News
Bonnie Raitt Is As Cool As You Think She Is

Bonnie Raitt recorded "I Don't Want Anything To Change" beautifully on her last album, Souls Alike and now she is offering a live version of it (with me singing with her) as a "thank you" to her fans. She also wrote a lovely intro to it that has officially made my day. She is a tremendous musician and a great friend.

To download it, you can go to her facebook page, her website at www.bonnieraitt.com or to my facebook page.

Be sure to pre-order her new album “Slipstream” while you’re at it. I had the honor of singing some background vocals on it so I got a sneaky sneak preview of its serious goodness. Her voice is mercilessly soulful as always. I promise you’ll dig it.

Thanks for listening!
Maia

Cayamo Songwriter Cruise

Time to break out the Sea Bands, the Dramamine and only my very best songs. February 5 - 12, 2012 I am booked on the Cayamo Cruise, "A Journey Through Song," from Miami to Cayo Levantado, St. Maarten and St. Bathelemy.

I'll be joining (holy what in the...) John Prine, John Hiatt, Lyle Lovett, Lucinda Williams, Keb' Mo', Richard Thompson, Buddy Miller, Edwin McCain, Loudon Wainwright III, The Civil Wars, Greg Brown, Iris DeMent, James McMurtry, Shawn Mullins, The Belle Brigade, Chuck Cannon, Angie Aparo, Enter the Haggis, Winterbloom, Holly Williams, Shannon McNally, Sarah Lee & Johnny, Aslyn, Sarah Jaffe and more.

The cruise is sold out but you can go to http://www.cayamo.com/Artists/ to find out more and get on the waiting list if want to take a shot. It looks pretty fabulous.Well worth getting a little green. At least this year it won't be with jealousy for the seafaring songwriters!


Upcoming Show January 21 - Venue Change

Come on down, up or over to the beautiful Forum Theatre to see a Songwriters in the round (or more like, in the volley). Between the two of us, Randy Sharp (aka dad) and I have had our songs recorded by the Dixie Chicks, Dolly Parton, Bonnie Raitt, Emmylou Harris, Keb Mo, Alabama, Trisha Yearwood, Reba McEntire and more. Come hear the tunes and the stories behind them in this intimate acoustic setting January 21 at 8PM. Go to www.lagunabeachlive.org for tix.

In other news, my new album, still untitled, is almost mixed so we're right on schedule for that Spring release. It's coming together so well, it's got me wagging. I'm thinking of waiting to take pictures for it until after my Cayamo songwriter cruise in February where I'm sure to be seasick the entire time and lose every spare ounce of weight! It's not easy bein' green but I could at least get a svelt cover shot out of it.

Hope to see you in Laguna!
Maia

3 Rounds and a Record

The new album is well under way! Hopefully I've been right about when to drive it and when to be the passenger. It's vocal time now...what the countless hours of work to this point have really been all about...but no pressure. So far so good though, I'm still on track for a Spring release.

And in the meantime, I'm playing the next 3 Mondays (Nov 28, Dec 5 & Dec 12) at the Room 5 Lounge in Los Angeles with Adrianne Gonzalez, Garrison Starr and Dawn Thomas, all of whom will lend their distinct vocal stylings to my new album. We're looking forward to taking our already cool thing to an even more familial level. Those are always rich, fun shows. Come down if you can.

Maia

Room 5 and New Music

Thanks to those of you who made it out to the Room 5 Lounge in September to see the writers-in-the-round with Adrianne Gonzalez, Garrison Starr and Dawn Thomas. It went so well we're doing it again Friday, November 4 from 9:30 - Midnight! Get ready for harmonies galore and even more mutual accompaniment.

In the meantime, I'll be in the studio the last week in October to track the new album with Matt Chamberlain on drums, David Carpenter on bass and Linda Taylor on Guitars.

I'm ready to get this puppy out!

Maia

Mercy Bound

Hello!
It's official...Edwin McCain's new album Mercy Bound is offically out in the street, basking in the sun, out of the warehouses and trucks and readily available to the (hopefully receptive) public. Phew.

I'm so proud of it. At the end of its first day it's already in iTunes' top 100 overall and gathering lots of good fan reviews.

If you don't already have it, you can sample it at iTunes or at www.edwin.com and then, if you dig it, please make it yours. If you dig it so much that you feel like posting a review, "liking" it on facebook and telling your friends about it my feelings wouldn't be even a little hurt.

Thanks for listening,
Maia

Cayamo Cruise and a new album

Time to break out the Sea Bands, the Dramamine and only my very best songs. February 5 - 12, 2012 I am booked on the Cayamo Cruise, "A Journey Through Song," from Miami to Cayo Levantado, St. Maarten and St. Bathelemy.

I'll be joining (holy what in the...) Lyle Lovett, John Prine, John Hiatt, Lucinda Williams , Keb' Mo', Richard Thompson, Buddy Miller, Edwin McCain, Loudon Wainwright III, The Civil Wars, Greg Brown, Iris DeMent, James McMurtry, Shawn Mullins, The Belle Brigade, Chuck Cannon, Angie Aparo, Enter the Haggis , Winterbloom, Holly Williams, Shannon McNally, Sarah Lee & Johnny, Aslyn, Sarah Jaffe and more.

The cruise is sold out but you can go to http://www.cayamo.com/Artists/ to find out more and get on the waiting list if want to take a shot. It looks pretty fabulous.Well worth getting a little green.At least this year it's not with jealousy for the seafaring songwriters.

In the meantime, I'll be joining Edwin McCain at the Euphoria Food, Wine and Music Festival in Greenville, SC September 22 and 23. Then, I'll be in the studio to make a new album out of the last two years of tunes. I can't wait!

And speaking of Edwin, his new album Mercy Bound hits the streets August 30 and is available now for pre-order.

http://www.429records.com/sites/429records/landingpage/edwinmccain/

Keb Mo's album is available as I type!

http://www.kebmo.com/site/

Both have my tunes on them and both artists brought it in a big way.

A Week on the Road

Hi Friends,
If you're in or near Pittsburgh, Nashville or Asheville this week let's enjoy a bit of the summer together...I'll be with my full band at the Allegheny County Summer Series in Pittsburgh, PA this Friday July 22.Then Saturday I drive (like a bat out of LA) to Nashville to play a Writer-in-the-Round that night at the Bluebird Cafe with two of my all time favorite songwriters, Pam Rose and my dad, Randy Sharp where we'll be accompanied by the absurdly talented Linda Taylor on guitar.Then Sunday morning after a gigantic espresso I head to Asheville, NC to play a house concert on the river aptly named "Maia on the River House Concert" at the home of superhost Lyn McFarland.

Check the TOUR DATES page above for all the details.

In the meantime it's been a very cool couple weeks."Whole Flat World" went for adds at UK radio and is gathering steam thanks to my joint venture label Blix Street Records.I got to sing background vocals on a song for Bonnie Raitt's new album which is still in the works but already beautiful and powerful ala Bonnie with everything you've come to crave. And, Edwin McCain's first single "The Boy Who Cried Love" written by Edwin and me has gone for adds at triple A radio and is getting a big slice of love. Please feel free to request it at your local station.It wouldn't hurt my feelings at all if you did that.

The picture shown here is Emmett with his "suitcase face," the one he makes when he knows I'm leaving.

Hope to see you out there this week. Either way, have a good one!
Maia

Keb, Adrianne and Vanessa



Hi Friends,
Just wanted to share a few timely updates...Keb' Mo's upcoming release, The Reflection, featuring our song "All The Way" was the top Mover and Shaker in Music last week on Amazon.com. It comes out August 2 but as so many did to help it move and shake like this, you can pre-order it now.

Next Wednesday, June 29 I'll be sitting in on keyboards and background vocals with my friend and co-writer fave, Adrianne Gonzalez at Room 5 in Los Angeles. She just told me we're going to do the brand spanking new song we finished TODAY.Eek! Hope you can make it. It'll be a night of great music and her voice is magic.

Speaking of Los Angeles, I'll be at Largo in LA opening for Vanessa Carlton Friday July 8. The show starts at 8pm and for this one I'll be a trio with Linda Taylor on guitar and Vanessa Freebairn-Smith on cello. Go to www.vanessacarlton.com for tickets.

Hope to see you around!
Maia

New Website, Keb' and Edwin




It's a strange feeling now to NOT have a show on a Tuesday. Big thanks to my Moveable Feast band, to Hotel Cafe and to the very cool group of people who made it out in May, some even to multiple shows. I had a really good time and I got to try-by-fire a bunch of new songs and further refine the plan for my next album. The timing of that is dependent on how my last album, Echo is received in the UK. Thanks to our joint venture label, Blix Street Records, "Whole Flat World" is going for adds at UK radio June 20. If they love it, I go over there and try to stoke the ember. If they don't get it, I make another album. I'm shaking the Eight Ball to see what it says (the children's toy, not the really illegal drug).

I hope you're enjoying the clarity and ease of the new web site. I've added a few new shows in Pittsburgh, Nashville and Asheville. Check out the TOUR DATES page for more details.

In other news, Keb Mo's new album, The Reflection, due out August 2 on Ryko has a song on it that Keb' and I wrote together called "All the Way." It's a fun one and he's seriously bringing the slink and personality.

And last week while Edwin McCain was in town we finished two bonus tracks for his upcoming album, Mercy Bound, due out August 29 on 429 Records. We think they'll be available as an incentive to buy the whole album at once and not just song by song. More details when I know them. In the meantime I'll be sitting in with him in Visalia, CA at the Visalia Fox Theater this Saturday, June 11.

Talk to you soon,
Maia

Maia Sharp and Moveable Feast


The first three weeks of our Hotel Cafe residency have been everything I wanted them to be...new songs seeing the light of day, old songs getting a new twist and all of it in a room full of friends and friendly fans. We've had special guests Adrianne Gonzalez from the Rescues, cellist Vanessa Freebairn-Smith, Canadian Idol finalist Donny Anderson and just last night, Edwin McCain doing a few of our co-written songs from his new album "Mercy Bound" due out this August. If you are in or near Los Angeles Tuesday, May 31 we will be back at Hotel Cafe at 8 pm to do our "best of" the month and the last show of my "Moveable Feast" residency. Again, anything could happen...

Please go to www.hotelcafe.com for tix.

Welcome to the new web site! We are up and running and feeling so brand new, to quote 2 or 3 Madonna songs. Revamping forced me to go back and listen through my songs covered by other artists and my own albums, some of which I haven't visited in years. I was fondly reminded of Soraya, a profoundly talented singer, songwriter, musician and good human who died of breast cancer in 2006 at age 37. Listening through also made me realize how many of the songs that have found the light of day were either written at Miles Copeland's castle retreat or are some indirect result of my 8 trips to it. That's where, surreally, I met and worked with Carole King, Lisa Loeb, Kim Richey, Jane Siberry, The Go-Gos, The Bangles, Paul Carrack, Howard Jones, Jules Shear, Soraya, Stewart Copeland and many others including Billy Mann who had the seemingly random idea to bring Buddy Mondlock and me together with Art Garfunkel to write, record and tour. It turned out to be completely logical and beautiful. Random like a fox. Speaking of...I recently got to reconnect with Art's Britishly hilarious and skillful house sound man, Stuart Breed on the road in upstate NY where he dialed in the rock star halo at the Philipstown Depot Theater. Between tours I've been producing (Edwin McCain, Donny Anderson, Melanie Martel and Jenifer Freebairn), responding to 911 background vocal calls from my friend and Echo producer, Don Was and trying to stay current with recordings of my own new songs. But now it's time to think about the set list for the last "Moveable Feast" show. Hope to see you out there!