“Paula McMath is writing and performing at a very high level. It has been my honor to have worked with her in several master classes. I can always count on her to have a wonderful song to begin with, and to be able to execute changes quickly and effectively. She is a joy to work with — a real pro.” Pat Pattison
Songwriters Vantage
“Paula McMath’s “Trust The Sky” is a self-affirming, moving tribute to one’s own journey through life. The melody takes just enough twists to keep it fresh when we least expect it. Produced lucidly to reveal the storyline, that makes it even more personal to the listener. “
sinking and surfacing
I’m not one to talk if I don’t have anything to say. I’ve been writing, over the past few years, but not publishing as much. There are times for talking and there are times for listening. I guess I’ve been in a phase of the latter.
I recognized, recently, (because it’s such a metaphor for so many things) that it’s been more than a hundred years since the sinking of the Titanic. It occurred to me that it would be interesting to try to write a song from the perspective of one of the musicians who played on that voyage. They were famously heard playing, from the lifeboats, even as the ship was sinking.
Truth is, the song I have written is not really about the musicians on the deck of the Titanic. It’s about my own feeling that my personal “musical ship” has been going down, for some time now. I know I’m not alone in expressing that a music career is a hard thing to sustain.
As I “imagined” being one of those fateful musicians who played as the ship was sinking, I learned that, for myself, the central question became; “Who am I playing this for?” And I knew, in no uncertain terms, that fundamentally those players must have been playing for themselves.
It struck me that that is the most important reason to continue to make music.
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Music Connection – Hot 100 Unsigned Artists
paula mcmath named in Music Connection’s – 15th Annual Hot 100 Unsigned Artists, Volume XXX, No. 25 12/04/06 to 12/31/06
“McMath and her able backup musicians take the singer-songwriter format into the rock realm on a collection of tunes that showcase a strong, expressive voice. She comes out struttin’ on “lonely blue”, a very good choice to open this disc. “Wet” marries a rocking track to bitter lyrics. “Consumed” is a bluesy ballad with vivid imagery and vocals tones that imbue the song with emotions. McMath is working at a high level and warrants industry attention.”
Music Connection Review / Volume XXX, No. 12 06/05/06 to 06/18/06
Singular Goal 2020
itunes review
“A rockin’ album from an amazing Canadian transplant to the city of angels. Paula has a rich and powerful voice and some searin’ lyrics that burn to the soul.”
-itunes review of because we bleed
Industry and Peer Reviews
You’re very good at what you do, but sometimes it takes a while for the world to figure it out. As Woody Allen famously stated, a big part of success is showing up, and with that I heartily concur. In our culture now people are used to things happening very quickly. TV shows like American Idol perpetuate the myth an entertainer can become famous overnight. The reality is, it takes a lifetime for an artist to gestate.
The wife and I have practically worn your current CD out!
– Ric Menck, member of Velvet Crush (drummer; Matthew Sweet, Liz Phair, Marianne Faithful)
Shows tremendous talent. Thank you for sharing it with me. Reminiscent of Joni… and there couldn’t be a better compliment. Very impressive. Keep going Paula. I’m looking forward to where you’re headed!
– John Pozer, Filmmaker/Director, Cannes Film Festival award-winner / “The Grocer’s Wife”
I feel really strongly about this music. I think Paula’s voice, the lyrics, and the melodies are amazing.
– Producer John Hanlon, who has engineered and produced with Neil Young
I love this CD! There’s a surprising elegance to its blend of edge, sensuality, intimacy, and bluesy rock. The more I listen, the more I appreciate it – especially paula mcmath’s honest, expressive voice. Because We Bleed is a worthy, sometimes edgy, sometimes quietly poetic, stream of paula mcmath’s relationship reflections… with a little grit on the mirror. It’s great.
– Susan Haight, singer-songwriter
some comments from listeners
Dear Ms McMath
You do not know me and probably never will. But I feel compelled to say a few things to you. I saw you perform Saturday night at McCabes. I go there quite often and have seen a lot of shows there. Something about yours though, touched me more deeply than I can express. I don’t quite know why. Your music was lovely of course but it was more than that. It was more the way you seem to be as a human being…..There is an openness and a kind of vulnerability about you that affected me strongly. It is something I strive for when I write an essay but you put it into your music. I have been around the block a few times and I don’t say this lightly……. I believe when an artist, in any medium, should know about when their work touches someone… and now you do…. Thank you for a lovely evening.
Larry
Paula,
Hi, I just wanted to say that I say you performing the other night on 3rd St. in Santa Monica, and though I was only able to catch a few songs, I wanted to let you know that I thought you had a great voice and I enjoyed what I heard. I don’t always find myself doing that when I’m walking down 3rd St, but I had to check out your site. Love what I hear, and looking forward to catching you play again soon.
Jon
Dear Paula,
Last week me and my family were traveling in the US and we heard and saw you play across the street from where we were dining in Santa Monica. You sang covers of a lot of my all time favorites and you gave that ‘extra touch’ to our dinner. I bought your album and I found that you have also written a lot of material yourself.
I really love that album and I hope there will be more in the future.
Traveling in the US is always a great adventure but the little extra’s make such journeys especially memorable. Seeing black bears in Yosemite, whales heading north along the coastal highway and your performance in Santa Monica were some of my extras. And since I can’t thank the bears or the whales… 🙂
Thanks!
Bart
The Netherlands
great tides of people speak
Tides of people spoke on November 8th. A groundswell of angry, ignored human beings let their voices be heard that day. In reaction, another wave of people answered back. We can’t help but hear everyone now. Such turbulence. One wave after another.
The Women’s March was the happiest I’ve felt since the election. Yet I found myself, in the middle of it, blaming myself — my own complacency, my own inaction. I was asleep, naive. I should have done more before the election. Still, I wonder if it would have done any good. Maybe we all needed to hear the alarm in our own voices.
It seems that what’s happening now is a symptom — an outer manifestation of some larger human concern. It’s very noisy and crowded and confusing. We’re all speaking at once. Any of our voices can be heard globally now— but it’s so hard to listen, to hear the truth, in all of this chaos.
I feel compelled to say something too, though I hardly know what. I have groped for these few words. I’m awake now. I’ll engage in this conversation with all of the courage I can muster. I won’t go back to sleep.
