I invited Rob Barteletti to contribute his blog about our collaborative recording project.

Hey Everyone,

I'm just coming up for air for a minute to tell you about my new recording project:

Rob Barteletti (RB) and I spent much of the week with producer Rob Stroup (RS) at 8-Ball Studio in Portland working on the first tracks for my next solo CD. 

RB, my manager, also contributed five of his songs to the project.  Add five of my own, plus a Steve Earle cover, and we have the makings of my next album!  I'm very excited about the quality of these songs.  RB invited me to "edit" his songs, and that turned out to be rewarding for us both.  Neither of us had done much musical collaborating before, so we were happy with the results of this synthesis.  I'm thinking that all the work I've done with the poetry projects these past two years has helped me approach another songwriter's songs more effectively.  (RB said he's going to write about that more in his blog: www.myspace.com/robbarteletti).

During our first week, Drummer Drew Shoals and bassist Arthur Parker laid down the best rhythm tracks we could have asked for.  These guys are so creative and musically invested in this project, and they are also professionally top-notch players.  I'm very happy that Drew will accompany me on percussion at my show opening for Tracy Grammer on August 10 at The Bite of Oregon (see my schedule for details).  The bonus is that they are also two of the nicest, smartest, and funniest musicians in town!  I really enjoyed hanging out with them.

At the end of the week I added my acoustic guitar tracks and three lead vocals, all under the patient and expert guidance of RS, who also produced my previous two CDs, The Good Horse and Avalanche.  RS is a magician at the board and a brilliant arranger.  As an outstanding musician and songwriter himself, RS brings amazing gifts to every project he works on.  On top of that, he added some rich guitar textures to the track to round out the week.  No wonder Don Campbell said in The Oregonian that RS is becoming Portland's hottest record producer!

Next week: I'll finish my guitar tracks and lead vocals.  Then Tim Ellis (lead guitar), Jean-Pierre Garau (keys), Tony Furtado (banjo, slide guitar, and dobro), and Paul Brainard (pedal steel) will add their talents to the project.  More on that next time.

Special feature: Young, talented filmmaker Derrick LaMere will be videotaping sessions on Monday and Tuesday for a music/documentary "behind the scenes" video we're planning to make available either with the new CD or online, or both.  More about that in my next blog.

(Thanks to Stevi Marie & Jackson Road for introducing us to Derrick. You can check out Derrick's work at http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.channel&channelID=9603076&searchid=d8be0d29-8c6a-4735-8ca0-b04ea64f848f.)

I have just uploaded my two new music videos, "Dust" and "Our Story," to my website and my myspace (and on You Tube).  "Dust" is my song of a Dorianne Laux poem and "Our Story" is my song of a William Stafford poem.  I hope you enjoy these videos.

Paula

This year's "Oregon Voices" show at the bite just got even more exciting:  Linda Hornbuckle & Janice Scroggins will open the show at Waterfront Park on Sunday, August 10th.  I will go on next, followed by Tracy Grammer & Jim Henry.  I am very honored and thrilled to be included in this lineup!

Here are the details:

OREGON VOICES

A diverse sampler of Oregon's world class voices 

1:20 – 2:20

Linda Hornbuckle & Janice Scroggins

The "Soul Diva" & Grammy nominated "Keyboard Goddess" debut "Sista," their perfectly named album

www.lindahornbuckle.com

2:40 – 3:20

Paula Sinclair 

Oregon's singer/poet laureate

www.sinclairsinclair.com

3:40 – 4:40

Signature Sounds recording artist

TRACY GRAMMER  &  JIM HENRY

Top-Ten Americana featuring songs by Dave Carter & other songwriting masters

www.tracygrammer.com

I sure hope you'll be there on August 10th.

Paula

MARCH 19, 2008
Paula Sinclair and Uncle Tumbleweed: The Good Horse

by Jennifer Hernandez

This two-disc CD had its genesis when a devastated Paula Sinclair attempted to get her creative juices flowing after she lost "the love of her life" ... her band, Bloodhoney. The result, The Good Horse, is a beautiful and unique artistic partnership between the Portland-based singer-songwriter and five award-winning Oregon poets. With an alt-country musical style and an earthy voice that sounds like a cross between Lucinda Williams and Joan Baez, Sinclair is one of the best artists you've probably never heard of. While trying to literally restore her voice, which gave out after Bloodhoney's demise, Sinclair discovered her gift for extracting the emotion from a well-written poem and setting its essence and imagery to music. The album is based solely on pieces from some of Oregon's most notable writers. The title song is a William Stafford poem about a circus horse, with music that emulates the feeling of a merry-go-round. "Uncle Tumbleweed" is a slow country rocker that captures the soul of Jarold Ramsey's verse about a wind-blown tumbleweed ... or is it a rambling relative? Works by Dorainne Laux, Joseph Miller and Debbie West also benefit from Sinclair's deft, melodic touch. Both CDs contain the same songs; disc one is raw solo acoustic, and disc two is fully backed and polished.

I'm very excited to share this sweet review of my latest CD, The Good Horse. It was written by Frank Gutch Jr., one of the critics for Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange (FAME) based in New Hampshire.  I am happy and honored that he thinks so much of my project because The Good Horse was very much a labor of love for me. 

"When Paula Sinclair fell into the dreaded black hole which visits most creative forces on occasion, she must have felt like her musical days were over. Blessed with a voice made for song, she still could have carved out a living, but she obviously is not one to just interpret or mouth other people's works. Anyone who knows or has heard her knows what a force she can be. So when she hit the brick wall, to her all seemed lost, if only for a short time.

Luckily, the brick wall hit back. One day, she found that she need not do everything herself. While consoling herself with poetry, the music magically began to flow, strangely enough, with the words and phrases. A few months later, she walked into a recording studio to lay down a bare bones version of what was to become The Good Horse. With only guitar and voice, she lay out song after song—a poet's words and her music creating a new whole.

Not long after, Sinclair headed into 8 Ball Studio and came out with an album capable of not only destroying the black hole, but putting her on a different and satisfying path—satisfying for herself and for those lucky enough to discover her music. Patently inspired by the works of William Stafford, Dorian Laux and others, she throws herself into an odd collaboration, taking their words and her music into a world laden with roots, both folk and country, and coming out the other end with a gem. This is dirt-under-your-fingernails folk and losing-your-mind country at its best, and the fact that Sinclair left lyrics to poets takes nothing away. The stories told and the emotions felt say it all with a refreshing honesty, and Sinclair's music—have I said refreshing and honest?

The package does not hurt, either. Rather than leave you with just the finished product, she includes that bare bones disc to give you insight into the creative process. And let me tell you, it's quite a jump from acoustic guitar and voice (a very nice disc and one I prefer in my more solemn moments) to the full session completed product. The music, straddling folk and country beautifully, comes alive as Uncle Tumbleweed lays itself out with its guitar/bass/pedal steel/keyboard/drums structure, fleshing out theme after theme. Putting Sinclair's voice on top is like putting butter on toast—a combination hard to beat.

Not many could put together a project of such depth with the touch Sinclair gives this. She has talent way beyond her voice. She knows things. Deep things. Dark things. Wonderful and maybe not so wonderful things. The fact remains, she knows. I can tell."

Here's the link to the review and the FAME website: http://www.acousticmusic.com/fame/p04286.htm

I can't begin to tell you how nice it was to receive this review yesterday. Thanks for reading it!  Paula