Zoe Mulford
SHORT BLURB:
A set by American songwriter Zoe Mulford is like a small volume of short stories - evocative, beautifully crafted, and endlessly varied. Whether her starting-point is a 2000-year-old Chinese anecdote or the neglected contents of her refrigerator, her vivid storytelling and down-to-earth humor promise listeners an enjoyable journey. She backs her clear voice with guitar or claw-hammer banjo and intersperses her own songs with selections from the music that inspires them: American and British folk ballads, Appalachian banjo tunes, and the work of songwriters from George Gershwin to Richard Thompson. Raised near Philadelphia, she now lives in England in the great music city of Manchester and plays on both sides of the Atlantic.
FULL BIO:
For American singer-songwriter Zoe Mulford, the ordinary is miraculous and the extraordinary happens every day. A city planner recreates a vanished neighborhood. A roadside statue watches over drivers on US Highway I-95. Even the family glassware has a story to tell. Backing her clear vocals with guitar or clawhammer banjo, she may bring to mind artists from Joni Mitchell to Gillian Welch in the course of a single set.
She intersperses her own songs with selections from the music that inspires them: American and British folk ballads, Old-Time banjo tunes, and the work of songwriters from George Gershwin to Richard Thompson. Her engaging presence and down-to-earth humor strike a chord with diverse audiences – who often sing along.
Zoe was born in Oregon and raised in Pennsylvania, attended college in Boston, learned to play in the old-time picking circles of North Carolina, and came into her own as a performer in Washington DC, where she was nominated "Songwriter of the Year" two years running by the Washington Area Music Association. In the last two years she has been among the emerging artists presented by the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival and the Kerrville Folk Festival.
When her spouse got a job at the University of Manchester, she packed up her instruments and prepared to explore the folk and acoustic music venues in the UK. She has had a warm welcome in folk clubs and festivals around England and continues to tour in the US.
Zoe has two albums on Azalea City Recordings, a folk and roots music label based near Washington, DC. Her most recent, “Roadside Saints”, was produced by John Jennings, known for his work with Mary Chapin Carpenter and John Gorka. Released in 2006, it has had radio play across the US, as well as in Australia, New Zealand, Germany and Ireland and on a growing number of local BBC stations.
In addition to music, Zoe loves farmers' markets, children's books, martial arts movies, and cooking with lots of garlic.
Finalist: GRASSY HILL NEW FOLK COMPETITION, Kerrville Folk Festival 2008
Selected: EMERGING ARTIST SHOWCASE, Falcon Ridge Folk Festival 2007
Nominated: SONG OF THE YEAR (Elegy), ALBUM OF THE YEAR (Roadside Saints), SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR - Washington Area Music Association Awards 2006
FINALIST, Plowshares Songwriting Contest, 2006
Nominated: SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR - Washington Area Music Association Awards 2005
GOLD WINNER, Children's Music, Mid-Atlantic Song Contest 2005
WINNER, Susquehanna Music and Arts Festival Songwriter Contest 2005
WINNER, AvalonFest Rising Star Contest 2005
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT, Great American Song Contest 2004
“I don't usually like folk music, but that underwear song is pretty good.” —patron, Taliano's Restaurant, Takoma Park, MD