On Wednesday, October 18, at 7 pm, legendary vocalist Maria Muldaur will perform with her Red Hot Bluesiana Band in Water Valley at Foster Music and Arts’ Old School Theater at the Melonvine Marketplace.
Maria Muldaur is known world-wide for her 1974 mega-hit “Midnight at the Oasis,” which received several Grammy nominations and enshrined her forever in the hearts of baby boomers everywhere; but despite her considerable pop music success, her 50-year career could best be described a long and adventurous odyssey through the various forms of American roots music.
In years since “Midnight at the Oasis,” Maria has toured extensively worldwide and has recorded 40 solo albums spanning all kinds of American roots music, including gospel, R&B, jazz and Big Band (not to mention several award-winning children’s albums), often joining forces with some of the top names in the business, such as Bonnie Raitt, Phoebe Snow, Ruthie Foster, David Bromberg, Alvin Youngblood Hart, and Bob Margolin to name just a few. Maria has recorded and produced on-average an album per year, several of which have been nominated for Grammy and other awards.
In 2011, Muldaur returned to her much-beloved New Orleans (the place she calls her “musical and spiritual home”) to record Steady Love, an electric blues album that reflects the kind of music she loves to perform live. Steady Love reached #1 on the Living Blues Chart, and garnered her another nomination for Best Traditional Female Blues Artist from the Blues Foundation.
In 2012, for her 40th album, Maria produced First Came Memphis Minnie, a loving tribute to the pioneering blues woman who inspired and influenced so many female blues artists who followed in her footsteps.
Then in 2013, Maria focused on three special collaborations—performing worldwide with her old Jug Band mates, in a series of 50th Anniversary Kweskin Jug Band Reunion concerts, teaming up with the Campbell Brothers, world-renowned Sacred Steel Gospel artists, for a very special presentation entitled “Spirit & The Blues”, and touring as a special guest artist with Bill Wyman and The Rhythm Kings, while continuing to perform with her own Red Hot Bluesiana Band as well.
Showtime is 7 pm and doors open at 6:30 pm. The show is general admission, tickets are $20 and they can be purchased at the door on the day of the show with cash or they can be purchased with a credit card online here.
This show is sponsored in part by Turnage Drug Store of Water Valley, and, as always, all FMA shows at the Old School Theater are made possible by The Caryl Company and the Melonvine Marketplace.
The Old School Theater is a revitalized 250-seat school auditorium with brand new stage, sound, lights, and seating located inside the Melonvine Marketplace on the south side of Water Valley at 817 South Main Street. Foster Music & Arts uses it regularly to present both national and regional music acts with the stated mission of “cultivating the best live music in North Mississippi.”
