Paula Boggs: From Corporate to Creator a Remarkable Journey.

Paula Boggs is my guest for this episode. Paula’s music is powerful. Her journey is encouraging. This is a must listen episode.

“Seattle-Brewed Soulgrass”

It is a disservice to describe Paula with just one title. Her background is extensive. Raised in the segregated south until her parents divorced. Paula spent her junior and senior high school years in Europe. She attended Johns Hopkins University and University of California, Berkeley for law school. 

Here is a sample of Paula’s background after college.

• U.S. Army Officer
• Staff Attorney White House Iran-Contra Legal Task Force
• Assistant U.S. Attorney
• Partner at Preston Gates & Ellis
• VP at Dell Computer
• Chief General Counsel at Starbucks Coffee
• Frontwoman Paula Boggs Band

In addition Paula serves on various boards of both non-profit and for profit companies.

Listen to Paula as she shares stories about her career and about her musical journey.

Find out more about Paula by visiting her bands website here.

Paula Boggs Episode Transcription

You don’t understand. You’ve got me confused with someone who’s not afraid of heights.

Scott Cowan [00:00:25]:

Welcome to the Exploring Washington State podcast. Here’s your host, Scott Cowan.

Scott Cowan [00:00:32]:

Take five. Welcome back to the Exploring Washington State podcast. My guest today is Paula Boggs. Paula is a musician, but with a very interesting, journey that we’re gonna talk about. Paula, welcome to the show. Thank you for taking the time to be here with us.

Paula Boggs [00:00:48]:

Thanks for having me, Scott.

Scott Cowan [00:00:50]:

So Paula and I have a shared work history. We were both, worked at Starbucks, Coffee back twenty years ago or so. Not not that we knew each other, but, we we might have been in the same coffee room on the on the on one of the floors. Who knows? I mean, I always enjoyed working there because I was always impressed, like, there’s coffee everywhere. This is great.

Paula Boggs [00:01:10]:

Everywhere.

Scott Cowan [00:01:12]:

Paula, what let’s let me let’s start this. You’re you you know how the Paula Boggs band, but there’s a a long journey before we got to that point. So how about sharing some of that with our audience so that we can kinda build the backstory to what you’re doing today.

Paula Boggs [00:01:31]:

Sure, Scott. And, you know, you’ll you’ll have to guide me on, you know, how far and how much you want, but, let’s let’s frame it this this way to to kick it off. I’m I’m someone who, who is very lucky, and part of being very lucky is how it all started for me. I’m I’m the child of educators, and, my family goes back centuries, in this country. I think we, can record, as early as the late seventeen hundreds

Scott Cowan [00:02:18]:

Oh, wow.

Paula Boggs [00:02:18]:

As enslaved people here. Mhmm. And from a very early age, and this is a theme that, you know, continues through my life to today, it was hard to put my experience in a box, because, even as a little kid, I was living I was living in the segregated South as a black Roman Catholic. Okay? So Catholics are a minority in the South, at least they were. Black Catholics were and to this day are a minority of African Americans. And so that’s how that was kind of the framing, of that for me as the child of educators. My my dad was a biology professor at Virginia State, which is an historically black college. And that was basically how I rolled.

Paula Boggs [00:03:24]:

I I attended the only integrated school in Petersburg. The Catholic school was the only integrated school. And that was kind of my my vibe until my folks split up, and that led to my mom taking me and her three other kids out of the segregated South to Europe. And so for me, from grades eight through 12, I lived in Germany and Italy. And those experiences really, imprinted deeply, the person I became. I returned to United States, went to college, joined the army, became a lawyer. And, you know, over over the, you know, the course of a generation, that was pretty much my gig, until it wasn’t. As you know, I left Starbucks, about a decade ago.

Paula Boggs [00:04:32]:

And, since then, I’ve been a creator, whether that, is in music or speaking or some other way touching, the creative arts. So that’s the that’s you can you can, you know, move from there

Scott Cowan [00:04:55]:

Okay.

Paula Boggs [00:04:56]:

As you wish. But throughout all of that, I think, it’s important for your listeners to know, music was either a a central player, or it was, you know, in a latency period before it it reemerged. But, I I believe it never left.

Scott Cowan [00:05:21]:

Growing up, let’s let’s I’ll ask this question. So pre Europe, was music prevalent in the household?

Paula Boggs [00:05:29]:

It was, it was there. It was present. Okay. But I’m not sure I would use the word prevalent. And and the reason I say that is there was music you know, I remember Otis Redding and the temptations and, you know, stuff like that. That’s what I was hearing in my household.

Scott Cowan [00:05:57]:

Okay.

Paula Boggs [00:05:58]:

You know, not every day, but we had those records, those LPs and 40 fives. I was attending both Catholic church, and my mom wasn’t Catholic. She was African Methodist Episcopal. So I had this diversity of, church music experiences. You know, one one Sunday, I might be at the Catholic church and, you know, listening to, you know, the and and and, you know, the incense and the genuflections and, you know, was a kid as folk music emerged

Scott Cowan [00:06:42]:

k.

Paula Boggs [00:06:43]:

As an art form in the Catholic church. But then the next week, I’d be at Oak Street AME Zion Church where there was gospel. And so both of those influences, I believe, remain in, you know, the music I write to this day.

Scott Cowan [00:07:07]:

How about when you moved to Europe? Were you how was your high school years of Europe? How was the music scene? Were you did you did you were you listening to different stuff when you were in Europe? Were you exposed to things there that you, you know, that influenced you?

Paula Boggs [00:07:26]:

Totally. I mean, it was it was, almost night and day in some respects. There there were forms of music I had never heard before that, became, you know, part of my my my music palette. An example of that is jazz. I had I had never really been exposed, to jazz, before moving to Europe. But my mom was a teacher in the Department of Defense school system. So so the children she taught were the children of military personnel and and and civilians stationed there. And with that community, we came to know those communities, we came to know expat American musicians.

Paula Boggs [00:08:25]:

And and and for the most part, they were either jazz musicians or classical musicians. And so for the first time in my life, I was actually hanging out with jazz musicians and classical music musicians. I had heard some, you know, baroque classical music in the Catholic Church, but the diversity of classical music I was exposed to in Europe was, was something quite magnificent, for me. And, you know, we were during that five year period, I was a teen in Europe. Not only were we in Germany, and and in Germany in in the seventies, there was the emergence of what we now know as EDM music. So you had, you know, these bands like Kraftwerk, who, you know, were emerging in Germany, back then when I was a teen. And so, you know, so that music, you know, there was no exposure to music like that for me when I lived in, you know, segregated Petersburg, Virginia. And

Scott Cowan [00:09:46]:

Oh, probably not.

Paula Boggs [00:09:46]:

And then we moved to Italy. And Okay. And so there was, you know, opera and and and whatnot that was certainly not part of my experience before we got, to Europe. So, yes. In addition to being exposed to, you know, a diversity of people, I mean, I I had my first, you know, sleepovers with white girls, in Europe. I was being exposed to just this amazing palette of diverse music.

Scott Cowan [00:10:24]:

Then you you came back to The States for college. Where where did you go to college at?

Paula Boggs [00:10:29]:

I went I went to Johns Hopkins University on on a an ROTC scholarship. So that’s the only way I would have been able to afford Johns Hopkins, and it it was now I know this. It was absolutely the best place for someone like me. And the reason for that is Hopkins prides itself on, on exploration.

Scott Cowan [00:11:05]:

Okay.

Paula Boggs [00:11:06]:

Yeah. And whether that’s scientific exploration or, you know, anything else. Meaning, if you could sell it, they’d give you credit for it. And for someone like me, that was perfect because that’s what I’ve been doing my entire life. Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:11:33]:

From so from there, you went and how many years were you in the army?

Paula Boggs [00:11:38]:

All told, I was I was in the army for seven years, but three of those were while I was in law school. So so four years active duty army.

Scott Cowan [00:11:51]:

K. I’m on your I’m on your website and reading your your bio here, and there’s so I have two questions about your military career that you can help me out with here.

Paula Boggs [00:12:00]:

Sure.

Scott Cowan [00:12:02]:

Regular officer in the United States army earned army airborne wings. Does that mean you jumped out of airplanes as a lawyer?

Paula Boggs [00:12:08]:

Yes. It does.

Scott Cowan [00:12:09]:

Did you

Scott Cowan [00:12:09]:

did you, like, carry a briefcase when you jumped out? Or I mean, what what why Explain this to me because I’m not

Scott Cowan [00:12:19]:

a I didn’t grow up in a military family nor so if you were going to law school to be an attorney, what was the why were you jumping out of airplanes? I mean, mean, I’d ask anybody that question. Why are you jumping out of airplanes? Seems like

Scott Cowan [00:12:32]:

a crazy thing, period, no

Scott Cowan [00:12:33]:

matter what you’re doing. But what what’s why were you was that optional? Did you want to? Was it required?

Paula Boggs [00:12:42]:

It’s it’s actually a a really cool story in in many respects. I went to airborne school while still an an army ROTC cadet. So I was not yet a commissioned officer. I was still in college. And so what I tell people is I was I was a very serious student at Hopkins, but I wasn’t a very serious cadet. Okay?

Scott Cowan [00:13:16]:

Okay. I mean, I

Paula Boggs [00:13:17]:

was on scholarship there, but it was sort of like for those who remember Gomer Pyle, it was sort of, you know, an African American female version of Clover Pyle. Yeah. So so one day, my my professor of military science, he is just so exasperated with me because I am just not serious. He he literally takes me by my shoulders, and he’s shaking me. And he says, you are not serious. He says, you need you’re about to enter this man’s army. That’s how he put it. Mhmm.

Paula Boggs [00:14:02]:

This man and you need an edge. You need to go to airborne school. And literally, Scott, I went, woah. No, sir. You don’t understand. You’ve got me confused with someone who’s not afraid of heights. And he said, no. You.

Paula Boggs [00:14:25]:

I’m talking to you. Oh my god. And you can you can do this. And I was like, sir, I can’t do this. And he said, yes, you can. He said, here’s all you have to do. They’re gonna yell at you. They’re gonna scream at you.

Paula Boggs [00:14:38]:

They’re gonna make you do a ton of push ups. They’re gonna make you feel awful. But just remember, it’s all designed so that when they say jump, you will jump and you will land safely. Now I don’t I’m not gonna say I believed him right out of the block, Scott, because I I didn’t. But there was something about him having faith in me in a way I I clearly did not have in myself that led me to say yes. And, you know, and he he worked with me. He said, look. You’re an athlete.

Paula Boggs [00:15:19]:

And I was. I I ran cross country and and track at at Hopkins. So I I was in shape, and he was right. I would I learned how to get my mind in a place where I could navigate fear and and get to the other side of it. Now I’m still afraid of heights. I’m still afraid of heights, but I also earned my airborne wings. And and what that taught me, you know, whether it’s leaving Starbucks, to become a musician, or something else that, you know, fear fear can be healthy.

Scott Cowan [00:16:09]:

Mhmm.

Paula Boggs [00:16:09]:

You know? Fear can protect you, but fear can also cripple you, if you let it. And so it gave me, a a a tool set, if you will, going to airborne school that has served me well ever since. Because, you know, as life comes to any of us, you know, there’s hard stuff. And there’s stuff that can make any of us fearful. I’m not immune to that. But because I had that experience as as a young person, and it was so imprinting, for me. It has served as a guidepost for me.

Scott Cowan [00:17:04]:

The other part of this military thing says, and a congressional appointment to the US Naval Academy among America’s First women to do so. What is the congressional appointment to the US Naval Academy?

Paula Boggs [00:17:19]:

Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:17:19]:

Did you attend Annapolis?

Paula Boggs [00:17:22]:

I ended up not going. I ended up going to to Hopkins and taking my army ROTC scholarship instead. Okay. But, you know, setting the stage a little bit for your listeners, the the military academies were barred to women.

Scott Cowan [00:17:41]:

K.

Paula Boggs [00:17:41]:

Women were not allowed to attend, the academies, until 1976. And so I was in high school when that happened, and I was living on a military installation, right, in Europe. So for a lot of kids, I mean, mostly the guys, but if you were, you know, if you had good grades and you were an athlete, it was almost expected that you were gonna at least apply to one of the military academies. That was, you know, our environment. So when the academies opened their doors to women, there were those of us who were, you know, were athletes and had good grades, and that became open to us as well. Now to get into the any of the academies, whether it’s Annapolis or West Point or the Air Force Academy, doesn’t matter, Coast Guard Academy, you you have to you can only be accepted. You can can only be in the pool of people who can potentially be accepted if you’ve got, a recommendation from the president of The United States, from a US Senator, or from a member of Congress. You must have, a recommendation, to even be put in the pool.

Paula Boggs [00:19:15]:

K. So I’m in Europe. I told you I lived in the segregated South. And this is the best part of this story. So my congressman from Virginia, which was the last place we lived, was an avowed segregationist. Okay? This dude did not believe in the equality of black people and white people. He just did not. Okay? And was a proponent of a system that kept blacks and whites apart.

Paula Boggs [00:19:56]:

But he had no clue who I was. I was this kid in Europe.

Scott Cowan [00:20:02]:

Okay.

Paula Boggs [00:20:02]:

And so the most beautiful part of my congressional appointment is that I received it from an avowed segregationist.

Scott Cowan [00:20:15]:

That’s that’s beautiful, actually. That’s okay. Wow. Then you went to Berkeley for law school?

Paula Boggs [00:20:25]:

Yes. Which the best the the best part of that, Scott, was not so much the law school part of it. The best part of the next step in my life journey being Berkeley

Scott Cowan [00:20:45]:

Mhmm.

Paula Boggs [00:20:45]:

Was Berkeley. You know?

Scott Cowan [00:20:47]:

So I have

Paula Boggs [00:20:48]:

to ask It was just

Scott Cowan [00:20:50]:

I got I’m gonna interrupt you. I gotta ask this question.

Paula Boggs [00:20:52]:

Yes.

Scott Cowan [00:20:54]:

So you went to Berkeley.

Paula Boggs [00:20:55]:

Yes.

Scott Cowan [00:20:56]:

Did you ever go see the Grateful Dead?

Paula Boggs [00:21:00]:

I’ve seen the Grateful Dead, but not in Berkeley.

Scott Cowan [00:21:03]:

Oh, okay.

Paula Boggs [00:21:04]:

I saw the Grateful Dead in Portland, Maine. Oh,

Scott Cowan [00:21:10]:

yeah. Okay. Sorry. I had to interrupt because I’m, like, thinking yeah. Anyway. Alright. Sorry to interrupt you. So

Scott Cowan [00:21:21]:

so you you you grew up in segregation. You went to Europe. You went to Johns Hopkins, and then you end up in Berkeley. You you’ve you’re really

Scott Cowan [00:21:33]:

that’s quite the diverse,

Scott Cowan [00:21:38]:

path location wise.

Paula Boggs [00:21:41]:

Yeah. It it is, and, you know, it it informs who I am.

Scott Cowan [00:21:48]:

I wanna talk to music, so we’re gonna cut short your your career, and I’m not doing you justice. But I’m I you help me out. What is the what how do I wanna ask? This is I wore I warned you this they’re not scripted. So but you you have served on a number of boards. You’ve you’ve done a number of appointments. There’s a photograph here with you and a president, Barack Obama. Fender music. I’m just scrolling here.

Scott Cowan [00:22:24]:

K k e x p. You were at Dell Dell computers. I’m leaving out far more than I’m covering by and you and and and I’m just in the I I’m gonna give you a a critique. The font is awfully small on your website. It’s hard to read all these things. It’s so dense. And I’m kidding, but it’s, wow, there’s so much going on here. Let’s go back to Starbucks.

Scott Cowan [00:22:50]:

You’re the chief counsel for the corporation. You were there for ten years.

Paula Boggs [00:22:56]:

I sure was.

Scott Cowan [00:22:58]:

And I think we were discussing this part of it before we actually recorded with Starbucks grew a lot during those ten years and, spread out across the globe, if you will, and and you were overseeing the the legal teams and all that. Somehow, somewhere, there’s this, you you mentioned how you’re gonna tell Howard Schultz that you’re thank you, and I I I appreciate my time here, but I’m gonna go and play music. That’s right. So how was that conversation?

Scott Cowan [00:23:32]:

I mean, because I gotta imagine that’s a pretty, pretty unique, way to resign from a from a very

Scott Cowan [00:23:45]:

prominent corporate position.

Scott Cowan [00:23:48]:

How did how did mister Schultz take this?

Paula Boggs [00:23:52]:

You know, it it’s it’s a beautiful story, Scott, because being at Starbucks, and I think having, you know, worked there yourself, what I’m about to say may resonate with you. I don’t even know if I I would have returned to music, working at another company. Oh. I think there’s a a direct connection between I mean, being at Starbucks wasn’t the the primary trigger that that brought me back to music. But I think being in that petri dish, being in a community of people who for so many of them, Starbucks was the one corporation they could work for. There’s a, you know, an overwhelming number of people who are creative people who find their way to Starbucks, in our in in the stores, yeah, all the way up. Right? And so as I was returning to music inch by inch in, say, that 02/2005, ‘2 thousand ‘6 time frame, I had a lot of support for that journey. You know, my my team was kinda rooting for me, as were my peers.

Paula Boggs [00:25:37]:

And, Howard’s predecessor, Jim Donald, was just a big fan. He was he was a big fan of of me exploring that side of me, you know? And so by the time Howard came back as CEO, you know, the the you know, this train was moving, you know, and I, and so he he had, you know, he bore witness to all of this. So, you you know, it wasn’t this lightning bolt out of the blue in in that sense. Having said that though, I rehearsed that conversation for several months with my spouse. Okay. She was playing Howard, because I knew I only had one shot. And, you know, it had to be good, and it had to be a message that made it clear what it was. It had nothing to do with Starbucks.

Paula Boggs [00:26:51]:

It had nothing to do with him. Mhmm. And I had to convey that somehow that this was all about me. You know, not only was I gonna leave Starbucks, I was gonna leave law. It wasn’t like I was leaving Starbucks to go someplace else, in corporate America. I wasn’t. This was it. You know, Starbucks was going to be the pinnacle of that chapter.

Paula Boggs [00:27:24]:

And so that’s what I told him. I told him that, you know, I I felt blessed to have had law and business be such a central part of my being for these many years, but I was done. And while I was still young enough to do this thing, I was gonna do this thing. And he took it really well. And I think part of it is, we were having this conversation only a couple months after Steve Jobs died. Oh. You know? And so, I think, you know, Steve Jobs dying, and I think Howard saw Steve Jobs as a peer. They were around the same age and all of that.

Paula Boggs [00:28:22]:

So this this notion of none of us knows how much time we have on this earth. We need to spend it the way we need to spend it.

Scott Cowan [00:28:34]:

Mhmm.

Paula Boggs [00:28:35]:

I think that was a message he was very ready to receive, because of because of all of that. So, yeah, it was a good conversation. And, the the company celebrated my my ending of that chapter at its, at its twenty twelve annual meeting. It was a really cool thing.

Scott Cowan [00:29:09]:

I’m glad to hear that it was well received. And I and I believed believed it would be well received. I mean, I I believe but it’s not like your position was easily filled. In other words, it’s not like or say, hey. Can somebody take my shift on Friday and make coffee? You know, it wasn’t it’s it’s a little more complex than that. So we’re gonna just, you know, grind the gears because we’re gonna shift a weight. Now that was kind of your your corporate chapters.

Paula Boggs [00:29:38]:

Yes.

Scott Cowan [00:29:38]:

And let’s talk the Paula Boggs band. But before we start that, you said something, and I gotta go back to it. You saw the Grateful Dead in Portland, Maine. I never talked to somebody that saw the the dead in Portland, Maine. How was that?

Paula Boggs [00:29:53]:

It was it was amazing. So you you know, I gotta explain a little bit how I got to Portland, Maine. So Okay. I was in Berkeley. Yeah. I was a law student at Berkeley. And, you know, apropos of, you know, sort of how I’m wired, I I I learned about this internship possibility in Portland, Maine while I was in Berkeley, California. And so I applied for it because, you know, the theory being, when else am I gonna live in Portland, Maine? Or Seems reasonable.

Paula Boggs [00:30:30]:

New England for that matter. And so I moved, you know, first first semester, I moved, you know, 3,000 miles from Berkeley, California, to Portland, Maine. And then after I graduated from law school before I started work, I I spent part of my summer that next summer in Portland, and I I saw the Grateful Dead. It was an experience I will never forget. I’ve never seen so much tie dye in my life, Scott. And as you might imagine, there was there was ample weed.

Scott Cowan [00:31:12]:

Yeah. Yeah. Yes. That’s

Paula Boggs [00:31:14]:

yeah. Apple weed. I also saw Neil Young in in Portland. Those were the two, you know, iconic music acts I saw in Portland, Maine. And the the most interesting thing about Neil Young, at least for me, was Neil Young was playing this sort of north of crazy horse kind of, you know, super electronic stuff. And the crowd started booing. Okay? I mean, you know, sort of like a la Bob Dylan pulling out his electric guitar thing at Newport. And Neil Young leaves the stage.

Paula Boggs [00:31:57]:

He literally left the stage, and there’s it’s like, is he coming back? Is he you know, what’s what’s going on? So he comes back out after, I don’t know, fifteen minutes. I mean, it was a while. And the first song he plays is, comes a time.

Scott Cowan [00:32:19]:

Oh.

Paula Boggs [00:32:19]:

As another one or other the words, get over yourselves. You know? I’m gonna play what I wanna play.

Scott Cowan [00:32:28]:

Wow. At the at is that the only time you saw the Grateful Dead? Was it important?

Paula Boggs [00:32:32]:

That’s the only time

Scott Cowan [00:32:33]:

So did you did you experience the parking lot scene at a Dead show? Did you

Paula Boggs [00:32:38]:

Well, you know, I don’t know if if what you’re referring to is what I saw, but the only thing I can compare it to my sister was a cheerleader for Notre Dame. Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:32:53]:

And I

Paula Boggs [00:32:53]:

went to a football game, and they have these, what they call, subway domers. People come from all over the place. Some of them never having attended, Notre Dame, and they have, like, these tailgate thing. And it’s it’s like a cultural event. Right? Right. And it felt similarly. I mean, that’s the only other thing I can only with more tie dye and more weed.

Scott Cowan [00:33:22]:

More more tie dye and more weed. I just I just remember, I’ve seen the Grateful Dead a lot, but the parking lot, you know, what’s always amazed me is the entrepreneurial endeavors that people would take to stay unemployed and follow the dead. Yeah. Like, selling burritos heated on the manifolds of their Volkswagen buses and and any manner of you know, you could buy tie dye any manner of tie dye or any manner of all sorts of things. It was just the circus outside of the show that was, in some ways, more entertaining than the show. It was just the creativity people exhibited, was was fascinating to me. So maybe someday there’ll be, you know, parking lot shows for your your your band. I I don’t know.

Paula Boggs [00:34:13]:

We we could we, you know, we can only aspire. Right? You know, dream big. Right?

Scott Cowan [00:34:18]:

There you go. So when you left Starbucks, how did so how did your band come about? Let let’s talk the the the or the origin story of of the band. How how did you meet some of the players, and and how did you execute that initial vision?

Paula Boggs [00:34:37]:

Yeah. So I I came back to music early. So I I I think of it as my return to music, happened in 02/2005 in the wake of my sister-in-law being killed in a car crash, and my spouse persuading me to pick up my guitar again, as a way to grieve. Okay. With within a short period of time, I was I I learned about, and my my spouse persuaded me to do it. I took a course, one year songwriter certificate course through the University of Washington’s, evening program. Continuing education program. And I loved it.

Paula Boggs [00:35:38]:

You know, I auditioned for it. It was a year. I was in a community of songwriters for the first time in my life, really. At the end of that, so we’re in 02/2006 by then, one of my teachers, we had a recital. And at the end of it, she says, you know, Paula, I think I really think you’ve got something here with your songwriting, and what a shame it would be if you didn’t keep going. Now I didn’t know what keep going meant. I I had no clue what that meant. You know, Starbucks general counsel, top lawyer.

Paula Boggs [00:36:13]:

You know, I’m I’m I’m working insane hours, etcetera, etcetera. But I decided, that it could mean, and what I made it mean was at the beginning of o seven, I did one open mic a month. Okay. And yeah. And I I said, I I can do that. I can do one o open mic a month, which I did. And on that journey, I met two musicians who continue to be part of Paul LeBlanc’s band. Tor Dietrichson, I actually met through Myspace when it was a thing, realizing he was a Seattle Musician.

Paula Boggs [00:36:54]:

He’s a percussionist, and he’s amazing. So we’ve been playing, you know, for fourteen, fifteen years together. And, and then Mark Shannon, I I actually who who plays guitar and and banjo in the band, We actually met in Honolulu. We were both there, but we’re both from Seattle. And so and so, you know, Tor and Mark and I and a couple other guys, you know, became Paula Paula Boggs’ band. We had our first gig at, the Triple Door Music Aquarium in January of o eight. And the only reason they gave us a shot was because of tour. Tor Dietrichson plays with a number of bands and was a known quantity to the triple door.

Paula Boggs [00:37:50]:

And so he vouched for us and and basically said, you know, these guys are good. I play with them. Give them a shot. And that’s how we got it. It was no more, you know, complicated than than that. They like tour. That’s why we got the shot. They like tour.

Paula Boggs [00:38:08]:

And that’s how it all began. And, you know, by, the next year, we were, we were recording a a first album, which we, released.

Scott Cowan [00:38:25]:

And

Scott Cowan [00:38:25]:

Where did you record where did you record your first album at?

Paula Boggs [00:38:27]:

We, we met a guy. I met a guy, through actually, my spouse found him on Craigslist, named Matthew Brown, who turned out to be just perfect for us because Matt is is so good. And and, I mean, he he has a point of view, but he’s also laid back. Right? And approaches recording in in a sort of a partnership mindset, which worked really well for us. And, you know, he was he never there was never a moment where he was telling us, Scott, well, that’s stupid. I mean, here’s you know, I’m someone who I mean, I’ve never done this before. You know? This is the first time, and I really, you know, appreciate that, about about Matt. And so, yeah, he he produced it.

Paula Boggs [00:39:32]:

He engineered it. And, you know, because of that, we were off to the races with, you know, our first album, Buddhist state of mind.

Scott Cowan [00:39:45]:

Alright. And how so did you self publish that? Was that was that on a label, or did you self did you self publish it

Paula Boggs [00:39:54]:

so far? I self published it, and, you know, we’ve we’ve never, you know, we’ve never had label, support for any of our albums. And, you know, it’s something we we certainly aspire to, though, you know, the whole landscape for music in 2022 is very different than in 2010. I think, you know, there are many musicians out there who are less, you know, are less needy for

Scott Cowan [00:40:32]:

Mhmm.

Paula Boggs [00:40:33]:

Label, support. And, you know, one of the one of the upsides to one of the creative upsides to not having label support, if you can do it, is maintaining ownership of your music.

Scott Cowan [00:40:52]:

Well and when you think about how far the advances in technology also for, like, recording purposes, your your your phone I’m gonna I’m gonna make a guess that you have an iPhone. Just I do. Just to yeah. Just to guess. Yeah. And on your iPhone, you know, GarageBand is a remarkably powerful little thing that sits there on your on your phone. I

Paula Boggs [00:41:13]:

mean Absolutely.

Scott Cowan [00:41:14]:

Twenty years ago, if I would have suggested that to somebody, they’d looked at me like I was from outer space. And and now are these these devices that we have are just remarkably powerful for a creative person, no matter whether you’re a musician, a photographer, any anything. They’re they’re amazing devices. So you release the first album.

Paula Boggs [00:41:33]:

Mhmm.

Scott Cowan [00:41:36]:

We’re gonna shift this up. I’m gonna ask you some some questions I’d love to ask musicians. Yeah. As a performer, Washington State only place because we are the Exploring Washington State podcast. Yeah. Your favorite venue that you performed at as a performer has been what?

Paula Boggs [00:41:53]:

Oh my god. It it has to be the Triple Door main stage. And we were just there last week. It

Scott Cowan [00:42:02]:

So why why do you say the Triple Door?

Paula Boggs [00:42:05]:

The the setting is is intimate. So, you know, I think the triple doors capacity I mean, it may be 250, but it may be less. You know, it’s somewhere in that 200 to 250. So it there there’s an intimacy about that venue that is is furthered by, you know, people can opt to eat there. Right?

Scott Cowan [00:42:38]:

Mhmm.

Paula Boggs [00:42:38]:

And it’s configured in this almost dinner club style, that that I think further fuels the intimacy of that place. Coupled with that, the acoustics are off the chart. I mean, just the most amazing acoustics in the triple door. Coupled with that, the lighting is amazing. In fact, we had a, we hired a photographer to shoot our show. And when we told her it was the triple door, she was like, oh, I love that place. As a photographer, it’s it’s just an amazing venue for a photographer because the lighting is just off the hook.

Scott Cowan [00:43:36]:

Okay.

Paula Boggs [00:43:36]:

And then I guess the last thing I mean, the stage is great. I mean, everything is great. The the how they treat musicians, the green room in the back. They they feed their musicians before the show. I mean, they it and the food is amazing. You know? And then and then finally, the people are just nice.

Scott Cowan [00:43:59]:

Okay.

Paula Boggs [00:44:00]:

Every we’ve never we’ve never met a jerk at the triple door. They they just you know, the the wait staff, the the audio guy or gal. I mean, everybody’s just nice. They’re very professional. They’re very nice. So yeah. Triple Door main stage.

Scott Cowan [00:44:22]:

Flip the question around now. Your favorite place to see music performed at when you’re in the audience?

Paula Boggs [00:44:29]:

Well, I think it’s the triple door. Well, it’s a toss-up. It’s it’s, you know, we we’re not a jazz band, so we we don’t play there. But as a as a, listener, I love Jazz Alley.

Scott Cowan [00:44:50]:

K.

Paula Boggs [00:44:51]:

For many of the same reasons.

Scott Cowan [00:44:55]:

Right.

Paula Boggs [00:44:56]:

I also love, Benaroya Hall and, McCaw, and have seen some amazing non classical music performances. I you know, I’ve seen classical music performances in in each place, but I’ve seen amazing non classical music Right. Performances. For example, I’m seeing Eddie Vedder at Benaroya Hall tonight, and I know it’s going to be amazing, acoustically excellent. It’s it’s just an amazing venue.

Scott Cowan [00:45:38]:

If if if your if your schedules got conflict, I’d be happy to drive over from Wenatchee and take those tickets off your hand

Scott Cowan [00:45:44]:

and go

Scott Cowan [00:45:44]:

go to the show for each night.

Paula Boggs [00:45:46]:

Just just It’s gonna be it’s gonna be epic. Helpful.

Scott Cowan [00:45:48]:

Trying to be helpful.

Paula Boggs [00:45:49]:

Just It’s gonna be epic.

Scott Cowan [00:45:51]:

Yeah. It’s it’s a beautiful venue. Alright. So your first show is at the Triple Door. I mean, I honestly, I don’t know where to go from that. That

Scott Cowan [00:46:00]:

one you’ve

Scott Cowan [00:46:00]:

you’ve stumped me. That’s that’s a pretty pretty impressive place to play the first show. So you released your first album.

Paula Boggs [00:46:07]:

Yes.

Scott Cowan [00:46:08]:

You’ve you have a second album released. So let’s talk about that process.

Paula Boggs [00:46:14]:

Yeah. So, it wasn’t it wasn’t a straight line. Oh, okay.

Scott Cowan [00:46:22]:

To be

Paula Boggs [00:46:22]:

perfectly honest about it. So, you know, we released Buddha State of Mind, our first album in 2010. And by 2013, we had enough material, you know, for a second album. And we we tried our hand at, you know, recording it, but it just wasn’t right, Scott. It didn’t hang. We, you know, it just it was we weren’t clear enough about what this music should be. And and so we essentially started again in 2014 with a different producer. And this time, we, we worked with Trina Shoemaker who who lives, in Mobile or outside of Mobile, Alabama, but who’s, worked with a number of Northwest Artists.

Paula Boggs [00:47:33]:

And so and she was very familiar with Bear Creek, which was where we wanted to record. So Trina actually came up. She had worked with Brandy Carlisle and others in the Pacific Northwest. She knew she knew the, the studio Bear Creek really well. We wanted to be at Bear Creek because we wanted that vibe. We wanted that. We thought that being, you know, in that farm like setting, that barn like setting would be really good for the music we hoped to create.

Scott Cowan [00:48:12]:

Okay.

Paula Boggs [00:48:13]:

And and to work with Trina. And so we did, and that ended up being, Carnival of Miracles, our second album. We released it in 2015, and then we, came back with Trina a cup a year after releasing it in 2016. And and with Trina, we recorded our third studio album, Elixir, the Soulgrass sessions. And that was we we, you know, we wrote on that for for a couple years. You know, the pandemic intervened, but it didn’t it didn’t frustrate my ability to write. In fact, in some ways, it fueled it. And so k.

Paula Boggs [00:49:12]:

The songs on this latest album, Janice, were all either written, or reimagined, during during COVID.

Scott Cowan [00:49:26]:

K. So the new out well, actually, before we go there. So I was like I told you before, I was listening to some of your music, today before we hopped on this. And I’m I’m not sure how I I have to look at my phone while I do this so I can make sure I get the right thing here. And my phone is on a okay. So explain to me Goo Goo Dolls. I’ll be

Scott Cowan [00:49:58]:

honest with

Scott Cowan [00:49:58]:

you. I stumbled across that on Facebook.

Paula Boggs [00:50:00]:

Happy to. I mean, I’m not

Scott Cowan [00:50:02]:

I thought I’m like, are they covering Goo Goo Dolls? That just

Scott Cowan [00:50:07]:

and so I listened to the song. I’m like, no. They’re not covering the Goo Goo Dolls. There’s gotta be a story here.

Paula Boggs [00:50:13]:

There is a story. So

Scott Cowan [00:50:15]:

Okay.

Paula Boggs [00:50:16]:

I was I was surfing YouTube, as as I do from time to time. And I I came upon this video of the Goo Goo Dolls doing, you know, their their perhaps their most famous song, Iris. Right?

Scott Cowan [00:50:39]:

Right. Mhmm.

Paula Boggs [00:50:41]:

And I was, I I my response was was sort of, come on. Because it it it was you know, you have Johnny Rzeznik, and he’s kinda, like, looking, you know, looking or trying to look sexy. And he’s like, the wind is blowing through his hair. And the you’ve got the, you know, the the acoustic guitar and then, you know, then this crescendo thing and, you know, yada yada. And then I I looked at a couple other of their songs, and it was kind of the same formula. Okay? You know? So, you know, it would start with, you know, Johnny and the acoustic guitar and him looking sexy and the wind blowing in his hair and, you know, and then, you know, the swelling of the drums. And and I’m like, this is this is ridiculous. Right? You know? So so I wrote I wrote Goo Goo Dolls as a as a tongue in cheek, response to that experience.

Scott Cowan [00:51:56]:

And the verse, I’m glad I asked that. The version I listened to was, live from the Spanish ballroom there. Yes. How so how did you enjoy playing the Spanish ballroom?

Paula Boggs [00:52:07]:

We really like this the Spanish ballroom. You know, the challenge and, you know, it a a lot of musicians are are facing this challenge in the era of COVID is, you know, you first of all, you’ve gotta you gotta get a venue that’s open. Right? Mhmm. And that, you you know, is, you know, reopened for business. And then you’ve gotta kinda persuade fans to show up. Right? Mhmm. A lot of people are not there. I mean, you know, they they’re fearful.

Paula Boggs [00:52:45]:

And and so, you know, we talked to the Spanish ballroom about this, and they said, you know, your experience is not unique. A lot of bands have been facing the same thing, but we, you know, we didn’t have a lot of people in the house. I mean, it was it was not that well attended, But our ace in the hole for the Spanish ballroom show was it too has not only does it have great lighting, but it has great acoustics. Mhmm. And the sound engineer that night, they they’d hired was outstanding. He was totally outstanding. And so, when we heard and we, you know, we didn’t know that was going to be the case, but we had asked him to record our Mhmm. Our show.

Paula Boggs [00:53:41]:

And when we heard even his rough mix of it, we’re like, oh my god. We we performed the show really well. And, you know, there’s some there’s some opportunity here for, you know, a live single or two. So I’m really grateful we got that that gig because we didn’t make a lot of money. There weren’t a lot of people there. But the people who were there loved the show. And we were able to feed off that. I mean, you can feel it in the music that we’re feeding off a crowd even though it’s a small crowd.

Paula Boggs [00:54:22]:

You know, there’s there’s engagement there. There’s energy there, which, you know, is a hallmark of the best shows. No matter if there’s one person in in the audience or, you know, a thousand plus, you know, you’re just Right. You know, when you feel it, you feel it. And we were feeling it that night, and the the recording engineer was first rate. And so that’s how all that came together. We’ve we’ve had this one guy, Nick Denke, who has mixed live performances for us for over a decade. And when he heard that Spanish ballroom mix, he said, Paula, first of all, the band has never sounded better.

Paula Boggs [00:55:12]:

And two, this drummer you have and this bass player you have, they’re the best you’ve ever had for Paula Bog’s band. He said, it makes my job so much easier. So, you know, we’re just so fortunate to have Jake Evans on drums, and Alex Dearing on bass. They’re both second generation professional musicians. Jake’s dad, the drummer, Jake Evans, his dad played for Ray Charles. And, Alex Dearing, our bass player’s dad, Wes, is a violist for the Seattle Symphony.

Scott Cowan [00:56:02]:

Alright. Spanish Ballroom’s a cool little cool little space.

Paula Boggs [00:56:06]:

It is.

Scott Cowan [00:56:08]:

You have a new album coming out. At the time of recording this, the album’s not released.

Scott Cowan [00:56:11]:

That’s right.

Scott Cowan [00:56:12]:

So depending on when when people listen to it, it may already be out. So this might be old news, but it’s not old news today. Tell us about the album. Give me give me where did the inspiration for the songs come from? How was the recording experience? Let’s let’s talk about all that the back behind the

Paula Boggs [00:56:29]:

album. So I suspect, like a lot of people, COVID forced me to slow down, and really, was an engine to lead me to a lot of introspection, reflection, self reflection, community reflection, thinking about where I’ve been, where I hope to go, those sorts of things. And at the end of the day, Janus, which is named for, you know, the god or goddess of transitions, doors opening, closing, chapter So so Joppeland.

Scott Cowan [00:57:16]:

Ending. Not Janis Joplin.

Paula Boggs [00:57:19]:

J a n u s. I know. But, you know, it could it can you know, I I can I I happily accept Janis Joplin as a muse? That’s where that’s where my head space was in Okay. In writing, this music. And so the album is really, the the its themes cover, ancestry, episodes of a past life. There there are songs that touch upon a hopeful future. And, you know, it it is likely the most personal and emotional album, but it’s not all sad stuff. I mean, there are some some really, you know, tongue in cheek kind of in the in the realm of Goo Goo Dolls, songs on this album too.

Paula Boggs [00:58:35]:

There there’s one called Where’s My Scarf, which is our Soul Grass Americana take on COVID and the life we’ve had to lead

Scott Cowan [00:58:49]:

Okay.

Paula Boggs [00:58:49]:

In in in these times. But, but that’s that’s sort of the the impetus to it. And, you know, some of these a couple of the songs touch upon, in fact, three of them touch upon, childhood moments. The the opening song is called Ponies, and it it’s one of those tongue in cheek songs, in this in the sense that when I was a kid, before we moved to Europe, my my parents bought these well, actually, they bought they thought they were buying one pony. They didn’t realize the pony was pregnant. And and before we knew it, we had two ponies they had nothing they they knew nothing about. And so they they, this is the song. I mean, the the the opening chorus is why we got these ponies, Ma.

Paula Boggs [00:59:47]:

Why we got these ponies. We don’t know a damn thing about why we got these phonies. Right? Another song, you know, touches upon is is is wistful and thinking back on child, not childhood per se, but high school. And, you know, a friend I knew in high school and then had lost touch, with. And, you know, so there’s songs like that, on it. One song is the true story of my ancestor, King Brewster. We collaborated with Dom Flemons, formerly of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, and he’s won a couple Grammys that we’re so honored, he, the the the song spoke to him, and he, wanted to be part of it. But there are, you know, there are themes of love, on it.

Paula Boggs [01:00:50]:

And it you know, I think apropos for what this album is, the the last song on it is is also kinda tongue in cheek, and it’s it’s called don’t let the clowns break you down. And there are a lot of clowns, Scott.

Scott Cowan [01:01:10]:

Yes. Yes. There are. Yes. Yes. There are. Okay. When will this album be released?

Paula Boggs [01:01:17]:

Well, King Brewster has already the single King Brewster is, is already released, and people can find that on, you know, Apple Music, Spotify, you know, anywhere, YouTube. This Friday so, you know, I I don’t know when you will release, but on on February, twenty fifth, I believe, our second single from this album is releasing Motel six serenade. And we will have a third single release in late March, likely Ponies, before the album itself releases on April 1.

Scott Cowan [01:02:06]:

K. And looks like you’re going out on the road.

Paula Boggs [01:02:10]:

Yes.

Scott Cowan [01:02:11]:

You found some venues where you can play in front of people.

Paula Boggs [01:02:13]:

Absolutely.

Scott Cowan [01:02:16]:

What, why don’t we talk about that for a second? It looks like you’re starting we’ve got a show later this week. Unfortunately, you know, there’s the lag time of when we talk, but you have a show on February 23

Paula Boggs [01:02:25]:

That’s right.

Scott Cowan [01:02:26]:

Just to remind you that you have to be performing that night. But then in March, you’re starting off in, California.

Paula Boggs [01:02:32]:

We sure are. And we have not been in the Bay Area played any shows in the Bay Area since fall of twenty nineteen. And we’ve always had such wonderful, meaningful, enthusiastic shows in the Bay Area. And so it it is, it is quite wonderful for us that, you know, this the the first tour for this band, since COVID became a thing, will be returning to the Bay Area. We have three shows in mid March, Sweetwater Music Hall, which speaking of the Grateful Dead, a a number of the dead Bob Weir and others have been involved in,

Scott Cowan [01:03:24]:

you

Paula Boggs [01:03:24]:

know, Sweetwater Music Hall. So it’s got great bones. And, hopefully, you know, we will, you know, feel it and and channel, some of that when we perform. We’re gonna, return to Redwood City in Silicon Valley. And also, we’re also going to Santa Cruz, and this will be the first time we’ve we’ve played Santa Cruz. So very excited about that.

Scott Cowan [01:03:53]:

I’m scrolling here, like, this you know, nobody nobody can know this but you because, you know, you’re you’re looking at me. Why is it looking down? So I’m looking at my iPad in front of

Paula Boggs [01:04:00]:

me here.

Scott Cowan [01:04:02]:

And what I’m noticing is a theme of coffee shops though. You play a lot of coffee shops in which I applaud you for because well, the byline here on your website is Seattle brewed soul grass. Yes. We’re gonna go in two directions with that. How how did that tagline come to be?

Paula Boggs [01:04:20]:

Yeah. So, you know, in, you know, the early years of the band, there was a I had a a desire to pay homage some way to Starbucks without saying Starbucks. And so so I I figured, you know, Seattle Seattle brewed was a good way to accomplish that goal. And then Soulgrass was, it’s interesting. I was using a lot of words to try to describe what we were doing because none of the genres one typically hears about really fit what we were doing. You know, it’s not really jazz. It’s not really folk. It it it’s influenced by those things.

Paula Boggs [01:05:17]:

It it certainly you know, we’re using Bluegrass instruments, etcetera, etcetera. One day, I was I was literally on a a shuttle bus at an airport and struck up this conversation with a woman. And, you know, she was like, well, how do you describe your music? And I was using all these words. And, you know, and she said, that sounds like Soulgrass. And I was like, I was like, are you in marketing? And she and she said, yeah. That’s what I do for a living. And I just ran with it. I said, okay.

Paula Boggs [01:05:57]:

That’s that’s what we that is better than any descriptor I’ve I’ve ever, you know, tried to frame this music in. And so we’ve been Soul Crafts ever since.

Scott Cowan [01:06:14]:

I’ve I have a couple questions. I wanna respect your time. Actually, I have three questions.

Paula Boggs [01:06:18]:

Okay.

Scott Cowan [01:06:18]:

So question number one is the question I must ask all my guests. Where’s a great place around you to get coffee?

Paula Boggs [01:06:27]:

Well, you know, Scott, of course, you know, there there are many

Scott Cowan [01:06:32]:

Come on.

Paula Boggs [01:06:32]:

Best Starbucks. Near where I live. But, I, you know, I have come to in my post Starbucks years, I’ve come to really love Pete’s. And there’s a Pete’s not that far, from where I live, and it it’s all it also has a, you know, sort of neighborhood, communal feel, to it that, you know, I really I really enjoy.

Scott Cowan [01:07:03]:

So when you go to your local Pete’s, what are you typically ordering?

Paula Boggs [01:07:07]:

Oh, I I I’m typically a drip person. So, you know, I’m I’m not ordering, you know, the Pete’s version of a cappuccino of a, you know, a, you know, Frappuccino or whatever. I that’s that’s just not me. I I I love their French press and Uh-huh. That, you know, I tend to, I gravitate toward the, you know, the darker beans, Okay. You know, coming, you know, coming from, you know, Indonesia or Africa. Those those tend to resonate more with me.

Scott Cowan [01:07:48]:

So I’m gonna ask before we hit record, I asked you if you drink coffee and you you said yes. I’m drinking and you said something I’ve never heard anybody say before. You said you were drinking a blend of Pete’s and Starbucks.

Paula Boggs [01:07:58]:

Yeah. So

Scott Cowan [01:08:01]:

what’s in your cup right Yeah. Right now?

Scott Cowan [01:08:03]:

What what

Scott Cowan [01:08:03]:

is Yeah.

Paula Boggs [01:08:04]:

So what

Scott Cowan [01:08:04]:

is this blend?

Paula Boggs [01:08:05]:

Yeah. So so here here here’s the thing. The, the whole bean that I I ground is, is Starbucks, Starbucks French roast.

Scott Cowan [01:08:19]:

Okay.

Paula Boggs [01:08:19]:

But then I add grounded Pete’s, major dick Dickerson. So so the ultimate result is a blend of of Starbucks and Peets.

Scott Cowan [01:08:37]:

So approximately, what’s the ratio here? Is it one to one? Or

Paula Boggs [01:08:40]:

You know, it’s it’s pretty fifty fifty, actually.

Scott Cowan [01:08:43]:

So how did you how did you come up with this? I’m I’m actually this is I have never talked to anybody who’s acknowledged blending coffees.

Scott Cowan [01:08:53]:

I

Scott Cowan [01:08:54]:

this is cool. Yeah.

Paula Boggs [01:08:55]:

So Yeah.

Scott Cowan [01:08:56]:

Because I like both. I like Starbucks French, and I like I like the major Dickinson blend. So what ins where was the inspiration for this? Was it ponies?

Paula Boggs [01:09:05]:

It must be ponies. Right? I don’t know.

Scott Cowan [01:09:11]:

But what in all seriousness, how what inspired you to take these these this coffee and create your own your own blend, if you want?

Paula Boggs [01:09:20]:

Well, you know, how does the saying go, you know, need is the mother of invention or something like that? Yeah. Right. You know, and to be perfectly honest, I I’m pretty sure it rose from me being low on something and saying, okay. What what what’s what’s what’s around? Right? You know? Right. Right. And so I’m putting this stuff together, and then the the end result was something I really enjoyed. Right? You know? And so I was like, okay. Okay.

Paula Boggs [01:09:55]:

This is this is my new coffee jam. This is Right?

Scott Cowan [01:09:58]:

I’m kinda liking this,

Scott Cowan [01:09:59]:

to be honest with you. I think I’m I’m gonna I’m gonna experiment with that. That’s that’s I like that. And I’m with you as I it’s not often every now and then, what’s left in the in the grinder if I’ve overground something, but it’s the end of the bag, and then I’m, like, taking the next thing. I’m like, well, I hope this works. I haven’t had success very often, unfortunately, but because I try I try a lot of, like, I I every time I go to a coffee shop that has their own coffee, I’m buying something from them. So I’ve got, you know, stuff from independent little roasters across the state, and there’s some amazing coffee in Washington state.

Paula Boggs [01:10:35]:

There is.

Scott Cowan [01:10:37]:

The other question I didn’t ask you, and I asked you where where your favorite place to perform and to see music is. And I’ll and I’ll let you oh, no. I’m gonna make you stay Washington. Where would you like to play that you haven’t played?

Paula Boggs [01:10:58]:

That’s that’s a really great question. And and here’s here’s my answer. I would love I would love love, love to to play at Fremont Abbey

Scott Cowan [01:11:20]:

Oh, okay.

Paula Boggs [01:11:21]:

Upstairs. Okay. And we’ve played in the basement of Fremont Abbey, but there’s something incredibly magical about the upstairs of Fremont Abbey. They, you know, they they they have the you know, it’s it’s a repurposed church, and

Scott Cowan [01:11:44]:

Mhmm.

Paula Boggs [01:11:45]:

There there is something incredibly intimate, about that performance space. It it too has amazing acoustics. And I love what Fremont Abbey stands for. It it is, you know, a champion of great acoustic music, and it, you know, it’s branched out, such that their shows also take place at Saint Mark’s and, a few Saint Mark’s Cathedral and a few other places, but but that upstairs space. And I don’t I don’t think it holds more than, you know, 200 people. You know? So I guess my my bottom line is, Scott, yeah, it it would be cool to it and it you know, if we were ever invited to some of these huge festivals, of course Sure. That would be just amazing, you know, to play the gorge. Oh my god.

Paula Boggs [01:12:57]:

I mean, that would be, you know Right. Just, you know, such a statement. But if you’re talking about an ideal venue for the listener to appreciate what we’ve done, the musicianship, the lyricism, the, really, the ambiance of the music and for us to feel the audience. Because that’s one of the best things about this whole thing for me is when that electric connection happens from the stage to the audience. And you asked me earlier why coffee houses. That almost always happens in a coffee house setting.

Scott Cowan [01:13:48]:

I love seeing music in a in a small intimate coffee house setting or so I just last week, I was writing our weekly newsletter and right as I was writing it, emails came in. I looked and, oh, Paul McCartney’s playing in Spokane. Oh, I think I’d like to see Paul McCartney. And, you know, he’s he’s he’s opening his national tour in in Spokane. It’s the first night and then two nights in Seattle, and I’m like, I think I’d rather drive to Spokane than to Seattle. It’s just, you know, it’s about we’re right in the middle, so it’s like, we’ll go to Spokane. And I’m thinking, yeah. It’s not gonna be it’s gonna be a hockey rink.

Scott Cowan [01:14:26]:

You know? And nothing against hockey. Nothing against but I can you imagine sitting seeing Paul McCartney play in a coffee house?

Paula Boggs [01:14:36]:

You know? Imagine It

Scott Cowan [01:14:37]:

You know what I mean?

Paula Boggs [01:14:38]:

Just How It there’s nothing there’s nothing like it. I mean, for me, the closest thing I’ve had to that was I had the great fortune of seeing Bruce Springsteen when he was on Broadway in this, you know, 700 person

Scott Cowan [01:14:56]:

Wow.

Paula Boggs [01:14:57]:

Venue. And it the the intimacy of that moment, I I will always take with me because, I mean, it was just I I feel I mean, his his his lyricism, his musicianship, his storytelling ability just all came, you know, to a head in that, in the you know, in that way. And and we as an audience I mean, there was an electricity between Springsteen and every I’m sure every single one of us, you know, who had the good fortune of being in that space with him.

Scott Cowan [01:15:44]:

Been amazing to see.

Paula Boggs [01:15:45]:

And if I could see Paul McCartney that way, particularly after, watching the documentary Get Back Mhmm. I feel I don’t know if you’ve seen that, Scott.

Scott Cowan [01:15:57]:

I did. I watched it.

Paula Boggs [01:15:58]:

Yeah. I mean, it it opened, my mind to who the Beatles were in ways that I just never imagined. And to him as an incredibly, you know, once in a lifetime, really, gifted musician and lyricist.

Scott Cowan [01:16:26]:

Yeah. Two quick observations about watching that. Well, number one was I applaud him because the the the show didn’t put him in the best light. Yeah. That that he was comfortable enough, you know, think that he and Ringo were the producers of this that they had fine you know, we’ll say they could cut out things that weren’t flattering, but that didn’t put Paul in a particularly flattering light all

Paula Boggs [01:16:50]:

the time Right.

Scott Cowan [01:16:51]:

In my opinion. Yeah. He was kind of a

Paula Boggs [01:16:54]:

was bossy. He you know? And he was submissive of George Harrison, and you could understand the creative tension because Harrison wants to be heard. And and McCartney isn’t listening to

Scott Cowan [01:17:09]:

him. Right. Then the other takeaway was is they were working on Get Back.

Paula Boggs [01:17:16]:

Mhmm.

Scott Cowan [01:17:18]:

Something that, you know, I’ve heard for well, how old is that? Sound fifty years now?

Paula Boggs [01:17:24]:

No? Yeah.

Scott Cowan [01:17:25]:

Right. And, you know, it’s a it’s a staple of FM radio and

Paula Boggs [01:17:29]:

Total.

Scott Cowan [01:17:30]:

You know, everybody yeah. Everybody knows Get Back. Right? Could you imagine being in London when they’re playing on the rooftop and hearing that song for the first time?

Scott Cowan [01:17:40]:

Not knowing it’s gonna be a global phenomenon, but, like,

Scott Cowan [01:17:46]:

well, I don’t know if I

Scott Cowan [01:17:47]:

like this song. I’m not sure what to think. I just it was just I was watching this clip. Do they have any clue what that was gonna be? Yeah. Anyway, just anyway, it’s just

Scott Cowan [01:18:02]:

I wanna I I need to respect your time, and I could keep talking to you for quite some time. But I will I’ll use my I I standard line. I say this every show, but, you know, what didn’t I ask you that I should’ve? What didn’t we cover that we should’ve covered?

Paula Boggs [01:18:17]:

Let me think.

Scott Cowan [01:18:18]:

You’re closing your Yeah.

Paula Boggs [01:18:19]:

Let me let me think about that. You know, I, you know, I think, the the only thing we didn’t, you know, explicitly, cover that, you know, I would I’m I I wanna put out there is you know, I I actually think our best days are yet to come as as Paula Boggs Band and and me as an artist. I have learned so much about myself and and my art, in these past couple years, you know, during these COVID times. And, and I’m really quite hopeful, not just about our music, but the hope in our music is a byproduct of the hope I feel about our future. You know, we get a lot of negative feedback about who we are and how we get along and and all of those things and, you know, doom to The United States and whatnot. And I don’t buy into it. I I think when I look at, not just the music community, but my community writ large, I see a lot of people caring for each other and looking out for each other and, you know, just trying to put one foot in front of the other. And that that’s the, sir, that’s the the America I wanna be part of.

Paula Boggs [01:20:06]:

I want our music, to be informed by that. And and I don’t think it’s a fairy tale, Scott. So I I I wanna leave your your listeners with with that.

Scott Cowan [01:20:23]:

Okay. Thank you. That’s that’s wonderful. But we’re not gonna leave with that because you’re gonna tell them where they can find your music and find out more about you. That’s that’ll be closing notes. And we’ll put these in your show in our show notes too. But where where can people find out more about you, find out more about your band, listen to your music?

Paula Boggs [01:20:41]:

Yes. I would I would happily and and aggressively urge your listeners, to check out paulaboggsband.net. We’re all over social media. You can find us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok. You know, the list is long. YouTube, we’re we’re on all those platforms, Spotify, Apple Music, of course. And so please check us out. Listen to our music if you like it.

Paula Boggs [01:21:12]:

Please comment on it and, you know, and follow us.

Scott Cowan [01:21:17]:

There we go. Paula, thank you so much for taking the time today to to be be here. I’ve enjoyed a lot of I’ve this has been wonderful. I appreciate it so much.

Paula Boggs [01:21:27]:

Thank you, Scott, and thanks to your listeners.