Flaata was born in
Skien, Norway. He started his career in the Skien band Memphis News and has since then been involved in Paal & Pål Band with Pål Jensen, Carsten "Kesh" Holt, and
Vidar Busk. In the early 1990s, Flaata traveled to
Oslo along with two other musicians. There, they played
hillbilly music on the street and were called the Hashbrowns. Then the band got a record deal, and went to the US to record an album. Hashbrowns was then transformed to Midnight Choir. Flaata was in the forefront of Midnight Choir, until the band was dissolved in 2004, and was involved in the outlet of five albums plus a compilation. He debuted as a solo artist in 2002 with
In Demand and continued as a solo artist after the dissolution of Midnight Choir. They were nominated for the
Spellemannprisen 2012 for the album
Wait by the Fire in the class Country. In 2008, Flaata also participated on the children's record
Magiske Kroker & Hemmeligheter produced by
Linn Skåber and
Jacob Young, with the song "Fredag". Other artists who participated were
Simone Larsen,
Maria Haukaas Storeng,
Egil Hegerberg,
Venke Knutson,
Alejandro Fuentes,
Julius Winger,
Live Maria Roggen,
Jørn Christensen,
Alexander Rybak, and
Andrea Bræin Hovig. He has also released a trilogy of albums by three American songwriters. An album with only
Chip Taylor songs,
Wait By the Fire – Songs of Chip Taylor (2012), an album of only
Mickey Newbury songs,
Bless Us All – Songs of Mickey Newbury (2014) and an album of only
Townes Van Zandt songs, Come Tomorrow – Songs of Townes Van Zandt. A single with the track "Come Tomorrow" (2016), where Paal Flaata sings with his daughter Maia Flaata, was released the same year. He has performed alongside
Stephen Ackles and
Vidar Bush. They have released a tribute album to
Elvis, a Christmas album and a gospel album together. == Personal life ==