 is a saxophonist, vocalist, songwriter and producer who hails from New York. She has toured around the world and has shared the stage with many contemporary jazz notable such as the Ripping Tons, Nick Collion, Chuck Love, Cindy Bradley, Hiroshima, Bob James, David Samford, Gerald Albright and the list go on. She has enjoyed 10 billboard, top 30 charting singles. I am so honored and happy to have her here on the show today. Please let's welcome Miss Paula Atherton to the show. Aloha Paula, how are you? Aloha Gwen, thanks so much for having me. Thank you so much. I know you are on Eastern Times, but it's late, it's where you are. So you are here joining me and I am just so happy, happy, happy. For those of you who don't know, I just saw Paula a couple of weeks ago at the Oxnard Jazz Festival in Oxnard, California and she killed it, absolutely, killed it, killed it, killed it. So, you know, I saw her and I was like, you know what, I have always went to interview, gotta get her on my show. And look, she is here today. So I guess, thank you for coming. So let's get this interview started. How did you get into the music industry? How did you get to the music industry? Well, let's see. I started singing really early and then playing flute when I was nine and studying jazz in my teens. And that's when I started playing saxophone. As far as knowing what to do business-wise, there's no map on that. It's kind of like trial and error and you're gonna make a lot of mistakes. And I did. Did you come from a musical family? No, no. I just loved music. I didn't even really get lessons when I was a kid because my parents couldn't afford it. So I didn't really start to have lessons myself until I could pay for them. Really? Yeah, yeah. But you know, when you want something bad enough, you work to get it. Yes. And it was in my heart. So I had to go, I had to go get it. Wow. And I'm glad you did. I'm glad that you did. Now we know you sing. We know you play the saxophone and you just said that you played the flute. Yes. What other instruments do you play? I play soprano sax and I've recorded some tunes on soprano sax on my first couple of albums. I kind of stopped recording on it because I can't bring it with me. On the plane, you know. I bring my alto, my flute and my microphones and stuff but I can't bring another instrument. So, but I think I might play it on my seventh. I have room for another song or two and I might, I might bring that back. And I played baritone sax just for parts, you know, like a rent one, I don't own one. I'm not bringing it anywhere. Don't call me. I think it's like humongous, you know. I love it, but it's, you know, it's outrageous. It's so huge. And piccolo, I'm a clarinet owner. You know, the woodwinds pretty much, you know. All the woodwinds instrument. And I play enough piano to be able to write, you know. Nice. Nice. I'm a woodwind person myself. I played flute. I started out the clarinet and then played flute and piccolo in college. So I'm with you there, girl. All right. I'm with you. Now I asked this question of all my artists. I love to hear their answers. The pandemic put everyone at its standstill, especially the entertainment field. What did you do during that time to keep saying? My career took off. It did, it did. It absolutely did. I had my first number one on Billboard in 2020 during COVID. During COVID, that's when you, that's when everything opened up for me. I'll tell you the truth. It sounds completely insane, but I'm not making it up. My sixth album wasn't done yet, but the first single, Can You Feel It Was, and we released it in January. And I think by May, it had hit number one on Billboard Media Base and the Smooth Jazz Network. And because we were quarantined pretty much, and you see I'm in the studio now, so we just went about finishing it and released the full album that September. And then in 2021, I released Summer Song, another single from Can You Feel It, and that went to number one. So I'm not, I'm telling you the truth. I mean, it was crazy because I couldn't work. I couldn't go out and do anything about it, but as far as what was happening with my music on the radio was crazy, it was amazing. Well, I know I play some of your stuff on my radio show, and it's out of this world, trust me. Oh, thank you. Thank you. Trust me on that one. So you didn't do, I know a lot of entertainers, they did a lot of online shows. Did you do any of those, like online performances? Oh, I did some of them with tracks and stuff like that. Yeah, I did a few of those. You know, musicians were doing whatever they could do, you know, whatever they could do. Right, but I know you guys are glad everything is open back up and you guys are out there doing your thing. Absolutely, I mean, that was, it was scary. I'm in New York and it was terrible here. Yes. I was like, I think the worst, the worst state in the United States, we were losing like 8,000 people a day. It was really like crazy. And you look at that on TV and you're like, I don't know, am I ever gonna work again? Am I ever gonna be able to go anywhere or do anything? You know? So thank God that things, it took a while, but at least they turned around, you know? Yes, yes. Now we're gonna talk about your albums and I'm just gonna go through the list because you have six out right now. As you said, you have a seventh that's up and coming but it's not out yet. Still working on that one, right? That's right. 2001, you did Let Me Inside Your Love, right? 2009, you had Groove With Me. 2012, you had Enjoy the Ride. 2015, you had Ear Candy. I love the names of these, I love these titles. 2018, you had Shake It. And then of course, your latest album out now came out in 2020, is Can You Feel It? Yeah. I want you to tell us a little bit as to how you came up with that title for Can You Feel It? It just seemed like the right thing to do since that was my first number one on Billboard and it was a title, we just made it the title track of the album. I mean, previously I didn't do that. I had a concept for the album and it wasn't one of the songs, except for Shake It. Shake It was one of the tunes on the record too but before that, you know, it wasn't. But it's hard coming up with names for things, things like instrumental tunes, very hard coming up with a name or a title for an album, difficult to do. But since that went up being, you know, my first number one, it seemed like the only way to go. Nice, nice. Now, I want to congratulate you because we just talked about this before, before we're coming on air. I want to congratulate you for you. Could you tell me yourself that you just, your latest single that's out now entitled Ready or Not has just hit number 10 on the billboard? That's right, today, yes. Right. It's true, it's true. Yes. Yes, I know. You are just killing it. You're killing it. You are so killing it. Congratulations on that. How did you come up with that title Ready or Not? That sounds like a title like, you know. You know, again, it's an instrumental tune. So we were like, what are we going to call it? I think my husband came up with that one. It was either him or Adam Hawley who produced it. I don't remember. Because we were like, you know, coming up with names back and forth, back and forth. What do you think of this? What do you think of that? So I don't remember. But it was either Adam or my husband, Lou, that came up with it. Ready or not, everybody, you need to get ready for Miss Paula Atherton because she's on it. She is definitely on it. Now you have collaborated with many artists. Who would be your dream collaboration? John Batiste. Oh, really? Oh, really? I can see you doing something with him, too. I love him. I think he's great. He's just so joyful and he brings so much joy to the world with his music. I miss seeing him on Cold Bear now. So yeah, I'd love to collaborate with him. Well, you know, like I tell everybody, you need to go ahead and speak that into existence. You know, just say, you're going to work with it. I just did. And you never know. You never know what's going to happen, Paula. You never, you never, never know. Never know. Now let's talk a little bit. You never know. Now there's many saxophonists out there. I want to know what sets you apart from these other saxophonists that are out there in the industry. I think everybody kind of has their own sound and their own identity. It's such a personal instrument. You're creating the wind to make the sound. So if I played, if I took somebody else's saxophone with their mouthpiece and read and their whole setup, I wouldn't sound like them, even though I'm playing the same exact thing that they are. I would sound like me because it really has a lot to do with the person that's playing it and how they hear sounds. Now you have worked very closely with Miss Cindy Bradley. Yes. Yes. How did you guys, I want you to tell us, how did you guys come up with the fabulous lawns? Well, it's kind of like a tongue-in-cheek name, kind of a joke, you know? Because when we go out to dinner sometimes, we have margaritas and stuff and have some laughs. And that's just the title we were calling ourselves. And when we started doing some shows together over the past couple of years, the agent wanted to know we were called. And I was like, the fabulous lawns. I don't know what else to call. And so we went with that. Now, do you and Cindy have anything coming up in the works? No, we did a couple of shows this year. The last one was at Glenora Winery. And that was really fun. I'm hoping next year that we do some more. We played our first show was last year in Norfolk at the Waterfront Jazz Festival. And it was raining and there was a lightning storm. So they told us that we had to go in an indoor venue. And we were like, where's that going to be? We were opening for David Sandborn. So there was a lot of people there, right? So they drive us to the back of this building and they opened the door and we walk in. And I walk in there and I'm like, oh my God, it was the Scope Arena in Virginia. Do you know what that looks like? Oh no, really? Yes, I know. It's like the size of Madison Square Garden in New York. Yeah, with a Jumbotron and everything. That was our first gig. That was our first gig that we did. Oh, wow. Where are we going to go from here? You know, yeah, it was crazy. Oh, I can imagine your face. I can imagine your face when you saw that. I was like, I mean, the sound was great. Everything, the lighting, it was wild. It was wild doing a gig like that in a place like that. It was great. Well, I want you to talk a little bit about you work with an organization that brings music to autistic children, cancer patients and hospice patients. I want you to tell us a little bit about the work that you do with the organization Music That Feels. They're a really wonderful organization run by this great woman, Kathy Lord. And I studied music therapy. So I'm always interested in the wonderful things that music can do to help people, different types of people in different situations. So yeah, I did a show for a recently Labor Day. We played at Calvary Hospital, which is basically a hospice hospital in New York. And it's such a gift being able to do that, to give to people in that way. It's indescribable. You get so much back, you know? And that's not the reason why I do it. I just, I like giving of myself like that. But it's like they say to us, when we're in that hospital, they're like, first of all, they're so nice to us and thankful that we're there. And they're like, this could be their last show, these people that are here. So it's an important type of work. Sometimes it's not easy, especially in a hospice situation. When I do that, it just wipes me out, you know? But it's about giving, being kind, caring for others. It's the best we can be. Yes. Yes, and that's just such a gift to music, to take your music, to share with those people, whether it's the kids and the patients. Yeah. That's remarkable. For our curious saxophone players out there, what brand of saxophone do you play? I've been playing Dakota sax. I endorse them and I play them on the road. I do workshops for them and that sort of thing. Oh, nice. Yeah. Nice. Yeah. But we have a few more minutes and I have a few more questions for you. Okay. And this one I have to ask all my artists. I have to ask that. What advice would you give to a new musician coming into the industry? New musician, new artist, what advice would you give them coming into this industry? Follow your path, listen to your heart and stay on your own path. Everybody has a path. It's like your fingerprint. And it's easy to maybe look at things that other people are doing and feel like, well, I wish I could do that. You may be doing that. It's just not your time yet. You have a different path and you're just wasting time looking at what someone else is doing. Your thing is gonna be unique to you. So you just have to kind of follow that, pay attention to it and you'll get there. Just work hard. You'll get there. I love that. I love that, I love that, I love that. Now, what upcoming shows do you have? What things should I be walking on my calendar to come to see you perform? Well, let's see. October 1st, I'll be in Louisville, Kentucky doing a double bill with Carol Albert. And then October 2nd, I'll be at the Hyatt Regency in New Brunswick, New Jersey playing with Jazz and Pink for the Hub City Jazz Festival. Okay, we'll show you how it's done. Yeah, that's right. And then the week after that, October 7th and 8th, playing at Brothers in Norfolk, Virginia. Yeah. And I have a bunch of things coming up next year. We were just talking about Portugal. So I think my show there is going to be on May 11th in the Algarve in next May. Okay, so where can people go? Number one, where can people go to find your music? And number two, where can they go to find all of your upcoming events? Because I know you need to name all of them because we don't have time, but where can they go? Well, I'm on Facebook. I have a fan page and a friend page. Twitter, I'm on Twitter, Instagram. My Instagram handle is Paula Atherton Music on Twitter at PathertonOne and I'm on LinkedIn. It's about it, I think. Okay. And what's your website? My website, which is my name. Yeah, what's your website? It's PaulaAtherton.com. Okay, so you hear that, everyone. Go to, what is it, PaulaAtherton.com? Yeah. Go there, you can check her out. It's a great website. You can check her out, you can check out where she's going to be playing because I'm going to be following her on some of these things. And I need to try and get her here to Hawaii. We talked about that. Most of the time. Yes, yes. I'm also on Banzantown. If people want to join Banzantown, they get done. Yeah. You said everyone, right? You heard that. Paula, I thank you so much for being here with me today. I'm going to have to do another interview with you, probably here in a couple of months, find out what's going on, anything new, keep in track of you. You are killing it on the Billboard with these songs, I tell you, tell you, tell you, I will keep following you for sure. Well, thank you so much. I mean, I have a great team. I'm working with great producers and it makes all the difference in the world. Well, you stick with that team. You stick with that team and I'm going to keep following you for sure. I told you to stick with my team. They're the best. Thank you so much again for taking time out of your busy schedule and late in the evening over there. But thank you so much for taking the time to sit here with me for this interview. I'm definitely going to be following you and you might see me in Portugal next to you. Never enough. Oh. I might be speaking in front of my fans, my viewers. Oh, yes, most definitely, most definitely, most definitely to my viewers. Thank you so much for tuning in and until next time. Aloha, thank God bless. Thank you so much for tuning in and donate to us at think.kawaii.com. Mahalo.