Maria Muldaur's musical roots run as deep and varied as Greenwich Village is, the place she was born and raised. Bluegrass, folk, blues, jazz and gospel were all around her, but her very first musical influences in the early 50's were from the records of country and western singers Hank Williams. Kitty Wells, Hank Snow and Ernest Tubb that she would hear coming in faintly over the airwaves from a little station in New Jersey." I was a Me girl trapped in the urban jungle and the magic of radio opened up the world of country music to me," Maria recalls. When she was five years old, her Aunt Katie would play piano as young Maria would sing Kitty Wells' "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels," complete with appropriate voice cracks and yodels. As a teenager, Maria tuned into the black radio stations way at the end of the radio dial and became an avid fan of early rhythm and blues-Fats Domino, Little Richard, Elvis Presley, Little Willie John, Clyde McPhatter and Ruth Brown-she loved them all. She also became interested in the girl groups of the time. The Shirrelles and the Chantelles were favorites, and in high school, Maria formed an a girl doo-wop group, The Cashmeres. And when Elvis was drafted into the army and singers like Pat Boone started covering Little Richard songs, Maria was turned off. Pop radio was becoming watered-down, offering nothing of the vital, soulful rhythm and blues that had originally inspired her. In response, she tuned out and turned on to the wealth of American roots music that was being rediscovered right in her own backyard. On any given day, one could stroll through Washington Square Park in the Village and hear blues, jug band, gospel and old timey music being played by enthusiastic young musicians. Soon Maria was hanging out and joining in on nightly jams and song swaps called hootenannies.

More Information