Paula Fong's sound moves through the full landscape of Americana, From the stark, grounded beauty of Gillian Welch-style roots music to traditional country swing in the vein of Patty Griffin, from Joni Mitchell-inspired fingerstyle guitar work to old-time traditions. She's been compared to Karla Bonoff and Linda Ronstadt for her ability to move fluidly between genres while maintaining a distinctive voice. Her range isn't merely stylistic, it's rooted in a genuine love for the breadth of American roots music and the folk traditions that influenced it. Stay tuned for my talk with singer, songwriter, and guitarist Paula Fong Listeners, I am talking with Paula Fong, whose new album, A Bird on the Wing, released this past week on October 2nd. Paula, thanks so much for doing this today Oh, thank you so much for having me, Dave And where are you calling from? I'm calling from Los Angeles. I assumed that because I know you're based in Los Angeles, um, but I know you've done a little touring lately too. now were you born in Los Angeles? I was not born in LA, but we moved here when I was about three years old, so I feel like it's pretty much home. But, uh, yeah, just earlier this week I was up in Seattle, Washington area doing a bit of run of shows, um, with Abby Posner. And when you were young, I understand you spent summers in France. Was that a family connection or did your folks just like to go there? Well, no, it was a family connection. And actually, when I went there, uh, I was alone, which was interesting. Uh, not alone while I was there, but traveling-wise, my parents sent me there by myself. and I would work for my aunt and uncle, who had a campsite that was in the countryside in France, in a region called Brittany. And, um, it was something that was passed down to my uncle through the family, and it was a beautiful, beautiful space to be in, It sounds wonderful. I've only been to Paris, but I have this fascination with France Hmm. Yeah, um, the interesting part of that region in particular is that it has a lot of ties to the Gaelic French culture and music. Um, and my uncle was a huge music lover, and so he actually ended up putting on these big shows every summer, um, where he would invite multiple artists to come and share music, and he would even have… He would perform himself. but on a weekly basis, there at the campsite, he would have one of the local, I guess you would call him a caller or a singer. They would come in and they would teach all the campers the Breton folk dance, which was like a circle, circle dance kind of a dance, and he would s- teach the dance first, and then he would sing the music. And occasionally, it would just be, either it would just be him solo or occasionally he would have his full group, uh, where there were multiple singers and some of the folk instrumentation like concertinas. and, it was a really wonderful thing to experience when I was, when I was little., I was probably 12 years old when I first started doing that. and yeah, it really, uh, it got stuck kinda deep inside me somewhere That's great. You know, I confess it was just recently that I learned that you pronounce B-R-E-T-O-N as Breton. I thought it was Breton for some reason. I don't know why Ah. Well, in the French pronunciation, actually, that's pretty close. Breton. Yeah, so you got it right. All right, I guess sort of. well, was guitar the first instrument you learned? That's a great question. It's funny, I think, uh, when I talk to people about instruments that I learned first, I usually start with violin, which I do not purport to myself to be a violinist by any means. Um, but I suppose at a very, very young age, I started on piano. I took a little bit of flute in school, , and also ended up pursuing the, the woodwinds, too. When I was in college, I, I took a, uh, Chinese orchestra class and played with the orchestra there, uh, one of the wooden flutes in the… That's called a dizi in, uh, the Chinese orchestra. Uh, but yeah, really when I fir- was more seriously studying, I, I took up violin, but fairly quickly changed to guitar for songwriting purposes, because it seemed like a thing that would accompany the songwriting a little bit easier than, than say fiddle. You were just talking about, you know, the music you heard, you know, in your young years and in your time in France. Mm-hmm. but what kind of, like, bands or musicians outside of the family connection do you remember listening to when you were pretty young, like just the music of your youth? Um, you know, at some point I'm guessing you were exposed to, you know, songs and bands and musicians that you liked Yeah. I think one of the ones that left a big, really big impression on me was Norah Jones. Oh, nice I love her voice. I loved her songwriting. And then the one that really became my entrance into Americana, that particular genre that really pulls-- I think it, that's the, the way that I think about my current music these days, is Nickel Creek. Um, I stumbled on them by accident at one of those big, uh, sort of, uh, music festivals where they had blocked off, you know, multiple blocks, and they just had stages all around playing music. And I had never heard of them, didn't know what I was walking into, and saw them, and was just captivated by their energy, by the instrumentation, and, um, and yeah. They, they were a big influence on me, for sure. oh, one other band I have to mention also, is The Wailin’ Jennys. I don't know if you're familiar with that Canadian group. And I love the name. I love the name The Wailin’ Jennys Yes. It's a funny reference. I didn't know as a kid, or when I was younger, I didn't realize that they were referencing Waylon Jennings. But, um, yeah, a lot of people like that name of their band. Yeah, I am familiar with them. They're great. I saw Nickel Creek many, many years ago when they were first kinda … I don't even remember what year that would've been, but yeah, they were, you know, getting a lot of attention and buzz, and I saw them here in St. Louis at The Pageant, and yeah, a really great and memorable show Oh, are you based in St. Louis? All right, that's where I am. That's where I was born. That's so funny. Oh. Oh, I'll be darned. But you consider yourself a Los Angeles person? I certainly do. Yeah, my mom's family is from the Midwest and South, and my dad's from China and Taiwan. But, uh, they went to school in WashU, and so I was born a little proud. Mm-hmm. I lived for about 17 years of my adult life in a condo that was practically walking distance to Wash U, and I know many, many of my friends and colleagues who, who attended Wash U. Well, that's very cool. It's cool. Yeah. Well, you incorporate a fair amount of finger picking, which is really nice. That's something long ago I taught myself just mainly, you know, watching other people and listening to other guitarists. Uh, definitely never mastered it, and I still work on it, but I always love the finger picking style. Thank you. Yeah, I really enjoy finger picking. Um, I, I have had some people compare my first EP to kind of early Joni Mitchell, which I think, you know, lends a lot of, uh, itself to the finger picking style. And, um, I always loved… And I, I couldn't touch anywhere near her or James Taylor, but both of them were definitely inspirational for me Yeah, yeah Well, in addition to guitar, you have a beautiful voice on your songs and also backing vocals that you provide for other artists like Abby Posner you mentioned earlier Yeah, yeah. so when I, when I first started working in music professionally, I was a harmony singer. I got a really, like, strong foundation that deepened in Americana through a church band that I ended up working with where they, they didn't do specifically Christian music, they didn't do praise music by any means. They did Americana and folk. And through that band, , I really honed my, harmony skills. I mean, I'd, I'd grown up singing in choirs ever since I was in third grade, and loved singing alto and all the harmony parts, and was always trained to read sheet music. But then when I joined that particular church band, I learned a lot about, , you know, figuring out harmonies by ear. and the musical director at the time loved The Wailin’ Jennys with their beautiful three-part harmonies. And so a lot of the times I was listening to their music over and over to try to figure out how they put together all of those intricate harmonies that they do. and, , yeah, grew that skill, and then ended up singing with some folk singers around the LA area, doing backup with, uh, Tracy Newman, and now I sing with Abby Posner. and for a short stint, uh, I was working and writing songs with a singer named Tom Kell, , until he passed away, unfortunately, from cancer. But, uh, but yeah, I've done a lot of harmony singing in my day, for sure. You perform music sometimes solo, just you and a guitar, and sometimes with a band. I assume you love doing both, but are there different feelings or emotions that you experience with and without accompaniment? Oh, sure. That's a really good question. I feel like, when you play with a big band, there's just so much energy going on, and you can bounce ideas back and forth, and, um, I, I really enjoy that. To me, part of not just playing live but also recording with other people is the amount of ideas that you get in the room, and the magic that happens when we're all sitting together and playing. Um, so I tend to do bigger shows,, like around an album release or something, where there's a, a, you know, an opportunity to have that. But most of the time, I play either a duo or a trio., Especially if I'm touring, I will be just with me and my dear friend Phil Glenn, who is an amazing multi-instrumentalist. You'll hear him all over my album. and the poor man usually has to lug around at least three instruments whenever he plays with me. But it's so much fun. I really enjoy it. I think solo is really nice, too, uh, because that makes that connection with the listener. I feel like it's so intimate when there's just that one voice and guitar. but when there's two, I, I enjoy that probably the most, I would say. Having some amount of play between the two people. Mm-hmm Well your debut EP, Chestnut Mare, is really great, and the song Ophelia earned recognition with a nomination at the International Acoustic Music Awards Yeah, it did. thank you for bringing that up. I'm glad you got a chance to listen to it And Chestnut Mare got a lot of praise in the States and also in the UK from Americana UK, uh, The Bluegrass Situation, Americana Highways, and Liverpool Sound and Vision. Speaking of the UK, earlier this year you performed in London at the Harrison in King's Cross. I think it was back in April? Yes. Yeah, that was a really lovely, lovely show. I and I'm hoping to go back there again. Yeah, I do too. You know, it was only the second time I'd gotten to be there, but, uh, I really enjoyed the city. It's, it's got such great culture and music. Um, and I'm trying to head back there, uh, next summer as well, and hopefully play a few more shows out that way Yeah, I've never been to the Harrison. I've, I've only been there twice myself, but, uh, isn't that sort of like a pub and a hotel? It is. So upstairs there's a hotel, and then there's a pub on the middle level, and then the music venue is down below in the basement area. And they've got, uh, like a, a nice listening space where they set up, um, you know, the sound system all set up and have music there often I love all things London. So Yeah. Oh, and, uh, more recently you played at one of my favorite places, McCabe’s in Santa Monica Oh gosh, that was such an honor. I have to say, I've sung on that stage doing backup for artists in the past. Um, and this past summer I got to open for Abby and then sing with her band for her album release, which was just such a treat and privilege. Um, and I'm, I'm sure you probably heard this, uh, from other artists before, but it just feels like there is magic that happens on that stage. is, yeah. Yeah. Something about the history and the spirits that are there. But you've been in the room when it was happening, right? yeah, I, I love it. I have a brother who lives out there, and every time, if, I think every single time I get out to LA, I try to get by McCabe's. And, um, yeah, not too long ago I had Peter Case on, and he did that recent really great live album that was recorded there. And yeah, he, I, he talks about it too, that it's, there's just something about that space and that stage. And, uh, anyway, very, very cool Yeah, and it's such a wonderful music community and shop. I mean, I, I got my first mandolin there. I bought one of my first guitars from there. Um, yeah, it's a wonderful, wonderful music shop as well. I usually take my guitars there for the luthiers there'cause they're quite skilled... Well, I do wanna talk about the new that, I wanna mention a lot of your songs have a very spiritual feel to them, and in addition to your career as a musician and vocalist, you also direct an Americana music service at Rolling Hills United Methodist Yes, that's right. I ended up taking over as a director in 2019. Uh, and that's the church that I actually mentioned growing up in and learning from all the musicians that were there in that band., So it was a real… It was really, a wonderful development and honor to step into a leadership role there and continue to grow that service. And, one of the interesting things I think that has come out of that service in particular is after our director left, our band kind of went through a bit of a transformation, and more and more musicians that were in the band, ended up after COVID going out and gigging a whole lot more, going on tour, um, 'cause they're all professional musicians. And I had to sub in people who were of the same caliber, and ended up going out into the LA community and connecting with a lot of local musicians and bringing them in, and that's actually how I reconnected with Abby Posner, um, 'cause she was an old friend I had lost touch with, and, um, asked her to come and do the service one time. And she, she fell in love with it, and we, we had a great time singing and playing music together. So it's been, it's been wonderful, um, spiritually on one side, and then also communally and , the community that I've been able to create and help foster through that as well, so. Well, I looked up the location and discovered it's maybe an hour or hour and a half away from a Methodist church in Westlake Village where my brother, he helps with their audio and video. He's like, just kinda helps put their services on, uh, online and I think just helps with the audio and video in general. But, uh, yeah, I was just A high school reading about your church, I was just like, "Wow, I think that sounds like it's probably pretty close to my brother's church." So Well, LA is big, so yeah. I do feel like most gigs are at least an hour drive out anyhow, so yeah Yeah, yeah. Well, I'd also love to talk about some of the musicians who contributed to the new album. I know, um, Sean Watkins of Nickel Creek, who you mentioned, is on the record, That was a real dream. I mean, like I'd mentioned before, Nickel Creek had such a huge impact on me as a young musician, uh, that getting this opportunity to work with Sean was just, you know, it made my day. it made the whole album for me in a way that I hadn't even expected to happen. So, I feel really privileged that he played and sang on it. Yeah, I'm really excited about it That's great . Well, the new album by Paula Fong, A Bird on the Wing, is officially out and available. I'm excited for you, and I'm gonna guess you're pretty excited about this as well Well, I'm so excited, Dave. Thanks so much for chatting with me about it Yeah. you mentioned a show you did in Seattle, and there are a couple more coming up in California and Tennessee Yeah. I'm really excited to be part of the PorchLight Festival that's happening in Dayton, Tennessee at the end of this month. Um, and actually the week before that, really fun show at Bell Choir Studios where I recorded most of my album, um, is happening October 17th. Mm-hmm. Excited for that one. But one thing I love about doing this show is I often get access to albums in advance. Uh, so I've already been enjoying A Bird on the Wing, and listeners, it's really, really great. So look for some posts on The Frets with DJ Fey podcast website and, uh, The Frets Instagram and Facebook pages. I'll be posting about that, and I will put a link in the show notes, so look for that in this episode. Well, Paula Fong, I am in awe of your many talents as a songwriter, guitarist, vocalist, and more. Thank you so much for being a guest on Frets.. Nice to chat with you, Dave. You too. Thanks so much. Paula Fong's sound moves through the full landscape of Americana, from the stark, grounded beauty of Gillian Welch-style roots music to traditional country swing in the vein of Patty Griffin.