Music

Paula Cole goes from Mass. to ‘The Masked Singer’

Unmasked on the FOX singing competition, Rockport native Cole is capping her ’24 tour in Newport and Beverly.

By Lauren Daley

October 23, 2024

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Growing up in Rockport, quiet beaches and rocky outcrops shaped Paula Cole’s inner life. 

“We didn’t even get a decent FM radio signal. The isolation of Rockport fostered looking to music for solace, for therapy. You were almost relegated to having a spiritual life,” the Berklee alum told me previously, in a quote that has stuck with me as quintessential Cole. “Geologically informed culture … made us strong.”

So if you were surprised to see Cole unmasked and revealed as “Ship” on FOX’s “The Masked Singer” Oct. 9, well, so was she.

“I had to confront my snobbery,” Cole told me with a laugh this week. “I could do with some lightening up. I could do with some laughter and silliness.”

The self-described “introvert who takes herself too seriously” saw the reality singing competition as a Zen exercise: A way to let go of self and ego.

“I did not need to win. I was practicing a stoic Buddhist unattachment the whole time,” Cole, 56, told me. “It was a relief to be voted off. I hated the competition” aspect.

In real life, Cole wears no masks. 

The Gen X Lilith Fair activist who flipped the bird and bared armpit hair during her 1998 Grammy performance is never not true to herself.

It’s what’s always so refreshing about interviewing her, and why her devoted cult following loves her music: no bull, all soul.

This is an artist whose latest album, “Lo,” contains a song written from the perspective of a Massachusetts quarry miner in 1932. Another is inspired by Max Ehrmann’s 1927 poem, “Desiderata,” which begins: “Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.”

That line quite nearly echoes Cole’s view on joining a hit reality show.

Dressed as a ship (Rockport vibes), Cole crushed Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way” among other covers this season.

For the record, Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg — wife to Dorchester’s own Donnie — was the only judge to guess right. Robin Thicke guessed Amy Lee, Rita Ora thought Ship was Sarah McLachlan, Ken Jeong guessed Alanis Morissette. (He oughtta know better.)

Now Ship sails home. 

I called Cole ahead of her final concerts of ‘24: at the Jane Pickens Theater in Newport, R.I. Oct. 25, and a hometown finale at Beverly’s Cabot Oct. 26. We talked “Masked Singer,”  feminism, an aging Gen X, Rockport, “Dawson’s Creek” — and I learned that Dan Levy’s (“Schitt’s Creek”) production team is making a Lilith Fair doc. (Here for it.)

Boston.com: I never expected you to be on “The Masked Singer.”

Paula Cole: Oh, my God, neither did I. [laughs]

[laughs] How did this come together?

They called me and asked. I didn’t know the show, so I did a deep-dive. My daughter and I started watching; my elderly parents watched. That’s been the most joyful part: watching with family. But I had to get over myself to say yes. 

Your ship costume was very Rockport.

They offered me that fantastic ship costume. If it had been some furry creature, don’t know if I would’ve been so accepting. [laughs] They thought of me with this costume because I’m from Rockport, and because of the nature of some of my songs. It was this artistic costume that reminded me of my mom’s artwork.

Right, your mom Stephanie Cole is a local artist. So the show wrapped in June. Did you have to keep it a secret from family?

Oh, yeah. I signed an NDA. They pick you up in a black SUV. You’re given a black duffel bag, and as you’re headed to the set, you change into an enormous black hoodie, gloves, a visor that covers your face and the hoodie that goes over your head, and on the hoodie, it says, “Don’t talk to me.” 

Woah.

They take it very seriously, which is fun. 

Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg was the only person who knew it was you. 

Yeah, Jenny probably went to Lilith Fair. She’s 51, so she’s closer to my age — she looks amazing. I really came away liking Jenny and Ken [Jeong]. They’re sweet.

Did you pick your own songs?

Yes and no. I picked “Because the Night.” One episode was a
“Footloose” celebration, so you pick off the soundtrack — “Almost Paradise” was my nod to Ann Wilson.  One I’d never heard before: “Pompeii” by Bastille was  a producers’ recommendation. That actually ended up being my favorite song.

You said you had “a Buddhist perspective” on being eliminated.

Exactly. It was one of unattachment. I didn’t need to win. I think they wanted more competition than I had in me. [laughs] But I did not need to win.

You mentioned the idea of getting over yourself. Did you gain any spiritual lessons from being on the show?

Saying yes to opportunities. Taking myself less seriously. Caring less what people think — that whole ball-and-chain. I’m in my 50s, I want to free myself from the tyranny of my own self-doubt and worry over what people think of me. Enough already. I’m so self-critical. I want to practice lightening up. This was radically different from what this serious introvert would normally do.

Were you surprised the show reached out?

I was. There are some ardent Paula Cole fans amongst the producers. They knew unknown albums, my independent work. It was really heartening. They even put in clues based on some of my independent albums that only hardcore fans know. I have more of a niche, loyal audience now.

Would you do another show like this?

I don’t know. [laughs] I’d have call it in the moment. This one worked out — I was in a more extroverted mood. Sometimes I want to be home and writing. But who knows?

You’ve been touring on “Lo,” which is so candid.  What’s the reception you’ve gotten?

It’s been fantastic, honestly. I feel seen and heard. It had been a while since I’d written original material, and it felt natural and healthy to come back to it. It’s this source of healing that’s available to me when I need help with life: writing.

In pop music, we tend to adulate young people, but we all get older. It’s heartening and healing to hear original music from a 50-year-old’s perspective. I found there’s tears in the audience, whether it’s about life, or parents aging, or kids getting older. It’s a perspective that’s not as heard in our youth-worshiping culture.

You have some personal songs here. Are there any you find surprisingly comforting to sing?

Thank you, I like that question. I find myself going back to “Follow the Moon.” I think that’s my favorite song on the album. I find that touches people in midlife. I also love “Flying Home,” an extension of Ehrmann’s poem “Desiderata.” It’s a spiritual looking at life.

Do you find the bulk of your fanbase are Gen Xers, the Lilith Fair crowd?

For sure. It’s been an interesting ride. Everything happened really quickly for me, then I went away and I hated the music business. It took me time to come back, and I did it introvertedly on my own terms. I’m not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I’m not a Rolling Stone darling. My fanbase is niche, but I find they’re fans for life.

You told me once the isolation of Rockport fostered your love for music.

Yeah, child of the ’70s. [laughs] FM radio barely came in. I was left to my own devices — learning songs on piano. I thought it perfectly natural for families to play instruments and break out in three-part harmonies. I missed out on a lot of pop culture. Then I found jazz, and went off to Berklee. Pop came intuitively: I found my voice, and it wasn’t jazz.

It’s ironic that as someone not raised on pop culture, you had a big break with the “Dawson’s Creek” theme.

It is ironic, because that’s not me at all. In some ways, I haven’t had the career I’ve envisioned at all. I didn’t watch “Dawson’s Creek.” “Dawson’s Creek” happened and the beauty is it touched a different generation. 

People have let go of the snobbery of having your song used in a soundtrack — everybody does it now, Billie Eilish [“Barbie”].  So it was healthy to let go of that snobbery. It gave me a new audience. Gen Z and younger millennials appreciate that kind of emo-darkness I’ve always been. [laughs]

[laughs] Do you find the Lilith Fair-vibe is back full circle to Gen Z?

They’re curious about Lilith Fair. There’s going to be a documentary out soon. Dan Levy, who did “Schitt’s Creek,” his production team is producing a documentary on Lilith fair.

Wow, that sounds awesome.

Yeah, that’s gonna be awesome. I don’t know when that’s coming out, but I did some interviews for that on-camera. There’s curiosity. It feels like a good time to talk about it, with the evisceration of Roe v Wade.

You told me there were once quotas for female artists on the radio.

Oh, yeah. And I was never on a bill with another woman — women didn’t open for women. [Music] is still such a guy’s club, please. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Oh, my God. I’m sorry, that boys’ club needs to bust up. It is so ancient and ossified and f—ing defunct. It’s so boring, actually.

Do you feel we’re at a ripe time to change things?

It is time. I don’t know. I’ll just keep doing my best. Whatever my tiny role might be: whether it’s writing honest music, or not letting go of my ideals, or doing this interview, or not being a good little f—ing girl. That brainwash, I’m just so sick of it. You watch everybody’s rights go away if you stay a good little girl. 

Exactly.

So these conversations are important. You interviewing me, having this conversation, that’s important. Thank you. I’m frustrated by the boys’ club. It’s kept me out of the conversation. But I can’t put my energy there. I just have to keep making art, keep showing up. Meanwhile, we’ll have a laugh with “The Masked Singer.” [laughs] It’ll be a lesson in letting go. 

Interview has been condensed and edited. Lauren Daley is a freelance writer. She can be reached at [email protected]. She tweets @laurendaley1, and Instagrams at @laurendaley1. Read more stories on Facebook here.