Paula Cole has a covers album on the way; now touring

On Aug. 11, Grammy Award-winning artist Paula Cole returns with her eighth studio album, "Ballads," a collection of soulful interpretations of American jazz, folk and country classics from the 1930s to the '60s.

Self-produced and released through her own label, 675 Records, the 20-song double-album features tracks originally written or popularized by Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, Bob Dylan, Bobbie Gentry, John Coltrane, Ella Fitzgerald and more.

"Ballads" is dedicated to Paula’s father who instilled a joy of music in her from a young age, and the album shines a light on her own roots as a jazz singer. Her studio ensemble included drummer Jay Bellerose (T Bone Burnett, Regina Spektor, Punch Brothers, Joe Henry) and upright bassist Dennis Crouch (Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Diana Krall), plus guitarists Kevin Barry and Chris Bruce, and pianist Consuelo Candelaria.

Paula Cole's 1997 breakthrough album "This Fire" featured the singles “Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?” and “I Don’t Want To Wait,” achieving double-platinum sales in the U.S. and seven Grammy nominations including Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Producer of the Year, and Best New Artist, the latter of which Cole won.

She will play select dates across the country this year, including shows where she plays "This Fire" in full from front to back. See below for full tour routing.

Track listing:

1. God Bless The Child
2. I Wish (I Knew How It Feels To Be Free)
3. Naima
4. Ode To Billy Joe
5. You’ve Changed
6. What A Little Moonlight Can Do
7. I’m Old Fashioned
8. The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
9. Never Will I Marry
10. Skylark
11. The Ballad of Hollis Brown
12. Body and Soul
13. Nice Work If You Can Get It
14. Farewell, My Friends
15. I Cover The Waterfront
16. Blue Moon
17. You Hit The Spot
18. Willow Weep For Me
19. Autumn Leaves
20. My One And Only Love

Tour dates:

Jun 30 - East Hampton, NY - Guild Hall
Jul 6 - Carlsbad, CA - Museum of Making Music
Jul 7 - Santa Monica, CA - McCabe’s
Jul 8 - Santa Barbara, CA - Lobero Theatre
Jul 28 - Rockport, MA - Shalin Liu Performance Center<
Aug 11 - West Kingston, RI - Courthouse Center For The Arts
Aug 12 - Rockport, MA - Shalin Liu Performance Center
Aug 13 - Derry, NH - Tupelo Music Hall
Oct 11 – Evanston, IL – SPACE
Oct 12 – Cleveland, OH – Music Box Supper Club
Oct 13 – Monroe, MI – La-Z-Boy Center
Oct 14 – Saugatuck, MI – Saugatuck Center for the Arts
Oct 19 – North Bethesda, MD – AMP by Strathmore
Oct 20 – New York, NY – City Winery
Oct 26 – Oakland, CA – Yoshi’s
Oct 27 – Kirkland, WA – Kirkland PAC
Oct 28 – Portland, OR – Aladdin Theatre
Oct 29 – Bremerton, WA – Admiral Theatre
Dec 16 – Natick, MA – The Center for the Arts in Natick

paulacole.com