Maria Muldaur with A to Z

On Friday, April 8, North Coast Music and the Community Center for the Performing Arts proudly welcome Maria Muldaur back to the WOW Hall.  Opening the show is the duo A to Z (Alan Glickenhaus & Zane Heifner).

Maria Muldaur is best 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.  Yet 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. During the folk revival of the early '60s, she began exploring and singing early Blues, Bluegrass and Appalachian “Old Timey” Music, beginning her recording career in 1963 with the Even Dozen Jug Band and shortly thereafter, joining the very popular Jim Kweskin Jug Band, touring and recording with them throughout the '60s.

In the years since “Midnight at the Oasis”, Maria has toured extensively worldwide and has recorded 45 solo albums covering all kinds of American Roots Music, including Gospel, R&B, Jazz and Big Band (not to mention several award-winning children’s albums), and settling comfortably into her favorite idiom, the Blues.

Often joining forces with some of the top names in the business, Maria has recorded and produced on-average an album per year, several of which have been nominated for Grammy and other awards.

Her critically acclaimed 2001 Stony Plain Records release, Richland Woman Blues, was nominated for a Grammy and by the Blues Foundation as Best Traditional Blues Album of the Year, as was the follow up to that album, Sweet Lovin’ Ol’ Soul. Her timely 2008 album, Yes We Can!, featured songs from some of the most socially conscious songwriters of the past half century: Bob Dylan, Marvin Gaye, Allen Toussaint, Garth Brooks and others, and featured her “Women’s Voices for Peace Choir” -- which included: Bonnie Raitt, Joan Baez, Jane Fonda, Odetta, Phoebe Snow, Holly Near and others.

For her 2009 release, Maria revisited her original Jug Band roots, teaming up with John Sebastian, David Grisman and Dan Hicks. Maria Muldaur & Her Garden of Joy garnered Maria her 6th Grammy nomination, and was also nominated for Best Traditional Blues Album of the Year by The Blues Foundation.  In 2011, detouring from her ongoing exploration of acoustic Vintage Blues, Maria released Steady Love, returning to her much-beloved New Orleans (the place she calls her “musical and spiritual home”) to record a contemporary electric Blues album that reflects the kind of music she loves to perform live - what she calls “Bluesiana Music” - her own brand of New Orleans-flavored Blues, R&B and “Swamp Funk.” 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, many of whom joined Maria on this special project: Bonnie Raitt, Phoebe Snow, Ruthie Foster, Koko Taylor and Rory Block.  2014 marked 40 years since Maria’s big hit “Midnight at the Oasis” was riding at the top of the charts.  To celebrate this landmark, Maria has created a multi-media retrospective Way Past Midnight. This special presentation features all her hits and fan faves from every stage of her career, as well as fascinating, entertaining, (often humorous!) stories of her personal encounters, friendships, and collaborations with many of the greatest names in music. In 2019 Maria received her 6th Grammy Nominee for best Blues Album -- and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Music Association.

Most recently, Maria found kindred spirits in Tuba Skinny, a New Orleans combo whose music is informed by vintage jazz, blues, and jug band music. She liked the group's approach so much that she proposed they work together, and a collaborative album, Let's Get Happy Together, was issued by Stony Plain in 2021.

A to Z

Portland's Alan Glickenhaus is a multi-instrumentalist probably best known for his band Higher Ground.  Zane Heifner played bass in Eugene's Whiskey Creek String Band.

Tickets are $25 in advance, $35 front row, $30 second row, and $28 day of show.  Doors open at 6:30 pm and showtime is 7:30. 

Volunteer signup: https://signup.com/go/bFHaddj