to help her win over Doris. It's a tender story about the strong and tender bonds of friendship in high school.

Other songs in this project include:

"Here," is a song that celebrates unconditional love, from God, a partner, a caring friend.

"Tyler Blue" is set in Corpus Christie, and tells the story of a young mother, unable to move through her grief over the loss of her childhood sweetheart husband who was killed in the Iraq war. The story is told as a silent dialogue between her and her dead husband.

"Lila and Jack" is about an affair between two loners, and how they both deal with their feelings when Jack breaks it off to recommit to his wife.

I'm really excited about this new project. Please check back for developments as this project unfolds, or go to www,paulaheld.com/about_sangre.asp - By Paula Held

"I received my copy of DRIVE and I *LOVE* it. It is a very romantic album! A relaxing, titillating combination of whimsy, passion, and playfulness!" - Sylvia Powell, Tallahassee, FL

"Your new CD DRIVE is stunning! The cover art and entire design are out of this world beautiful, but pale in comparison to the music, your voice and some of the best new songs I’ve heard in years. I played it all day yesterday, over and over, and three hit as instant classics: I Don’t Care About the Moon, You’re My Falling Star, and Our Goodbyes. Thank you for sharing and for all you and your supporting cast has delivered in this art filled work. Stephen’s masterful as usual… aren’t we blessed. - Vic Ellisor, Austin, TX

“Your vocals rival Nora Jones at certain points in your album! Truly!” - Greg Engle, Songwriter, Austin, TX

"It is simply beautiful in all ways. Your poetry touches me deeply." Beverly Hand, Tallahassee, FL

"I just love 'You're My Falling Star,' love it, love it!!!!! My husband and I saw you perform and sing that song about a year ago in Austin, fell in love with that song then and still love it!!! Thanks Paula for a great CD, you are great. They should be playing that song on the radio, especially in Austin." - Kathy M, Austin, TX

"My heart is just full of their beauty. Your lyrics are just incredible." - Eva Andries, Austin, TX

"I LOVE 'You Got Love!' Such a beautiful song." - Erin Sologaistoa, Tallahassee, FL

"You obviously put your heart and soul into this incredible body of music ... I listened to the entire CD on Wednesday, on a DRIVE up north and back, and was delighted and inspired. Rich, gentle, warm and sparkling is how your music felt to me. Your voice as a writer and as a singer is so pleasing and expressive. Fantastic job!" - Katie Gosnell, Songwriter, Austin, TX

"I love the new Album. It was worth waiting for. You are beautiful and you make beautiful music." - Debra Mostue, Austin, TX

”Your investment in DRIVE really shows! It is excellent from all perspectives - songs, arrangements, production, packaging. I really hope it gets airplay, and I will be calling in to request it. Congratulations!” - David Michael, Austin, TX

“I start most days with going to your myspace music page and playing along with 'I Don't Care About the Moon.' That is about as near perfect a song as I've heard. You are an inspiration.” - Henry Hall, Tallahassee, FL

"I want to tell you that I absolutely love it. I plan to play it for friends and consider it for gifts." - Elaine Swain, Tallahassee, FL

"I received your beautiful CD yesterday. Beautiful in every way. What a wonderful accomplishment and a gift to all. - Dee Custer, Portland, O

“Honest to God I think your CD measures right up therewith Norah Jones and Diana Krall. What a soothing sound! I literally listened to the entire CD 4x within 24 hours. Stephen Doster did a fantastic job for you. You are an exceptional writer and I appreciate who you are through your writings. ~ Jacquelyn Fraley, Austin, TX

“I received DRIVE and have listened to it several times in my car. It's a treasure. Thanks for baring your soul for the rest of us to connect to with strong feelings.” - Norma Reesor McDowell, Tallahassee FL

“Just thought I'd tell you that I listen to your album first when I go out to work in the studio. I can't tell you how much I love it!” - Susan Peacock, Tallahassee FL
- Responses to DRIVE from fans ...

"I received my copy of DRIVE and I *LOVE* it. It is a very romantic album! A relaxing, titillating combination of whimsy, passion, and playfulness!" - Sylvia Powell, Tallahassee, FL

"Your new CD DRIVE is stunning! The cover art and entire design are out of this world beautiful, but pale in comparison to the music, your voice and some of the best new songs I’ve heard in years. I played it all day yesterday, over and over, and three hit as instant classics: I Don’t Care About the Moon, You’re My Falling Star, and Our Goodbyes. Thank you for sharing and for all you and your supporting cast has delivered in this art filled work. Stephen’s masterful as usual… aren’t we blessed. - Vic Ellisor, Austin, TX

“Your vocals rival Nora Jones at certain points in your album! Truly!” - Greg Engle, Songwriter, Austin, TX

"It is simply beautiful in all ways. Your poetry touches me deeply." Beverly Hand, Tallahassee, FL

"I just love 'You're My Falling Star,' love it, love it!!!!! My husband and I saw you perform and sing that song about a year ago in Austin, fell in love with that song then and still love it!!! Thanks Paula for a great CD, you are great. They should be playing that song on the radio, especially in Austin." - Kathy M, Austin, TX

"My heart is just full of their beauty. Your lyrics are just incredible." - Eva Andries, Austin, TX

"I LOVE 'You Got Love!' Such a beautiful song." - Erin Sologaistoa, Tallahassee, FL

"You obviously put your heart and soul into this incredible body of music ... I listened to the entire CD on Wednesday, on a DRIVE up north and back, and was delighted and inspired. Rich, gentle, warm and sparkling is how your music felt to me. Your voice as a writer and as a singer is so pleasing and expressive. Fantastic job!" - Katie Gosnell, Songwriter, Austin, TX

"I love the new Album. It was worth waiting for. You are beautiful and you make beautiful music." - Debra Mostue, Austin, TX

”Your investment in DRIVE really shows! It is excellent from all perspectives - songs, arrangements, production, packaging. I really hope it gets airplay, and I will be calling in to request it. Congratulations!” - David Michael, Austin, TX

“I start most days with going to your myspace music page and playing along with 'I Don't Care About the Moon.' That is about as near perfect a song as I've heard. You are an inspiration.” - Henry Hall, Tallahassee, FL

"I want to tell you that I absolutely love it. I plan to play it for friends and consider it for gifts." - Elaine Swain, Tallahassee, FL

"I received your beautiful CD yesterday. Beautiful in every way. What a wonderful accomplishment and a gift to all. - Dee Custer, Portland, O

“Honest to God I think your CD measures right up therewith Norah Jones and Diana Krall. What a soothing sound! I literally listened to the entire CD 4x within 24 hours. Stephen Doster did a fantastic job for you. You are an exceptional writer and I appreciate who you are through your writings. ~ Jacquelyn Fraley, Austin, TX

“I received DRIVE and have listened to it several times in my car. It's a treasure. Thanks for baring your soul for the rest of us to connect to with strong feelings.” - Norma Reesor McDowell, Tallahassee FL

“Just thought I'd tell you that I listen to your album first when I go out to work in the studio. I can't tell you how much I love it!” - Susan Peacock, Tallahassee FL
- Responses to DRIVE from fans ...

" 'DRIVE' is a curiously addictive marriage of folk, pop and jazz influences." ~ Arthur Wood, Maverick Magazine, UK | 4 out of 5 stars

"To my mind Paula Held adds new ideas to the jazz-related work of now famous female artists like Norah Jones, Diana Krall and Madeleine Peyroux. And, after listening many times to her fine CD, I can honestly state: ‘Paula is not less gifted, she is just less famous.' Her songs are beautiful, the melody lines fine, her voice is flexible and sultry, [and] the accompaniment is excellent ..." ~ Fred Schmale, Real Roots Cafe, The Netherlands

"Paula Held's ... strength lies in avoiding the singer-songwriter trap, which she does neatly by employing jazzy, poppy arrangements ..." ~ Margaret Moser, The Austin Chronicle | 3 out of 5 stars

"Paula’s lyrics are surprisingly different, she uses unexpected metaphors to please the open-minded and interested listener. Take for instance the first lines of the dreamy ballad ‘Winter Blossom': 'The Musclewoods have all been dipped in mercury and silver. A black grackle cackles ‘neath a dove-grey sky. A restless patch of Black-eyed Susans lashes out in sprays of color, all decked out like a baptist’s daughter, gone out the window to meet her lover, underneath the wistful gaze of Winter’s leaden eye. Every region of my skin you draped in burgundy and velvet, and removed the crown of reason that I wore’. I really love this kind of music, it’s poetic and has depth." ~ Fred Schmale, Real Roots Cafe, The Netherlands

"... an album by someone who has had a longstanding romance with words and music and who retains a real fidelity to the integrity of emotion that a song should convey." ~ John William Davis, Singer-Songwriter, Kerrville New Folk winner, Denver CO

"Held spins her songs from natural imagery and a vivid sensual lexicon." ~ Rob Patterson, Music Critic, Austin TX

" 'DRIVE's' lyrical intimacy and blithe instrumentation take listeners on the scenic route to a warmly familiar destination." ~ Claire Ashton, Austin American Statesman

“Like the untethered balloon on the cover of "DRIVE", Paula Held poetically transcends typical expressions of emotional terra firma. Jazzy and Fresh. I like it!” ~ Lane Gosnay, The Bugle Boy, LaGrange TX

"DRIVE's tracks provide the perfect soundtrack for summer with campfire storytelling (“Tumbleweed Heart”), time-honored ragtime (“You’re My Falling Star”) and lighthearted, organic fare that seamlessly melds the fun, surfer-blues vibe of Jack Johnson with the classic American composition of Cole Porter (“Shoop Ta Sho”). ~ Claire Ashton, Austin American Statesman

"[DRIVE is Paula's] first CD & produced with taste & a light touch (never drowns the great sensual vocals) by Stephen Doster who added sultry horns & a Hammond to create a pretty jazzy mix. Some of Austin’s most seasoned session players are here, too. It’s a sophisticated creation based on transformation – emotional & physical – and she writes the most surprising double-wide bridges!" ~ SJ, KOOP Radio 91.7

“... the sum effect is a sort of dreamy drunkenness: just the sort of spell one might expect from a high-summer moon.” ~ New Folk Winner John William Davis, Denver CO

"[DRIVE] it is a beaut. A heartstrung odyssey hung heavy with poetry, longing and grace." ~ Regan Brown, Regan Brown Agency, Austin TX

"DRIVE is no freshman effort; these are songs written by someone who's been wise enough to wait until her time is ripe." ~ Margaret Moser, The Austin Chronicle
“Excellent songwriting, great atmosphere. Paula Held catches us with her delightful jazzy album.” ~ Fred Schmale, Real Roots Cafe, The Netherlands

“Voice of roses, lyrics of steel.” ~ Charlie Stewart, Handshake Management, Austin TX

"Paula Held is "Austin's Best Kept Secret." She is artistic [and] tasteful ... and nothing short of totally captivating. Of all our guests "In The Music Room" over the years, she is the most pleasant surprise. Stunning, talented ... " ~ Randy Tredway, Founder, In the Music Room House Concert Series

“Paula's intriguing stories and love songs, her soothing voice, and intricate guitar playing, absolutely stole the show at our house concert.” ~ Pat Martinek House Concerts, Golden CO

“Paula Held lit up my living room with her engaging presence, beautiful voice, and wonderful songs.” Jeffrey Mandel, House On The Lake Concerts, Tallahassee, FL

“Austin songstress Paula Held mixes the introspective poetry of Joni Mitchell with the soft jazz of Norah Jones in her debut disc. Stephen Doster's understated production lets her endlessly inventive melodies shine through. I'm enjoying it more with each listen.” ~ Steve Brooks, Award-winning Singer Songwriter, Austin TX

"Though you’ll catch whiffs of Cheryl [Crow] and Rickie Lee and some classic tin pan alley, ultimately, [DRIVE] is a wonderfully unique creation. Take DRIVE out for a test spin. I think you’ll find the experience addictive. I sure did." ~ John William Davis, Singer-Son - From press, radio, venues, artists and fans

" 'DRIVE' is a curiously addictive marriage of folk, pop and jazz influences." ~ Arthur Wood, Maverick Magazine, UK | 4 out of 5 stars

"To my mind Paula Held adds new ideas to the jazz-related work of now famous female artists like Norah Jones, Diana Krall and Madeleine Peyroux. And, after listening many times to her fine CD, I can honestly state: ‘Paula is not less gifted, she is just less famous.' Her songs are beautiful, the melody lines fine, her voice is flexible and sultry, [and] the accompaniment is excellent ..." ~ Fred Schmale, Real Roots Cafe, The Netherlands

"Paula Held's ... strength lies in avoiding the singer-songwriter trap, which she does neatly by employing jazzy, poppy arrangements ..." ~ Margaret Moser, The Austin Chronicle | 3 out of 5 stars

"Paula’s lyrics are surprisingly different, she uses unexpected metaphors to please the open-minded and interested listener. Take for instance the first lines of the dreamy ballad ‘Winter Blossom': 'The Musclewoods have all been dipped in mercury and silver. A black grackle cackles ‘neath a dove-grey sky. A restless patch of Black-eyed Susans lashes out in sprays of color, all decked out like a baptist’s daughter, gone out the window to meet her lover, underneath the wistful gaze of Winter’s leaden eye. Every region of my skin you draped in burgundy and velvet, and removed the crown of reason that I wore’. I really love this kind of music, it’s poetic and has depth." ~ Fred Schmale, Real Roots Cafe, The Netherlands

"... an album by someone who has had a longstanding romance with words and music and who retains a real fidelity to the integrity of emotion that a song should convey." ~ John William Davis, Singer-Songwriter, Kerrville New Folk winner, Denver CO

"Held spins her songs from natural imagery and a vivid sensual lexicon." ~ Rob Patterson, Music Critic, Austin TX

" 'DRIVE's' lyrical intimacy and blithe instrumentation take listeners on the scenic route to a warmly familiar destination." ~ Claire Ashton, Austin American Statesman

“Like the untethered balloon on the cover of "DRIVE", Paula Held poetically transcends typical expressions of emotional terra firma. Jazzy and Fresh. I like it!” ~ Lane Gosnay, The Bugle Boy, LaGrange TX

"DRIVE's tracks provide the perfect soundtrack for summer with campfire storytelling (“Tumbleweed Heart”), time-honored ragtime (“You’re My Falling Star”) and lighthearted, organic fare that seamlessly melds the fun, surfer-blues vibe of Jack Johnson with the classic American composition of Cole Porter (“Shoop Ta Sho”). ~ Claire Ashton, Austin American Statesman

"[DRIVE is Paula's] first CD & produced with taste & a light touch (never drowns the great sensual vocals) by Stephen Doster who added sultry horns & a Hammond to create a pretty jazzy mix. Some of Austin’s most seasoned session players are here, too. It’s a sophisticated creation based on transformation – emotional & physical – and she writes the most surprising double-wide bridges!" ~ SJ, KOOP Radio 91.7

“... the sum effect is a sort of dreamy drunkenness: just the sort of spell one might expect from a high-summer moon.” ~ New Folk Winner John William Davis, Denver CO

"[DRIVE] it is a beaut. A heartstrung odyssey hung heavy with poetry, longing and grace." ~ Regan Brown, Regan Brown Agency, Austin TX

"DRIVE is no freshman effort; these are songs written by someone who's been wise enough to wait until her time is ripe." ~ Margaret Moser, The Austin Chronicle
“Excellent songwriting, great atmosphere. Paula Held catches us with her delightful jazzy album.” ~ Fred Schmale, Real Roots Cafe, The Netherlands

“Voice of roses, lyrics of steel.” ~ Charlie Stewart, Handshake Management, Austin TX

"Paula Held is "Austin's Best Kept Secret." She is artistic [and] tasteful ... and nothing short of totally captivating. Of all our guests "In The Music Room" over the years, she is the most pleasant surprise. Stunning, talented ... " ~ Randy Tredway, Founder, In the Music Room House Concert Series

“Paula's intriguing stories and love songs, her soothing voice, and intricate guitar playing, absolutely stole the show at our house concert.” ~ Pat Martinek House Concerts, Golden CO

“Paula Held lit up my living room with her engaging presence, beautiful voice, and wonderful songs.” Jeffrey Mandel, House On The Lake Concerts, Tallahassee, FL

“Austin songstress Paula Held mixes the introspective poetry of Joni Mitchell with the soft jazz of Norah Jones in her debut disc. Stephen Doster's understated production lets her endlessly inventive melodies shine through. I'm enjoying it more with each listen.” ~ Steve Brooks, Award-winning Singer Songwriter, Austin TX

"Though you’ll catch whiffs of Cheryl [Crow] and Rickie Lee and some classic tin pan alley, ultimately, [DRIVE] is a wonderfully unique creation. Take DRIVE out for a test spin. I think you’ll find the experience addictive. I sure did." ~ John William Davis, Singer-Son - From press, radio, venues, artists and fans

"DRIVE" is a personal cartography, a songline of the heart. If, as the Aborigine of Australia believed, it is necessary to sing one’s way through all the landmarks leading home, then "DRIVE" is this woman’s audible map. The route marks not just a heart's exterior migratory routes, but the off-season pathways to the soul’s interior. Longing fuels this journey from east and west; to the north and south, the trajectory of faith and hope. [This] CD was conceived in metaphorical restlessness, yet cached in a paradoxical but complimentary stillness. To create this work, Held had to sit down and wait for all that had been set in motion to catch up and coalesce into a single space and time.

Paula’s voice originates in that dusk between day and night: sensual, breathless, determined, playful. Around her acoustic guitar accompaniment there’s a rich texture woven into Stephen Doster’s intuitive production. Horns and a Hammond organ add sultry undertones to the jazzy mix, rounding out the foundation of piano, bass, drums, and electric guitar from some of Austin’s most seasoned session players.

"DRIVE" is a CD for the road. Something to slide into the slot on, say, Highway 50, The Loneliest Road, in Nevada. Or the four-lane maze around Miami. Or simply pulled over on the shoulder, watching the moon in the rear view mirror rise over the Sangre de Christo Mountains. No matter where the location of listening turns out to be, this is music to be soothed and stirred by on the long road from elsewhere to home. - By Alison Moore, Author, Dobie/Paisano Fellowship and NEA winner

I enthusiastically recommend Paula Held’s debut album, DRIVE, because it’s a love album. By that, I don’t mean that all the songs are about human love, though most are. Rather, it is an album by someone who has had a longstanding romance with words and music and who retains a ... fidelity to the integrity of emotion that a song should convey.

The songs on DRIVE transport the listener. The title cut feels ... like a lazy Sunday afternoon drive along country back roads. You can almost hear the Texas Panhandle wind in “Tumbleweed Heart”. Especially interesting to me are melodies and progressions in songs like ’Watermelon Moon Eyes’ and ’Moon’s Too Bright’. These are some of the most subdued songs on the album, but here, surprisingly, Paula takes the greatest chances ... continually surprising the ear with where she takes her melodies and progressions. Even as the listener is lulled by the ’softness’ of these songs, he or she is continually kept off balance ... the sum effect is a sort of dreamy drunkenness: just the sort of spell one might expect from a high-summer moon. I won't try to dissect every song on the album but simply say that, for me at least, all these cuts have a powerful emotive quality. Transport. That's the operative word, and I suppose this is a very well named album.

I should add that Stephen Doster’s arrangements and production seem pretty much right on target here, always interesting but never heavy handed, and thus one of Paula’s greatest strengths, the kind of plaintive innocence of her voice, is never swallowed up by accompaniment.

To conclude, if you are looking for something that sounds like something you already know, this probably isn’t the album for you. Though you’ll catch whiffs of Cheryl [Crow] and Rickie Lee and some classic tin pan alley, ultimately, this is a wonderfully unique creation . . . And Paula Held, if you’ll pardon the pun, can certainly hold her own with those better known names. Take DRIVE out for a test spin. I think you’ll find the experience addictive. I sure did. - By John William Davis, Singer-Songwriter, Kerrville New Folk winner

["DRIVE"] is Paula's first CD & produced with taste & a light touch (never drowns the great sensual vocals) by Stephen Doster who added sultry horns & a Hammond to create a pretty jazzy mix. Some of Austin’s most seasoned session players are here, too. It’s a sophisticated creation based on transformation – emotional & physical – and she writes the most surprising double-wide bridges!

Lyrically, it’s more about the feeling behind the story rather than just story.

#01 I Need To Drive – My least favorite (doesn’t = bad) Play anything else first.

#02 Shoop Ta Sho – Fun & soul-filled bop w/ great trumpet.

#03 I Don’t Care About The Moon – Beautiful & jazzy.

#04 You’re My Falling Star – Jazz standard waiting to happen. Brushed snare. Tasty piano everywhere. Sweetest simple guitar solo.

#05 Watermelon Moon Eyes – Mid-tempo, jazzy, melodic. Surprising bridge w/ cool descending strings just after it. Lovely, delicate instrumental outro.

#06 Winter Blossom – Such nice keyboards on this one. Nice song.

#07 Tumbleweed Heart – Totally Texas. Closest she comes to lyrical hook but still manages to sound like poetry. Like the harmonies on this – mixed way back.

#08 Moon’s Too Bright – Another tasty, well-written song w/ beautiful guitar solo.

#09 You Got Love – A bit more traditionally folk/pop. Mid-tempo.

#10 Our Goodbyes – Wistful & beautifully written & arranged. Perfect ending.

FCC WORRIES – No
[Turning Moon Music 2010] - KOOP RADIO 91.7 - CD Preview, Austin TX | June 2010

["DRIVE"] is Paula's first CD & produced with taste & a light touch (never drowns the great sensual vocals) by Stephen Doster who added sultry horns & a Hammond to create a pretty jazzy mix. Some of Austin’s most seasoned session players are here, too. It’s a sophisticated creation based on transformation – emotional & physical – and she writes the most surprising double-wide bridges!

Lyrically, it’s more about the feeling behind the story rather than just story.

#01 I Need To Drive – My least favorite (doesn’t = bad) Play anything else first.

#02 Shoop Ta Sho – Fun & soul-filled bop w/ great trumpet.

#03 I Don’t Care About The Moon – Beautiful & jazzy.

#04 You’re My Falling Star – Jazz standard waiting to happen. Brushed snare. Tasty piano everywhere. Sweetest simple guitar solo.

#05 Watermelon Moon Eyes – Mid-tempo, jazzy, melodic. Surprising bridge w/ cool descending strings just after it. Lovely, delicate instrumental outro.

#06 Winter Blossom – Such nice keyboards on this one. Nice song.

#07 Tumbleweed Heart – Totally Texas. Closest she comes to lyrical hook but still manages to sound like poetry. Like the harmonies on this – mixed way back.

#08 Moon’s Too Bright – Another tasty, well-written song w/ beautiful guitar solo.

#09 You Got Love – A bit more traditionally folk/pop. Mid-tempo.

#10 Our Goodbyes – Wistful & beautifully written & arranged. Perfect ending.

FCC WORRIES – No
[Turning Moon Music 2010] - KOOP RADIO 91.7 - CD Preview, Austin TX | June 2010

A refreshing and surprising debut from Austin, Texas, this ‘DRIVE’ of Paula Held. The CD was produced and the songs on the CD were arranged by the great Stephen Doster, who played the guitar on Nanci Griffith’s Nashville-debut Once in a Very Blue Moon, dating from 1984. Doster himself nowadays plays and works in Austin too, and encounters a growing demand as producer.
Let me introduce Paula Held to you. She is the daughter of a father who taught music and composed Music and a vocalist mother (classical music), both her parents weren’t afraid to experiment with music and had an open mind for other cultures. Paula studied the piano and violin and (later) harp in her childhood. She spent a lot of time in Spain, where Spanish got to be her first language. After returning to the States she got her first guitar at the age of fourteen. From that moment on Paula starts writing her own songs in addition to her poetry writing. Her parents divorced and Paula had to stay alternately with her father and her mother in different locations. She finished off High School in Miami and went her own way from then on. She ended up in Tallahassee (the capital of Florida), where she did her first shows and where she started liking jazz. In 2004 she moved to Austin, where she has been working ever since.
Let’s go back to Paula’s CD 'DRIVE.' To my mind Paula Held adds new ideas to the jazz-related work of now famous female artists like Norah Jones, Diana Krall and Madeleine Peyroux. And, after listening many times to her fine CD, I can honestly state: ‘Paula is not less gifted, she is just less famous.' Her songs are beautiful, the melody lines fine, her voice is flexible and sultry, the accompaniment is excellent with leading parts for keys-man Red Young (listen to his fine work on the hammond organ) and wonderful Doster on guitars. In a couple of songs we hear trumpet player Ephraim Owens. Drummer J. J. Johnson and double-bassist Chris Maresh provide a solid foundation. Dennis Ludeker (of South Austin Jug Band fame) plays the strings on some songs.
Paula’s lyrics are surprisingly different, she uses unexpected metaphors to please the open-minded and interested listener. Take for instance the first lines of the dreamy ballad ‘Winter Blossom’: ‘The Musclewoods have all been dipped in mercury and silver. A black grackle cackles ‘neath a dove-grey sky. A restless patch of Black-eyed Susans lashes out in sprays of color, all decked out like a baptist’s daughter, gone out the window to meet her lover, underneath the wistful gaze of Winter’s leaden eye. Every region of my skin you draped in burgundy and velvet, and removed the crown of reason that I wore’. I really love this kind of music, it’s poetic and has depth.
To summarize: ‘Excellent songwriting, great atmosphere. Paula catches us with her delightful jazzy debut album’. Listen to her on CD-baby.”
Fred Schmale, www.realrootscafe.com, The Netherlands - Real Roots Cafe, The Netherlands | December 20, 2010

A refreshing and surprising debut from Austin, Texas, this ‘DRIVE’ of Paula Held. The CD was produced and the songs on the CD were arranged by the great Stephen Doster, who played the guitar on Nanci Griffith’s Nashville-debut Once in a Very Blue Moon, dating from 1984. Doster himself nowadays plays and works in Austin too, and encounters a growing demand as producer.
Let me introduce Paula Held to you. She is the daughter of a father who taught music and composed Music and a vocalist mother (classical music), both her parents weren’t afraid to experiment with music and had an open mind for other cultures. Paula studied the piano and violin and (later) harp in her childhood. She spent a lot of time in Spain, where Spanish got to be her first language. After returning to the States she got her first guitar at the age of fourteen. From that moment on Paula starts writing her own songs in addition to her poetry writing. Her parents divorced and Paula had to stay alternately with her father and her mother in different locations. She finished off High School in Miami and went her own way from then on. She ended up in Tallahassee (the capital of Florida), where she did her first shows and where she started liking jazz. In 2004 she moved to Austin, where she has been working ever since.
Let’s go back to Paula’s CD 'DRIVE.' To my mind Paula Held adds new ideas to the jazz-related work of now famous female artists like Norah Jones, Diana Krall and Madeleine Peyroux. And, after listening many times to her fine CD, I can honestly state: ‘Paula is not less gifted, she is just less famous.' Her songs are beautiful, the melody lines fine, her voice is flexible and sultry, the accompaniment is excellent with leading parts for keys-man Red Young (listen to his fine work on the hammond organ) and wonderful Doster on guitars. In a couple of songs we hear trumpet player Ephraim Owens. Drummer J. J. Johnson and double-bassist Chris Maresh provide a solid foundation. Dennis Ludeker (of South Austin Jug Band fame) plays the strings on some songs.
Paula’s lyrics are surprisingly different, she uses unexpected metaphors to please the open-minded and interested listener. Take for instance the first lines of the dreamy ballad ‘Winter Blossom’: ‘The Musclewoods have all been dipped in mercury and silver. A black grackle cackles ‘neath a dove-grey sky. A restless patch of Black-eyed Susans lashes out in sprays of color, all decked out like a baptist’s daughter, gone out the window to meet her lover, underneath the wistful gaze of Winter’s leaden eye. Every region of my skin you draped in burgundy and velvet, and removed the crown of reason that I wore’. I really love this kind of music, it’s poetic and has depth.
To summarize: ‘Excellent songwriting, great atmosphere. Paula catches us with her delightful jazzy debut album’. Listen to her on CD-baby.”
Fred Schmale, www.realrootscafe.com, The Netherlands - Real Roots Cafe, The Netherlands | December 20, 2010

From the initial notes and first words sung by Paula Held on her album "DRIVE," it’s obvious you’re in the presence of something special, from a singer writer whose work draws from and touches the mind, body and soul. With a voice as immediately familiar and tender as a dear friend or fondly remembered lover, Held spins her songs from natural imagery, heartfelt emotions, and a vivid sensual lexicon. She draws from the finest and most sophisticated strains across the breadth of popular music to weave a sound that transcends genre to become timeless and endearing. "DRIVE" glows with riches to be savored time and again as ... visionary facets and evocative pleasures are revealed with every successive listen. It’s an album, as the title implies, that transports the listener to that realm where the magic happens.

Launching the 10-song collection with the warm breeze of “I Need To Drive,” Held takes you on a rich musical and lyrical journey through scenic and mystical places. She paints such redolent images as “a shimmering sapphire shy,” “a chandelier of stars,” “Musclewoods, all dipped in mercury and silver,” “heavenly bodies suspended in space” and “rainbows to chase” atop a canvas of luxuriant musicality. Along the way you meet fellow travelers with a “Tumbleweed Heart” or “Watermelon Moon Eyes,” savor touches of romanticism under the midnight sky with “You’re My Falling Star” and “I Don't Care About the Moon,” and tap your feet the soulful bop of “Shoop Ta Sho,” lit by a deliciously muted trumpet. The reflective “Winter Blossom” and “Moon’s Too Bright” draw out archetypal feelings we all share, and by the time she closes the album with the warm embers of “Our Goodbyes,” you know you’ve made the acquaintance of a new and wonderful musical companion who is a delightfully welcome addition to your life. - By Rob Patterson, Music Critic, Austin TX

From the initial notes and first words sung by Paula Held on her album "DRIVE," it’s obvious you’re in the presence of something special, from a singer writer whose work draws from and touches the mind, body and soul. With a voice as immediately familiar and tender as a dear friend or fondly remembered lover, Held spins her songs from natural imagery, heartfelt emotions, and a vivid sensual lexicon. She draws from the finest and most sophisticated strains across the breadth of popular music to weave a sound that transcends genre to become timeless and endearing. "DRIVE" glows with riches to be savored time and again as ... visionary facets and evocative pleasures are revealed with every successive listen. It’s an album, as the title implies, that transports the listener to that realm where the magic happens.

Launching the 10-song collection with the warm breeze of “I Need To Drive,” Held takes you on a rich musical and lyrical journey through scenic and mystical places. She paints such redolent images as “a shimmering sapphire shy,” “a chandelier of stars,” “Musclewoods, all dipped in mercury and silver,” “heavenly bodies suspended in space” and “rainbows to chase” atop a canvas of luxuriant musicality. Along the way you meet fellow travelers with a “Tumbleweed Heart” or “Watermelon Moon Eyes,” savor touches of romanticism under the midnight sky with “You’re My Falling Star” and “I Don't Care About the Moon,” and tap your feet the soulful bop of “Shoop Ta Sho,” lit by a deliciously muted trumpet. The reflective “Winter Blossom” and “Moon’s Too Bright” draw out archetypal feelings we all share, and by the time she closes the album with the warm embers of “Our Goodbyes,” you know you’ve made the acquaintance of a new and wonderful musical companion who is a delightfully welcome addition to your life. - By Rob Patterson, Music Critic, Austin TX

This debut's calling card comes complete with decorative notes. Drive is no freshman effort; these are songs written by someone who's been wise enough to wait until her time is ripe. Paula Held's real strength lies in avoiding the singer-songwriter trap, which she does neatly by employing jazzy, poppy arrangements ("You're My Falling Star") bolstered by producer Stephen Doster's touch. - Austin Chronicle | August 19, 2010

This debut's calling card comes complete with decorative notes. Drive is no freshman effort; these are songs written by someone who's been wise enough to wait until her time is ripe. Paula Held's real strength lies in avoiding the singer-songwriter trap, which she does neatly by employing jazzy, poppy arrangements ("You're My Falling Star") bolstered by producer Stephen Doster's touch. - Austin Chronicle | August 19, 2010

Paula Held ~ DRIVE CD Review
By Arthur Wood | Maverick Magazine, Sept 2011
4 out of 5

DRIVE is a curiously addictive marriage of folk, pop and jazz influences.

These days Paula Held is based in Austin, Texas. Five years ago her home was Tallahassee, Florida. Before that came Miami, preceded by periods when she lived in Rhode Island and Philadelphia, as well childhood years when her family resided in Madrid and Seville, Spain. As for the source of her musical genes - her father is a music professor and composer, while her late mother sang.

DRIVE, Paula’s debut solo release, is a ten-song melodic marriage of folk, pop and jazz influences. It was recorded at EAR studio in Austin, and produced by guitarist/producer/recording artist Stephen Doster. The musicians aiding Held (guitar, lead & harmony vocal) and Doster (acoustic/electric guitar, harmony vocals) on DRIVE include J. J. Johnson (drums, percussion), Chris Maresh (double bass), Red Young (keyboards, Hammond organ), Ephraim Ownes (trumpet) and Dennis Ludiker (strings).

Housed in a three-way fold-out card liner, relative to I Need To Drive - the opening song - the four-way folded lyric sheet contains a dedication to Jeannette Walls, author of the autobiographical THE GLASS CASTLE (2005). As for the aforementioned lyric, it wrestles with the conundrum of ‘retaining a place one can call home’ while concurrently ‘desiring the freedom of unfettered wanderlust.’ The trumpet and drum propelled Shoop Ta Sho ploughs an American Songbook jazz influenced furrow, while the narrator in the ensuing slow-paced I Don’t Care About The Moon professes her love, although the object of her affection could equally be a friend, child or lover.

Having name-checked our nearest planetary neighbour in the latter song title, it’s worth referencing the album artwork at this juncture. On the front cover a basket appears to be coupled to a balloon by three rather tenuous looking ropes. The basket contains one female passenger her arms open wide as if to embrace the future. In truth, the basket is suspended beneath the moon. Fully opening the outer face of the card liner reveals that the balloon, basket and passenger are floating over the landscape of a populated planet. Pursuing the latter vein, on DRIVE there’s further mention of the heavens in Held’s song titles You’re My Falling Star, Watermelon Moon Eyes and Moon’s Too Bright.

Winter Blossom colourfully reflects upon the seasons, while the ensuing Tumbleweed Heart is an engaging tale of the enduring affair between a ‘sagebrush girl’ and a fellow with a ‘tumbleweed heart.’ Closing with Our Goodbyes, truth to tell, DRIVE is subjectively pretty much carpeted with love songs, although thankfully they are thoughtfully poetic and, on occasions, edgy creations.

www.paulaheld.com and www.reverbnation.com/paulaheld
Arthur Wood.
Copyright Kerrville Kronikles 06/11. - Maverick Magazine, UK | September 2011

Austin-based singer-songwriter Paula Held gave herself permission to follow her muse, the velvet-blue night sky and its cast of heavenly components, when her son transitioned into adulthood and left her with some well-deserved time alone to finally put a pen to her thoughts. The result is sophomore release “Drive,” a crafty concoction of heartfelt folk and vintage jazz that has earned the chanteuse both critical acclaim and stage-time in notable songwriter hubs like Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe. Produced by veteran Stephen Doster (Nancy Griffith/Lyle Lovett) at Austin’s E.A.R. Studios, Drive’s tracks provide the perfect soundtrack for summer with campfire storytelling (“Tumbleweed Heart”), time-honored ragtime (“You’re My Falling Star”) and lighthearted, organic fare that seamlessly melds the fun, surfer-blues vibe of Jack Johnson with the classic American composition of Cole Porter (“Shoop Ta Sho”). “Drive’s” lyrical intimacy and blithe instrumentation take listeners on the scenic route to a warmly familiar destination. - Austin American Statesman | July 12, 2010

Austin-based singer-songwriter Paula Held gave herself permission to follow her muse, the velvet-blue night sky and its cast of heavenly components, when her son transitioned into adulthood and left her with some well-deserved time alone to finally put a pen to her thoughts. The result is sophomore release “Drive,” a crafty concoction of heartfelt folk and vintage jazz that has earned the chanteuse both critical acclaim and stage-time in notable songwriter hubs like Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe. Produced by veteran Stephen Doster (Nancy Griffith/Lyle Lovett) at Austin’s E.A.R. Studios, Drive’s tracks provide the perfect soundtrack for summer with campfire storytelling (“Tumbleweed Heart”), time-honored ragtime (“You’re My Falling Star”) and lighthearted, organic fare that seamlessly melds the fun, surfer-blues vibe of Jack Johnson with the classic American composition of Cole Porter (“Shoop Ta Sho”). “Drive’s” lyrical intimacy and blithe instrumentation take listeners on the scenic route to a warmly familiar destination. - Austin American Statesman | July 12, 2010

ARTIST'S STATEMENT:
"DRIVE is about letting go. Life's a struggle between control and surrender, same as driving a car. Driving involves moving the mechanical elements forward, that's all. You have to drive the car. You have to deal with life's painful realities. But that's it. The rest is trust and go." - Paula Held