Swamp Funk Siren

As young music lovers in the early 1970s, Muldaur and friends would find random, scratchy recording and eat them up, hungry for more. When I interviewed her for a recent story, she talked about early 20th-century blues singer Victoria Spivey turning her on to female blues guitarist and singer Memphis Minnie, who Muldaur calls one of the “grandmamas of rock.”

Minnie was one of the first blues musicians to go electric. As Muldaur and Spivey searched for more of Minnie’s hundreds of recordings, it was by random luck that they came across anything. This was pre-Internet, when people relied on dusty record stores and music lovers to salvage the divine. Young people today discovering American roots music have an advantage, she says, which helps the genre persevere and create a resurgence.

“Now with the click of a mouse, you can download everything of hers in five minutes,” Muldaur says. “It’s a revolution.”

In 2008, Maria recorded “Yes We Can!” showcasing the work of some of the most socially conscious songwriters of the past half-century, including Dylan, Marvin Gaye, Allen Toussaint and more. The Women’s Voices for Peace Choir join Maria on the recording, along with Bonnie Raitt, Joan Baez, Jane Fonda, Phoebe Snow and others.

Talking to Muldaur was like opening a roots music history book. Here's a story I wrote for Big Bear Grizzly to promote her performance at the upcoming Blues for the Zoo fundraiser.

Blues for the Zoo featuring the Chicago Blues Guitar Shootout!, Maria Muldaur and her Red Hot Bluesiana Band and Brother Yusef is Aug. 6, 3 to 7:30 p.m. Gates open at 1 p.m. The Swim Beach Outdoor Amphitheater is at 41220 Park Ave., Big Bear Lake. Tickets are $30 in advance, $35 the day of the show. Children 10 and under are admitted free. Parking is $3. For tickets, call 909-866-4607 or visit www.moonridgezoo.org/concert. Food is available on site, no coolers are allowed.

Roots run deep for Maria Muldaur

Maria Muldaur

July 27, 2011

Big Bear Grizzly 

By ARRISSIA OWEN 

Reporter 

Maria Muldaur’s newest New Orleans-inspired album is full of “straight-ahead swamp funk,” the singer says. “It’s funky to the bone.”

Known as the “first lady of American roots music,” Muldaur heads to Big Bear for the Aug. 6 Blues for the Zoo concert. Known for her 1970s hits “Midnight at the Oasis” and her version of Peggy Lee’s “I’m a Woman,” Muldaur debuts songs from her upcoming September release “Steady Love,” with her band Maria Muldaur and her Red Hot Bluesiana Band for the Alpine audience.

Muldaur, nominated for at least six Grammys during her wide-spanning career, grew up in Greenwich Village, N.Y. Muldaur’s interest in music evolved into an affinity for American roots music, which she says was often marginalized back then by “above ground” radio and media, yet has continued to proliferate and grow. “It’s music of the people, by the people, for the people,” she says.

A younger, juggier Maria

As a young woman, Muldaur joined local jam sessions and song swaps. She soon took up with The Friends of Old Timey Music, a group that traveled to the rural South to find legendary artists like Doc Watson, Bukka White, Mississippi John Hurt and others to convince them to travel north to perform. She was part of a new wave of aspiring young musicians including the Lovin’ Spoonful’s John Sebastian, Bob Dylan, John Hammond Jr. and others.

Fiddle took hold of Muldaur, prompting her to leave the bright lights and big city behind for extended trips to North Carolina to study strings. At 19, she spent time with the famed Watson family, soaking up Appalachian music and culture. After returning to New York, Muldaur was asked by Sebastian, David Grisman and others to join the Even Dozen Jug Band.

Muldaur later moved to Boston and joined the Jim Kweskin Jug Band, recording “I’m a Woman,” the feminist anthem she continues to open every show with. Later, she moved to Woodstock, N.Y., where she became part of the thriving music scene that included Dylan, The Band, Paul Butterfield, Janis Joplin’s Full Tilt Boogie Band and more.

Reprise Records courted Muldaur, for which her first solo album went platinum thanks to the single “Midnight at the Oasis.” Her second hit single was a remake of her earlier version of “I’m a Woman,” which was on her second solo release “Waitress in a Donut Shop.” She was joined on the recordings by Dr. John, Ry Cooder, Butterfield, Linda Ronstadt, Stevie Wonder and more.

During the 1980s, Muldaur recorded two critically-acclaimed jazz albums, two gospel albums and one swing album. After recording the album “Sweet and Slow” with Dr. John, Muldaur incorporated the New Orleans sound into her own music along with blues and R&B elements to create what she coined “Bluesiana.”

New Orleans-style music grabbed hold of Muldaur tight. “It’s so earthy, natural,” she says. “That’s my proclivity. I fell in love with that sort of rolling sound—New Orleans puts the roll in rock ’n roll. ... It makes you want to move your body.”

For the original article, click here:
http://www.bigbeargrizzly.net/outlook/arts_and_entertainment/article_387699e6-b714-11e0-9bac-001cc4c03286.html