
Singer-songwriter Paula Cole has the sort of voice that is nearly impossible to forget. It is as if her crystalline sound and sweeping range somehow never ceases to leave you.
On the first single from her upcoming album Ballads — due Aug. 11 on her own label, 675 Records — Cole’s pristine voice graces a cover of the famed Billie Holiday song “God Bless the Child.” In the Grammy-winning singer’s rendition of the jazz classic, she transforms the song with the sound of a delicate acoustic guitar and her signature smooth vocals. The weightlessness of the track feels as if it could slip through your fingers like the ease of a breeze on a summer afternoon. And though the track is light, the song’s immense yearning can be heard in the Cole’s powerful voice and the slight somber twang of the guitar.
“God Bless the Child” is the first release off Ballads, Cole’s twenty-song collection featuring American jazz and folk classics from the 1930s-1960s.
Listen to “God Bless the Child” below and pre-order Ballads on her site.
Paula Cole Tour Dates
Jun 3 – Atlanta, GA – City Winery Atlanta
Jun 19 – New York, NY – City Winery
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