Paula Boggs photos by Tom Reese
Paula Boggs is an Army veteran, attorney, songwriter and musician with an insightful new album Sumatra. Sumatra covers the range of Americana delights, from folksier Americana style songs to the more powerful push of alt-country roots rock, like the Drive-By Truckers – and the musical tone is always a blend of thoughtful joy at its foundation. We had a chance to chat with Paula Boggs about a range of topics emanating from the new music, and the result is below.
Americana Highways: “Let’s start with coffee,” opens the liner notes of your fifth studio album Sumatra. That’s a bold opening. How did the title come about and how does it represent the music and stories within?
Paula Boggs: I wanted a title from one of the album’s tracks universal enough to capture the entire album’s vibe. Our last two album titles, 2017’s Elixir: The Soulgrass Sessions and 2022’s Janus were not tied to a track so it was time to change it up. Conceptually I wanted the album to begin with prayer — it does — and ends with a statement of resolve. Within those bookends are some of the most personal songs I’ve written or we’ve recorded.
Sumatra is my favorite coffee because it is bold, with low acidity. That’s what I hoped this album would be. And, once I told my bandmates what I wanted to do and asked their opinion, “Sumatra” was multi-instrumentalist Darren Loucas’s favorite. As he put it, “it’s a title that helps a listener go on their own journey with the music.”
AH: Did the island of Sumatra, the world’s sixth-largest located in western Indonesia and place the coffee is grown, have any influence on the songwriting or the ethos of the music?
PB: Yes. I’ve never been to Sumatra but it fascinates me. Of course, it’s where my favorite coffee comes from, but Sumatra is much more. I’m a diversity freak and historically Sumatra has had great animal and plant biodiversity. Sadly though, Sumatra has lost almost 50% of its tropical rainforest since 1980 and a growing list of its animals and plants are endangered. I’m drawn to and inspired by Sumatra’s diversity and alarmed by the growing threats to it. Those threats have consequences far beyond Sumatra’s shores and I see parallels to how diversity, which makes us stronger and frankly more interesting, is under attack in my homeland. “Sumatra” the album highlights many kinds of diversity, including a diversity of musical influences finding harmony. We are but one artist. We hope though our “ripple” somehow finds its way to a river where more see and celebrate diversity, including musical diversity, for the gift it is.
AH: The album’s first single, “Airline Boogie,” which we premiered, was a late addition to the record but now leads the charge as both a perfect introduction to your latest chapter of Soulgrass but also seems to encapsulate a lot of the uncertainty many are feeling these days. How did the song come together and can an airline boogie have a positive effect?
PB: We finished recording most of Sumatra in 2024 but obtaining guest artist clearances took another year. So, I continued to write. The idea for “Airline Boogie” first came to me after a delayed flight from Chicago to Seattle. I ended up sitting next to a guy speaking German on his cellphone before takeoff and the rest finds its way into the song. Its chorus says it all “anxiety climbs the higher we go,” “if stars align we’ll land right side up,” but we’re “damn near out of luck.” Being “damn near” means we still have runway – to push the metaphor – but not a lot of it. To “boogie” requires movement. So yes, the song urges us to not stand still, to move, to find our rhythm and yes, I find that positive.
AH: What’s your creative process? Do you flesh out the songs and then take them to the band or does everyone bring ideas to the studio and you build from there?
PB: I’m chief songwriter but arranging is very collaborative. A couple of our band members have music degrees and several teach music so arranging is a really cool process.
AH: Lyrics or music first?
PB: Not always but more often the words come first.
AH: What’s your favorite song that you’ve written and why?
PB: Interestingly, several band members say “Peel the Charade” – on our very first album A Buddha State of Mind and then 7 years later on “Elixir: The Soulgrass Sessions,” is their favorite song. Our keyboardist, vocalist and accordion player Paul Matthew Moore even sang it for me at one of my birthday parties. On Sumatra band member Darren Loucas tells me “Still Grateful” is his favorite. A mother never says who her favorite child is. In this moment, “Route 66” is my favorite.
AH: The final two cuts on the album are spirited takes on the traditional classics, “The Snow it Melts the Soonest,” a 200-year old folk song covered by Sting, Annie Briggs, and others, and the freedom anthem, “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ‘Round,” which was championed during the Civil Rights Movement. There’s an interesting juxtaposition between the two but a thread that connects them. What was the thinking in covering these and was there any intention in sequencing them together?
PB: Ending “Sumatra” with these two songs is intentional. Recently I learned the identity of my British born slaveowner great-great grandfather who owned and impregnated my enslaved great-great grandmother Phillis. The slaveowner was born in 1816 Newcastle, England, emigrated to the U.S. at 20, left New York for Athens, GA and shortly thereafter got into the slavery business.
No one knows who wrote “The Snow…” but it became known in Newcastle around the time my ancestor was born there. So far I have not been able to write an original song about this…it’s been too emotionally hard. But I found “The Snow…” and with a few lyric tweaks it has become the voice Phillis never had…a voice of agency and resolve. The final song, “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody…” follows “The Snow” and serves as an exclamation point for Phillis’s story and the entire album.
AH: On your last studio effort, the terrific Janus, you collaborated with Dom Flemons on “King Brewster,” while this new project sees you working with Valerie June, Josh Neumann, Members of the Evensong Choir of Saint Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral, Seattle and The Blind Boys of Alabama. How did the collaborations come together? Were you able to be in the studio together in each instance?
PB: Each collaboration is its own story. Josh Neumann and I served as Recording Academy Pacific Northwest Chapter Governors together. He recorded his cello part in “Traces of You” at the (Brandi) Carlile compound outside Seattle where he lives. I got connected to Saint Mark’s choir through James Falzone, who wrote the album’s liner notes, is a professor at Cornish College of the Arts. On the album James plays penny whistle on “The Snow It Melts The Soonest” and clarinet on “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me “Round.
Producer/engineer Tucker Martine and I were at St. Mark’s when the choir recorded their parts. It was magical.
In 2024 Jeff DeLia managed both The Blind Boys of Alabama and Dom Flemons. Jeff really liked how the King Brewster project went so presented the opportunity to The Blind Boys of Alabama. I was thrilled when they said “yes” and they recorded their parts in Birmingham, AL. I’d already met Valerie June through Seattle radio station KEXP.org but Newport Festivals Foundation introduced me to her again. By the time I approached Valerie, The Blind Boys of Alabama were already committed to singing on “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ‘Round.” That helped but she still wanted to hear a demo before committing. We recorded the demo, she loved it and then recorded her part in New York City.
AH: Will there be any performances with some of the special guests?
PB: Yes! James Falzone will perform at our Triple Door album release show and Josh Neumann will too schedule permitting. St. Marks is unable to but we’re excited members of Seattle Pro Musica choir will join us at the Triple Door show.
AH: As a U.S. Army Veteran and decorated attorney with a history of working at the top echelon of the corporate and political worlds, you incredibly served four U.S. presidents, including working at the White House while President Obama was in office. How have your former experiences informed your songwriting?
PB: I can’t help but see the world through my life lenses, including my time as a military officer, lawyer and businesswoman. “Carnival of Miracles,” title song of our 2015 album, is written in the voice of a military veteran who loves her country but knows we must be better. “America 2020,” released in 2021 includes the lyrics, “I don’t begrudge protest or fight, you see I wore the uniform to protect your right.” On “Sumatra,” when I repeat “this does not feel anointed,” atop minor chords, it reflects the weight of having served my country, belief in America’s ideals and deep pain as we seem to move further from them. The lawyer in me can show up unexpectedly like when in “Ebony Revisited” from Janus I sing about a “patent pending torch.” It’s all part of the journey and songwriters write what we know or can imagine. I’m no different!
AH: Do you feel any of the songs on Sumatra are protest songs, either explicitly or implicitly?
PB: Sure. I think “Sumatra” and “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ‘Round” are overtly protest songs. “Note to Quinn” and “Airline Boogie” are more subtle and “Still Grateful” may be the most subtle of all…” just a girl lovin’ a girl.”
AH: What instruments do you play?
PB: I play mostly acoustic guitar (though I own an electric guitar too) and ukulele.
AH: What’s one instrument you hope to learn next?
PB: We’re sponsored by Deering Banjos so of course I’d love to learn that instrument!
AH: Desert Island Discs/Ditties. What are your Top 3 albums and songs?
PB: Top 3 Albums: Bruce Springsteen “Nebraska,” Lauryn Hill, “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” and Haydn “Lord Nelson’s Mass.”
Songs: Joni Mitchell “Both Sides Now,” Us3 Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia), one of David Crosby’s last live performances, David Crosby & the Lighthouse Band, “Guinnevere” Live at the Capitol Theater, Port Chester, NY December 8, 2018.
AH: What was the first song you learned to play?
PB: “The House of the Rising Sun”
AH: In addition to songwriting and playing gigs, you’re an in-demand speaker. What are topics that are on your mind?
PB: Authenticity, cultural diversity, team-building, community-building, life beyond the United States of America, global citizenship.
AH: Having just showcased at Folk Alliance International in New Orleans, you have a bunch of upcoming shows during the first half of the year to support the new record including a marquee record release show at The Triple Door in your hometown of Seattle. What do you enjoy most about performing live and what can fans expect at these shows? Will any shows comprise the full new album?
PB: We’ll perform the entire album at our Triple Door release show! Part of the fun and puzzle is figuring out how to play songs that in studio one musician, Darren Loucas, played four instruments on – like “Traces of You.” Audiences love our energy, banter and can see we like each other and what we’re doing on stage. Folks like how we make them feel. We love festivals and bars but we’re so grateful every time we get to play a “listening room.” It’s awesome when audiences can actually hear the lyrics and the cool things happening with our instruments. The Triple Door has that intimacy and great acoustics. We can’t wait!
AH: What’s next for Paula? Paula Boggs Band?
PB: We’re touring off Sumatra, and hope for more festivals overall and gigs beyond US. We have a budding idea to record a stripped-down acoustic EP at an historic Seattle church and we just submitted a video for the 2026 NPR Tiny Desk Contest. Beyond music I continue to speak across the US and beyond. I’m also working on a memoir, “Stereoscope: A Meditation on Race in America.”
Our website is http://www.paulaboggsband.net and we’re on Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, YouTube and TikTok!
Thanks very much for chatting with us, Paula Boggs.
Enjoy some of our previous coverage here: Song Premiere: Paula Boggs Band “Airline Boogie”