It Is The Year of Maria Muldaur

As I said awhile back, this is the year of Maria Muldaur. To that end, I got a chance to see her perform, gardenia behind her ear and tamborine playing, at Nighttown with special guest the dobro player, Del Rey.

The first set was pretty good, but I wasn't blown away by anything in particular. But during the break, I talked to the very handsome guitar player, Craig Caffal, and learned a delicious, wonderful little bit of trivia. They all travel in a motorhome, not a bus first of all, and Maria is constantly watching Spongebob Squarepants. I love that.

So, it was time for the second set. And it was outstanding. The killer number was Bessie Smith's Empty Bed Blues, just Maria and a piano. She told the story of how she first heard Bessie sing the song on a 78 at the place where she used to babysit. Maria felt that she had finally acquired the chops and life experience to be able to sing it. She was right.

She concluded the show with what she called "The Big Three": It Ain't The Meat, It's the Motion, Don't You Feel My Leg, and, of course, Midnight at the Oasis. The encore was a lovely acapella gospel song she recorded with Bonnie Raitt called It's a Blessing.

I got to talk with Maria after the show, and told her how much I loved Sisters and Brothers and she told me a long story about how much fun she had doing recording it, and what an excellent fellow Eric Bibb is.

Great night. Real, live roots music doesn't come any better than this.