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Mieka Pauley: Worth The Wait
By Alan Lewis | Special to the Vermont Guardian Mieka Pauley is an admired songwriter and she can be emotionally intense when performing her songs. But in the studio ... well, she may be just a bit under-recorded. “I haven’t released a full-length album since 2000. Not sure what I was thinking. I’ve written a ton, and I’ve released a few EPs and live music bootlegs, but no album,” she said in a recent mailing. Possibly Pauley was just waiting for the right moment. The pause in her recording career was not for lack of encouragement. Her eponymous 2003/2004 five-song demo —recorded solo, acoustic, and live in the studio — captures an inspired, animated mini-set and is a total knockout. In 2006, Pauley told the Vermont Guardian: “The reason why you’re getting the live feel from this album is because I actually recorded it live to two-track, meaning there was a mic on my voice and a mic on my guitar, and I played simultaneously, just like at a show. It’s easier to get into the song like that, because that is how I play those songs every other day of the year.” The demo track, “Invincible,” is a personal favorite, but Pauley may have drawn a wider audience with the lead-off “The Way It Is.” Pauley may not list the Beatles among her main influences, but she does acknowledge that “the chord sequences in ‘The Way It Is’ can definitely be called Beatles-esque.” In answer to an apparently enthusiastic Guardian question about the old live demo, Pauley said, “I’m glad you like it! I’m very excited about the new music I’m working on though. A friend of mine from Boston is producing the record — Brian Cassagnol — he fronts his own band, Harriet Street. It’s been wonderful working with him. He just gets what I do but adds this beauty to the recordings that I would not know how to even begin to capture. He’s been playing in my band for a couple years now. It’s wonderful collaborating with someone who really knows music.” Pauley got early radio support from Boston college station WERS-FM, and her airplay picked up serious steam when WBOS-FM put her “Stronger” in regular rotation. National Triple-A radio exposure followed. This may have been a turning point in her career. “Stronger” is the appropriately titled opening cut on the exceptional new various artists compilation, New Arrivals Volume 2. Pauley gets the album off to a terrific start. One might wonder whether it is mere coincidence or someone’s sense of humor that the closing track on Vol. 2, by Melissa Ferrick, is named “Closer.” Asked for musical heroes or favorite contributions on New Arrivals, Pauley said, “I love Gregory Douglass and Rachael Sage. I’ve known them for a few years now and have played a few shows with each of them. It’s great to be on a compilation with friends. I don’t know Kristy Kruger, but I loved her cut on the album.” In-state audiences, of course, know Vermonter Douglass well, and the pop-rockin’ Sage is at Burlington’s Firehouse Gallery on May 10. When Pauley interprets material by other writers, how does she pick the songs? “Most of the time they’re just songs I love, no rhyme or reason. I definitely react to good lyrics, but it’s not at the front of my mind. Like I know that Bob Dylan has some amazing lyrics, but I just can’t sing his songs for the life of me. I have to be able to feel the song as I’m singing it and be able to riff on it as well. I don’t want to sing it just like the original artist.” Pauley also responded thoughtfully about when she plays with a group and how she selects bandmates. “I play with a band when I can afford it. So that means home gigs: Boston and NYC. I am currently recording with a band. I didn’t have extra cash lying around so I eBayed a few guitars I had collected to pay for the studio time. I wish my decision to play solo or band was artistic, but it’s not! I’d play with a band any time if I could. “I look for people that know what they’re doing, but they also have to be cool people. I don’t want super-slick players — I have to get along with them and I want to want to hang out with them. You can tell when a band vibes personally onstage. Jazz musicians are definitely great. They can definitely play whatever you want, but some of my players are rock musicians, and they are very artistic and creative, which I love.” The Guardian asked Pauley if she would be bringing a band to Higher Ground and if she has surprises in mind. “Nope! Just Mieka solo again. I’ll be selling a couple new tracks though.” After what she said of her former recording hiatus, this could be surprise enough. Vermont contributed to the name of Pauley’s latest official release. “I totaled my last car on one of your highways,” she recalled. “I spun out into a guardrail. Didn’t hit anyone else, didn’t hurt myself, but had to enlist my boyfriend to drive up and tow me home. I was passing a guy on a clear day, wasn’t even going that fast, but I hit a patch of ice. I guess ‘When in Vermont, drive like Vermont people.’ Anyway, that and [another automotive mishap] led to the title of my last EP, out of car wrecks and hurricanes.” Higher Ground is the spot to catch an artist, with new songs, on the rise. Dare we predict for Pauley a smashing success? Event information
Who: Meika Pauley |