4 Thursday, May 25, 2017 Island Beat Hawaii Tribune-Herald Muldaur brings ‘Bluesiana’ to Honokaa, Volcano Maria Muldaur stamped her ticket to pop music immortality in 1974 with the mega-hit “Midnight at the Oasis,” but the Bedouin boudoir ballad is atypical of her illustrious and varied career. The Grammy-nominated songstress and her Red Hot Bluesiana Band will cap off a four-island tour with a pair of Big Island shows, Saturday at the Honokaa People’s Theatre and Sunday at the Kilauea Military Camp Theater at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. “Bluesiana is word I made up years ago to describe the New Orleans-flavored blues and R&B and what we call ‘swamp funk’ that we like to play. It’s going to be uptempo, high-energy, funky, very positive,” Muldaur told the Tribune Herald. While she’s been a frequent visitor to the Big Island over the years, Muldaur’s last show here was in 2014. “It’s a place I long for and try to make it there at least once a year, but this is the first time in a few years,” she said. The band is led by keyboardist Chris Burns, Muldaur’s longtime musical director, who uses his lefthand to play the bass line and his right to play blues and boogie à la Dr. John. Rounding out the lineup are guitarist Chris Adkins, who’s also played with Dr. John, Marcia Ball and Irma Thomas, among others, and Ronnie Smith, who’s played with blues icon Tommy Castro. At the Volcano show, Muldaur will also be reunited with her former drummer and “dear old friend,” Bruce David, who came here on a tour with Muldaur a dozen or so years ago, fell in love with the Big Island and stayed. “I’m excited to say Bruce is sitting in with us on Sunday night at the Volcano show,” Muldaur said, and added she was unable to make him the regular drummer for the Hawaii tour because of newer repertoire they didn’t have time to rehearse. Born Maria D’Amato in New York City, she was part of the fertile West Village folk scene of the 1960s, making her recording debut in 1963 with the Even Dozen Jug Band, which included John Sebastian, David Grisman and Stefan Grossman. She later joined the Jim Kweskin Jug Band, which also featured Geoff Muldaur, whom Maria subsequently married. After she and Muldaur split came her big break, her eponymous debut solo album, recorded in 1973 and released in 1974, containing her signature hit. “‘Midnight at the Oasis’ was a phenomenon in and of itself, and I’ve done 40 albums in the 43 years since ‘Midnight’ was riding at the top of the pop charts,” she said. “It was a pleasant and wonderful surprise, because if you look at the other songs on my first album, I did a Dolly Parton song, and I did an old Jimmie Rodgers song, and I did an old Blu Lu Barker song, a New Orleans blues number ‘Don’t You Feel My Leg.’ “Someone who was interviewing me several years ago said, ‘You know, Maria, you singlehandedly invented the genre of Americana decades before anyone gave it a name,” she said. “I asked her what she meant and she pointed at my choice of songs. And the fact is, what I wanted to do is to bring to people my favorite kinds of American roots music and mixing it all up. If it’s good music, it all belongs together, you know.” Her 2001 album “Richland Woman Blues,” inspired by a visit to Memphis Minnie’s grave, was nominated for a Grammy for Best Original Blues Album. In this decade, her 2011 CD “Steady Love” hit the top spot on the Living Blues Chart, and garnered her a nomination for Best Traditional Female Blues Artist from the Blues Foundation. Her self-produced 2012 album “First Came Memphis Minnie,” was a tribute to the pioneering blueswoman and featured Bonnie Raitt, Ruthie Foster, Koko Taylor, Rory Block and the late Phoebe Snow, accompanied by guitarists including Del Rey, David Bromberg, Alvin Youngblood Hart and Roy Rogers. “In the past several years, I’ve produced several albums that have been nominated for Grammys, which is quite something considering I made them in my living room on a tweezer budget,” Muldaur said. “This music is timeless. American roots music was made of, by and for the people with no eye toward having a particularly catchy chorus or hook, or getting on the pop charts or anything. So whether it’s blues, old-timey or bluegrass or gospel, it’s all music that addresses the concerns of the human heart and soul. Those feelings are timeless and universal.” Showtimes both evenings are 7 p.m. and park entry fees are waived for the Volcano show. Tickets are $40 general, $55 gold circle, available at: CD Wizard and Hilo Music Exchange, Hilo; Keaau Natural Foods; Eagles Lighthouse Cafe, Volcano; Taro Patch Gifts, Honokaa; Waimea General Store; Kona Music Exchange, Sound Wave Music and Kiernan’s Music, Kona; lazarbear.com and by calling 896-4845. Email John Burnett at jburnett@ hawaiitribune-herald.com. By JOHN BURNETT Hawaii Tribune-Herald Courtesy photo Maria Muldaur and her Red Hot Bluesiana Band will play Saturday at Honokaa People’s Theatre and Sunday at Kilauea Military Camp Theater in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Showtime both nights is 7 p.m.
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