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Interview with Maria Muldaur

Frank Davidson

Maria Muldaur (born Maria Grazia Rosa Domenica D'Amato; September 12, 1942) is an
American folk and blues singer who was part of the American folk music revival in the early
1960s.(Wikipedia) She recorded the 1973 hit song ‘Midnight at the Oasis’ and has recently
recorded her 44th album. All are set in the folk, blues, early jazz, gospel, country, and R&B
traditions.
Frank Dickinson interviewed her for his Australian radio show, A Different Shade of Blue.

FD: You know, we're honoured to have a very special guest this morning,
although it is afternoon in San Francisco, a performer widely known for not
only 44 albums, but also for ‘Midnight at the Oasis’, a classic worldwide
radio hit release in the 70s that still resonates to this day. She's celebrating
the release of a brand-new album titled “One Hour Mama, The Blues of
Victoria Spivey”, and she's graciously allowed us her time for a chat this
morning on 3-WAY FM. Please welcome to the airwaves, Maria Muldaur.

MM: Good morning. How are you, Frank?

FD: Very good and thank you. It's afternoon in the States at present,
based in San Francisco, but very honoured. And thank you so much for
giving us your time today. Maria, if we could. Let's go back to the 60s,
back to the beginning of your career, singing and busking and playing
fiddle in Washington Square Park in New York. What was that time back
in the 60s like for you?

MM: In the 1960s? Well, I was born and raised in a little bohemian
neighbourhood in lower Manhattan called Grenadines Village. And at that
time, when I was just about 18 years old, there was a growing movement
emerging there, which is now referred to as the folk revival of the 60s. Although
my friend John Sebastian jokingly calls it the folk scare of the 60s. But anyway,
it was a time when a lot of people in the urban north were just starting to discover
or rediscover and explore all kinds of American roots music, which they loosely
called folk music at the time. But there were many different genres. We're talking
about bluegrass music, old-timey Appalachian music, which is sort of the
precursor to bluegrass, Delta blues, Classic blues, gospel music and then of
course there was another part of the scene which was more what you would
call contemporary protest music; a lot of people who were writing and singing
songs of social protest on topics like racial equality. The war in Vietnam was
just starting to brew up, so people were starting to write songs in protest of
that and so forth. So, it was a very vital and interesting time. and captured all
my attention. I was just barely out of high school and just starting college, but
I have to say I didn't get very far with college because music completely
seduced me away from any more. scholarly pursuits. At that time, I started
my lifelong exploration of all those genres of music I just mentioned, and I'm
still at it, 62 years later, and still at it.

FD: What was the first memory you have of saying to yourself, I really
enjoy performing? How old were you?
MM: Well, I started singing at a very young age. My mother, wanted me to
only listen to classical music because she wanted to bring me up to be a very
refined young lady I guess but her younger sister, uh my aunt Katie, sabotaged