AT THE GRAMMY AWARDS Congrats to Paula on winning BEST NEW ARTIST! Released in October of '96, Paula Cole's This Fire has fostered three major singles: the Top Ten "Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?"; "I Don't Want To Wait," which has been pegged as the theme to the new hit series, Dawson's Creek (on The WB); and the recently released "Me." Now, after a season of non-stop touring, Cole finds herself in the running for mega-Grammys right alongside Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney and Babyface. How does the Rockport, MA, native feel about such hoopla? We thought we'd let her fan this fire herself. Q: You were at the NARAS press conference. What went through your mind when you realized you were nominated? A: I was feeling very mellow because it was the morning and I was half asleep. I didn't even know that I had to announce the nominations; I showed up in boots and a poncho that my grandmother gave me. I got up on the stage with all these known artists, and they just kept announcing my name. I was standing next to an usher and I kept putting my head down and saying, "Oh my goodness. . . Best New Artist? I'm not a new artist." I think I was in a state of shock. . . Now I feel like I don't need to win an award. I don't want to or expect to. I feel like this is quite enough and it's wonderful acknowledgment of all my years of hard work. It's really quite an honor. Q: Is this a joyful or a scary milestone? A: It's not scary. It's just that I get nervous at those damn awards shows. I hate the competition and all the glitz and the vanity of it. I'd rather be in the garden with dirt under my nails. Besides, I love some of the people who are up against me in those categories—some of them are my very dear friends—and I hope they beat me! It doesn't really matter. Some of my favorite artists were certainly never nominated, or never won. In the big picture, it's not the awards you win, or what you say. It's your actions. It's looking at your deeds after a lifetime of work. Q: What has this last year been like for you? A: In '97 we started playing humble little clubs and they were packed. We could have sold out some clubs two or three nights in a row, but we'd had no idea—we thought maybe we'd sell out one. Then "Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?" just kept going up the charts. It was surreal. The media machine started rolling with MTV and VH-1 and suddenly this little piece of art starts to propel you. . . Q: You've said that going back into the studio to re-do "that little piece of art" was the bravest thing you'd ever done. How so? A: It was brave because this was the thing that mattered most to me. I'd spent my whole life preparing for my career, being a musician. . . I went to Warner Bros. and started making This Fire. We'd recorded about eight songs and I didn't like it. So I pulled the plug, and it was painful. Suddenly you're not a kid anymore. Suddenly you're an employer and you have to fire your friends. I went to Warners and I said, "Can I start by myself and produce it by myself?" And they said, "Sure." They were great. They let me fly. To me, this album is so much about me standing up on my two feet—being that producer, educating myself, becoming a much better business woman, getting on the phone, drawing up budgets, having business meetings. And then, artistically, letting my vision fly—letting my vision go straight to tape, not having to compromise. It was such freedom. We did this album on half a budget in two weeks. I put my blood in it, and I'm proud of it. Q: Your post-Grammy plans are to—? A: Turn around and go to Europe for more touring, at least till the fall. Then I'll slow down—go tortoise like, go within, hibernate. That's where the songs come from.