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Paula Harris

From Clemson SC, a small southern college town on the East Coast , to the bright lights of the West Coast's San Francisco, Paula has followed music's call. Not only a livelihood for her, read on to see how music also helped her overcome her learning disability. Before Paula Harris became a vocal phenomenon, she was one of the first diagnosed cases of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity disorder in South Carolina in the seventies. Paula’s inability to concentrate caused problems in school and made her feel like a social misfit until she discovered through singing she could use principles she learned in music to function more normally in daily life. She compares it to the difference between performing an entire catalog of songs to singing one song. Most people focus on ultimate long term goals, but for someone with ADD, it's much more obtainable to focus on one short term goal, like singing one song. Paula applied the short bursts of intense focus approach to everything she needed to do outside of music. Each short achievement became a step towards the larger goal. She found it changed her life and allowed her to thrive without the need for Ritalin, Adderall or the normally prescribed drugs. Before this awakening, while growing up in the small college town of Clemson, South Carolina. Paula found she could escape into a world full of music and the classic sounds of soul, doo-wop, jazz & blues. Her father was even a roadie for several big names in the industry during Paula’s childhood which heavily influenced her developing taste in music. Paula’s grandfather, an barber in a “Barbershop Quartet” also influenced Paula through his records of the Great American Songbook, Swing, and Big Band as well as his involvement in the Gospel world. But Paula‘s decision to be a vocalist solidified when she received acceptance for the first time as people were drawn by her voice and mischievous personality.

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