News
New York, New Jersey, New Tunes


Soon I'll be headed out of the Old West to New York and New Jersey (I know the terms are historically inaccurate) for a week of shows and musical adventures as I try out a couple new songs on my unsuspecting audiences. I need to see what flies or falls before I officially put them on my upcoming EP due out in May.

But first, Sunday March 2 I'm leading a very small songwriter's workshop in West Milford, NJ. Email me at maiasharpsite@aol.com for more details. As of now there are only 2 spots left of 10. A good time will be had by all.

Then Tuesday, March 4 I'm joining my talented pals Gary Burr, Georgia Middleman and Marcus Hummon for a writers-in-the-round called “Nashville to New York” at the Cutting Room in NYC. (LA just gets no respect).

But that's not all...Friday, March 7 I'll be co-headlining with my long time friend and collaborator Kim Richey at the Historic Blairstown Theatre in Blairstown, NJ. It's a beautifully restored 200 seat theater just over an hour from NYC. And then, Sunday March 9 Kim and I head to Beacon, NY to play one of my favorite haunts, the Towne Crier Cafe.

More shows are coming soon. Please check TOUR DATES for the latest.

Hope to see you out there!
Maia

Austin and East


I'm flying to Austin next week to mess with Texas, write some songs, record those songs and perform at "Relish" benefiting the Flatwater Foundation. They provide families access to mental health support while coping with a cancer diagnosis...yeah, that was an easy yes. Pat Hazell, Mike MacRea and Tom McTigue are also performing for this evening of music and humor (and I'm bringing a surprise guest...not telling) Wednesday January 29th at Frank's at 4th & Colorado.

Then hopefully the east coast weather will let up in time for this Californian to spend a friendly Spring-like week there in early March. I'll be leading a small workshop in West Milford, NJ (right down the road from Music at the Mission) Sunday March 2nd from 1pm - 5pm. We'll listen to and discuss each other's tunes, talk about the process, the biz, the triumphs, the tragedies...I know, that's a little dramatic but it will be a fun day chock full of good information. For more details and a reservation (space is very limited) email me at maiasharpsite@aol.com.

Tuesday March 4, I'll be in the round with friends Gary Burr, Georgia Middleman and Marcus Hummon at the Cutting Room in NYC for the "Nashville to New York Songwriter's Night" and later that week I'll be sharing the bill with my long time collaborator and pal, Kim Richey for a show at the Historic Blairstown Theater in Blairstown, NJ.

More dates are filling in to TOUR DATES above. Hope to see you out there!

Maia

Rounding the Corner


I hope everyone is off to a good '14.

After a week of making rather merry, I'm taking an Alka Seltzer and getting back on track with a trip to Austin to write with my long time friend and collaborator, Mark Addison. Mark and my first co-write together was also a first cut for both of us. It was called "Don't Come Around Here Tonight" and Cher recorded it in 1996 (on the album just before the album that sold a squillion copies. So it goes).

Then the live action picks up in March with a week in New York and New Jersey. While I'm there, I'm leading a small workshop, 10 people max, with tons of information, song critiques and a willingness to go down whatever road the Q&A may take us. It'll be Sunday March 2. More details to come.

In the meantime, Garrison Starr, Adrianne Gonzalez and I have been in the studio this week to make sure we have a new EP with us for our string of live dates in May. We'll be getting up early to make some of those drives that take us through Boston, Portland, the Bronx, Hampton (VA), Montclair (NJ), Pittsburgh, Nashville, Asheville and Atlanta. TOUR DATES are still filling in. Check it above for details.


Hope to see you out there!
Maia

Holiday Bundle and "Coming Out For Christmas"

The Holiday Bundle is back and it brought company! My latest 4 albums, Change the Ending, Echo, Fine Upstanding Citizen and Eve & the Red Delicious ($55 total any other time of year) are now only $40 until January 1 and this year when you buy the bundle, you or whomever you designate will instantly receive an iTunes gift of the new Crystal Bowersox single "Coming out For Christmas" which I co-wrote with Crystal and co-produced with Linda Taylor.

Click Here to Buy The Bundle

If you only wish to buy the new Crystal Bowersox Christmas song you will find it here waiting under the iTree..."Coming Out For Christmas" on iTunes

Hope you enjoy,
Maia

Coming Out For Christmas

American Idol finalist, Crystal Bowersox is in the holiday spirit and has chosen, as she does all year, to love not judge with "Coming Out For Christmas." I co-write this one with my new friend Crystal and co-produced it with long time friend and musical comrade Linda Taylor. I'm proud of our team and anxious to see how this is received. I think lovers and judgers alike will agree that Crystal sang the living sleigh bells out of it.


Given its Christmas theme, it only gets a few weeks at the ball before it turns into a pumpkin so let us know what you think!

Available now on iTunes

Fall East Trio Tour


Georgia, North Carolina, Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Virginia...what do all these states have in common? An Evening with Maia Sharp, Garrison Starr and AG. And that's probably the only thing but it's a good one. Garrison, Adrianne and I set out to bring our high energy harmonyriffic round to a big swath of the east and southeast October 12 - 20. Click TOUR DATES above for all the details.

Hope to see you!

Maia

NYU, MT and writing with CB


I promised I wouldn't fall behind on my updates and here I am a month later. It's been a good month though...I had a rich and rewarding experience as visiting faculty at NYU's Summer Songwriter Workshop joining the very talented and professorial Phil Galdston and Barry Eastmond. We had a particularly good batch of 21 songwriters who wrote and performed as we nurtured, discussed and critiqued. This intensive 6 days culminated in 2 days of recording with New York's top call players and its madly skillful engineer, Mario McNulty. A day later I was on to Big Sky, MT, 2200 miles away from NYC both literally and culturally, for a BMI sponsored performance in front of the Montana Broadcaster's Association. Big Sky is beautiful and even after a few drinks the conventioneers still listened respectfully. When I wasn't on a plane I had the good fortune of writing and recording with Crystal Bowersox. Great singer, writer and all around human. I'm looking forward to more.

Now it's time to gear up for another west coast run at the end of the month. We hope to see you in Santa Rosa, Gig Harbor or Portland. Hit TOUR DATES above for details.
Thanks for checking in,
Maia

photos: (above) with Crystal and Linda
(below) NYU and Flying home out from Bozeman. Even the airports are pretty in Montana.

Gallery:

From Missouri to Maine and back to Cali



I've covered some miles over the last few weeks, from Missouri to Maine, and I managed to find a good blend of familiar favorites and new markets along the way. Thanks to Burlington WI, Madison WI, Pittsburgh PA, Philly, the Bronx and Portland ME for continuing to support and never making me feel like I've worn out my welcome. And to Warrensburg MO, Yorkville IL, Indianapolis IN, Deep Gap NC and Chatham NJ for showing up on my first time through. The next adventure will be as part of a semi-annual songwriter trio show with Garrison Starr and Adrianne Gonzalez as we make a run up and down California June 4 - 9. See TOUR DATES above for all the details. We follow the writers-in-the-round format trading songs (and the ocassional barb) but, unlike many rounds, we all sing and play on each other's songs making it feel more like a band show where the energy never lets up.

Hope to see you out there, Cali.

Maia

Gallery:

A NEW VIDEO AND A B-DAY SURVIVAL


For my birthday yesterday I gave myself the gift of burning lungs, wobbly legs and total triumph when my triathlon relay partners and I managed to kick some butt under the Arroyo Grande sun. Meg swam a very cold, nautical mile in Lake Lopez, Tash cycled 25 miles through hills and valleys and I ran 6 miles making sure to stay on the path so if I collapsed someone would find me eventually. There was no drowning, no crashing and no fainting and the icing on the survivors' cake was that we BEAT the 21 year olds stationed next to us in the transition area. They were very nice but, yeah, that just happened.

Back to music...Linda Taylor and I filmed another live duo performance, this time with special guest Snuffy Walden on slide guitar. It's a brand new song called "Nothing But the Radio On" and, as of now, you can only see it here or live. Check TOUR DATES above for the live schedule. We'll be in the midwest in April, in the east in May and summer dates are filling in now.

Hope to see you out there!
Maia

Gallery:

Change the Ending Duo Performance Video



We're back from our all too short five city run with Bonnie Raitt. Bonnie was gracious enough to sit in with me on my set and then ask me to sit in with her and her band. Amazing. I'll be drawing from that ego well for a while (I promise not to be a jerk about it).

March brings more California shows before we start flying around again in April and May for a big batch of midwest and east coast dates. See TOUR DATES above for all the details. I'll be a duo for most of these with guitarist, Linda Taylor and you can see a sample of our duo mojo thanks to Snuffy Walden, Taylor Made Studios and Keep Your Soul Productions who invited us to come over and film a couple songs. This is Change The Ending, the second single and title cut from the new album.

Click Here to hear the full production, radio version as you watch the lyric video, which follows the silent movie theme of the first single, Me After You .

Gallery:

February with Bonnie



I'm excited to say that my cohorts (Linda Taylor,Vanessa Freebairn-Smith) and I get to be the special guest of Bonnie Raitt and her band for a string of west coast and southwest shows starting February 14 in Long Beach, CA and winding through Indio, Mesa, Las Vegas and San Diego. For tickets go to www.bonnieraitt.com. Bonnie is a treat and an inspiration all wrapped up into one little sexy package.

Hope to see you out there!
Maia

Gallery:

Home for the Holidays and No Fairy Tale



I just got back from a sweet run in the midwest with my singer/songwriter comrade, AG. Wow, we were lucky. No typically brutal winter there to put our SUV in a ditch or to inspire our potential attendees to say, "yeah, no." And we pushed it...December in Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan. Seriously, that's just plain good luck. The shows were lots of fun and the hang was great.

Speaking of great hangs, Lisa Loeb is slyly funny and relentlessly cool. She just put the last song we wrote together on her new album No Fairy Tale and then made it the title track. It's available now for pre order on Amazon (to be officially released January 29, 2013) and it's just aching for you to download the single, also "No Fairy Tale" on iTunes . The whole album is smart, self deprecating and fearless and I'm proud to be a part of it. Don't forget, the Holiday Bundle deal is still on through the end of the year.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Be safe...but not too safe,
Maia

Gallery:

The Holiday Bundle



Just in time for the holidays...a great deal on a great deal of music. My last 4 albums, Change the Ending featuring the single "Me After You," Echo produced by Don Was and featuring Bonnie Raitt on "Death By Perfection,"Fine Upstanding Citizen which includes the single "Red Dress" and "A Home," skillfully covered by the Dixie Chicks and Eve & the Red Delicious, my only acoustic EP. These 4 titles total $55 if you get them all separately but now, because my heart grew two sizes, you can have them all for just $40 until January 1, 2013.


Happy Holidays!
Maia

Gallery:

Sick and Tired of the California Sunshine


If you live in Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois or Indiana AG and I are heading your way next week to trade songs, stories and the occasional (mostly friendly) jab.

December 9 - 15...click the TOUR DATES tab above for details.

Hope to see you!
Maia

Gallery:

The Next Day



Not surprinsingly, the 7 show run with Bonnie Raitt was everything I needed it to be...fun, inspiring, soul satisfying, educational (I'm getting new mics) and even, on one day off, relaxing.I think the last time I hung out on a beach with friends I was 12, or maybe 20 (same thing). My band and tour manager and Bonnie's band and crew all had a day off in Melbourne, FL smack in the middle of the tour and 8 of us used the opportunity to play a little 4 on 4 football in the sand. We laughed and laughed and then...we hurt. Not from the contact, from running in the deep soft sand.Like a lobster in a pot, you don't realize what's really happening to your body as you high step then slip back just a little with every step to the ball. It's all fun and games until the next morning when you can't cross your legs without using your arms to lift one leg over the other.Then, you can't get in the car without making 90 year old man noises.Then you squat down to adjust something on your pedal board and you can't get back up for 2 full minutes. Everyone who played, from the gym devotees to the long distance runners to the out of shape ex-athletes (that's me) felt the same way after that day. Totally worth it.

Pictured here from L-R: Linda Taylor (guitars & bg vox), Me, Vanessa Freebairn-Smith (cello and bg vox) and Tim Craven (tour manager & sound engineer). This was taken at the Ryman in Nashville just before the last show of the run. What a fantastic night. We had our best show of the trip in front of that audience rife with talented songwriters, musicians, actors and discerning fans. I love stepping in front of Bonnie's audiences.I'm a Bonnie fan too so we instantly have that in common then I do my thing which of course has been influenced by her THEN she comes out and sits in with me on one of my songs that she recorded. It's surreal. It works. Thank you, Bonnie.

More tour dates are landing all the time including a mid west run in Decemeber, more Bonnie dates in February on the west coast and more StageIt shows scattered throughout. Details coming soon!!

Maia

Gallery:

Bonnie Voyage



We fly out tomorrow to join Bonnie Raitt for a string of dates that starts in Clearwater, FL (October 18) and winds its way to The Ryman auditorium in Nashville, TN (October 28). I'd call myself the opening act but Bonnie gets mad at me when I say that and insists that I refer to myself as her special guest. To say I'm looking forward to it is a sub basement understatement. Bonnie brings an ego free confidence, poise and power to her shows that always inspires audiences and special guests alike. She also tends to ask me to sit in so I'm bringing the tenor sax just in case.

Check the TOUR DATES page above for a show near you.

AND...on our days off, my band of Linda Taylor (guitar) and Vanessa Freebairn-Smith (cello) and I will do 2 StageIt.com shows Monday, October 22 (BUY TIX) and Thursday, October 25TH (BUY TIX) that you can see from anywhere! Both start at 5:30pm PDT/8:30pm EDT. Log on to see our show live and unplugged, ask questions, make comments all from the comfort of your own home.

Hope to see you either in person or on the screen!

Gallery:

Change the Ending is Here



The new album is now available everywhere!

Change the Ending at Amazon

The thumbs up are already in from USA Today, NY Daily News, Relix, The Advocate, MSN.com, Huffington Post and Triple A radio stations across the country.

I hope you enjoy it too,
Maia

Gallery:

Pre-Order the Upcoming Art Garfunkel Album



I had the pleasure of producing the two new songs on Art Garfunkel's upcoming double CD "The Singer." It's a must-have retrospective of choice Simon and Garfunkel and solo Art G songs through the years. "Long Way Home," a song of mine and "Lena," a song written by my father, Randy Sharp are the collection's only two new works. I'm telling you all this because it's now available for pre-order!


Russ Kunkel, Leland Sklar, Dean Parks, Linda Taylor, Vanessa Freebairn-Smith, Matt Rollings, Leah Kunkel and engineer, Ryan Freeland all contributed to the Grade A recording experience and downwright good hang.

Thanks for listening!
Maia
p.s. pictured L-R Linda Taylor (guitars), Me, Art, Ryan Freeland (engineer)

Gallery:



Just the beginning...The full video that incorporates this movie will be ready for its close up by August 28.

Gallery:

Change the Ending now available on itunes!

The new album, Change the Ending
is now available on iTunes, complete with bonus track...

Get It Here

Thanks for listening,
Maia

Gallery:



Hi friends,
"Me After You," the first single from my new album Change the Ending is now available on iTunes!

You can get it here:

The whole album will be available on iTunes July 31 and everywhere August 28.

If you like it, please tell a friend and maybe even your friendly neighborhood TripleA radio station.

It's already been added to more than 20 playlists around the country and we're just getting started.

Hope you enjoy it!
Maia

Gallery:

Hear the new single now! (go to the ARTIST page)

June 14, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MAIA SHARP’S CHANGE THE ENDING
SCHEDULED FOR AUGUST 28 RELEASE BY
BLIX STREET/CROOKED CROWN RECORDS

Lead Single “Me After You” Premieres Today On Sharp’s Website

October Tour Dates With Bonnie Raitt, Who Guests On Two Tracks

On August 28, Blix Street/Crooked Crown Records will release Change The Ending, the new album from acclaimed singer-songwriter-producer Maia Sharp. The record features guest vocals by The Rescue’s Adrianne Gonzales, Garrison Starr, Dawn Thomas and Bonnie Raitt. Sharp will be touring with Raitt in October and can be heard on the nine-time GRAMMY® winner’s new album, Slipstream.

Fans can check out the poignant lead single, “Me After You," beginning today at http://maiasharp.com/view/Artist/. Sharp will be previewing songs from Change The Ending in a series of shows this summer, beginning this Friday, June 15, when she opens for Melissa Etheridge at Britt Pavilion in Jacksonville, OR. See below for itinerary.

Change The Ending follows Sharp’s 2009 album, Echo. Produced by Don Was, it contained the Top 10 Triple A radio hit “John Q. Lonely” and “Death By Perfection,” which featured Raitt and was tapped by NPR as “Song of the Day.” The new album reaffirms Sharp’s gift for capturing the subtleties and shades of gray that characterize relationships.

Sharp grew up in Los Angeles, where she started playing local clubs while she was still in her teens. She gives a sly wink to her hometown’s most recognized industry with the new album’s cover art – revealed at http://maiasharp.com today. Filmmaking provides the perfect metaphor in the title track, as the narrator considers how a romance might have fared with a little rewrite. “It’s a beautiful story,” she observes ruefully in the chorus, “if you change the ending.”

During the recording sessions, Sharp admits, “We did change the ending a few times – and it was always for the better.” After producing Edwin McCain’s latest album, Mercy Bound, as well as two songs for Art Garfunkel’s upcoming record, she elected to produce Change The Ending herself. She assembled a notable crew of musicians to back her, including guitarist Linda Taylor (Tracy Chapman, Edwin McCain), who often accompanies Sharp on the road, drummer Matt Chamberlain (The Wallflowers, Fiona Apple) and bassist David J. Carpenter (John Doe, Toni Childs).

“I had been working with several other artists on their albums and I was just hooked on that whole feeling, so I decided to produce this album alone,” says Maia. “I had to learn to be my own sounding board because I’d finish a vocal and come out and there was nobody else there to go ‘yeah, that was great’ or ‘you really need to do that again.'But it was a great experience and I learned a lot.”

“Sharp always leads with her heart and comes across as a performer worth getting to know,” said USA Today in a three-star review of Echo while NPR’s “All Things Considered” hailed her as “a songwriter set to arrive” and The Washington Post called her “a sterling up-and-coming talent.”

In addition to her string of acclaimed solo albums and numerous production credits, Sharp is also a sought-after songwriter whose songs have been recorded by Raitt, the Dixie Chicks, Keb’ Mo’, Terri Clark, Cher, Trisha Yearwood and many others.

Maia Sharp – Change The Ending - Track Listing

1. Me After You
2. The Middle
3. Buy My Love
4. I See Cecelia
5. Standing Out In A Crowd
6. Rising
7. Change The Ending
8. Sober
9. Your Stepping Stone
10. The Bed I Made
11. Buy My Love (Remix)

For upcoming shows see TOUR DATES on the navigation bar above

For more information on MAIA SHARP, contact:
Judi Kerr, Judi Kerr Public Relations
(310) 477-8191
judikerr@aol.com
or visit:
http://maiasharp.com
http://www.facebook.com/maia.sharp
http://www.myspace.com/maiasharp


Gallery:

No Such Thing As A Face For Radio



Radio comes with cameras now to simulcast and cybercast...cybertaneously. It's great for the artist to get this kind of exposure beyond just the immediate geography and I think it helps keep local stations powerful and relevant to their respective cities while reaching infinitely more people with their "signal." In this first week of promotion for Change The Ending, still due out August 28, we performed for a number of these shows. Most were streamed in real time only but the Bing Lounge, taped in Portland, OR at KINK's new and excellent studio in front of a smiling studio audience on their long lunch break is now posted on my Facebook page.

It's all going well and the feedback on the single, "Me After You" has been only positive. The only snag is that my four favorite new shirts are all black with a different emblem in the middle (like the one I'm wearing in the photo with Bonnie a few news items down). My big dude-like plan was to alternate through these favorites and not have to think about what I'm going to wear ever again. Sadly, on camera it looks like I'm wearing the same shirt over and over. I'm not, I promise, but it looks like I am so I actually have to shop now. I don't wanna!

UPCOMING EVENTS:

This Friday, June 15 my duo of Linda Taylor and me opens the show for Melissa Etheridge at the Britt Pavilion in Jacksonville, OR.

Next week we're in the southeast with shows in Louisville, Bowling Green, Mobile and Nashville. Check the TOUR DATES for details. Hope to see you out there!

Maia

Gallery:

SINGING & DRIVING & SINGING & DRIVING

Tomorrow (Wednesday May 30) I'll be live at Room 5 in Los Angeles with my talented friends Adrianne Gonzalez and Garrison Starr accompanied by our one woman band, Linda Taylor. We start at 8:30 and swap songs and stories til 10 as a sneak preview (for you and for us) of our songwriter-in-the-round tour in September.

Promotion for my upcoming album, Change The Ending starts this week! Linda and I will be hitting the road and radio stations throughout CA, OR and ID kicking things off with a live on-air in San Luis Friday and a performance at their song and wine festival Saturday. Songs and wine. Nothing wrong with that.

New shows and live on-air streams are posting all the time. Next Monday we'll be live in studio at KINK's Bing Lounge recorded in Portland, OR but available to stream from anywhere. Please check the TOUR DATES page for details.

More to come, including iTunes and street release dates.

Time to start the engines!
Maia

Gallery:

CHANGE THE ENDING Coming Soon

My new album, CHANGE THE ENDING is all shiny and mastered and its artwork is almost finished (I know that not a lot of people still actually buy the entire and physical CD but to those like me who do, you should be rewarded). I'm really looking forward to getting it out into the world and to following it there on tour. New dates are posting all the time with west coast and southeast shows in June, midwest and northeast shows in July and September and then a handful in October as Bonnie Raitt's special guest.

In the meantime, I had the great fortune of producing 2 songs for my absurdly talented, real deal, legendary friend Art Garfunkel. More details to come as they unfold but I will tell you that the band was smokin' (only figuratively as far as I could tell). Russ Kunkel, Leland Sklar, Dean Parks and Linda Taylor tracked with us at Henson and then Matt Rollings, Vanessa Freebairn-Smith and Leah Kunkel iced the dense, tasty cake with piano, cello and vocal goodness respectively.

Can't wait to see these projects-in-the-works come to fruition and to bring the CHANGE THE ENDING songs to you in person one city at a time.

I'm pictured here with Lee Sklar, who may have just charted on my top 10 favorite humans list.

Hope to see you out there,
Maia

Gallery:

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

Gallery:

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!


Gallery:

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

Gallery:

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

Gallery:

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

Gallery:

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

Gallery:

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.

Gallery:

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

Gallery:

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

Gallery:

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

Gallery:

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!

Gallery: