Triplearadio.com Artist Of The Week

MAIA SHARP

By Jim Nelson, A Taste Of Triple A

The Album
Fine Upstanding Citizen

The Track
"Something Wild"

Label
Koch

Native
Los Angeles

Liner Notes
Maia Sharp once said that she can be inspired to write a song by something as slight as a good cup of coffee. She can also be inspired to fabricate a first-person account of going Winona Ryder, as she did with “Fine Upstanding Citizen,” the title track of her third solo release. “Never happened,” says the Los Angeles native in the bio for Fine Upstanding Citizen. “Sometimes I like to become someone in my songs that I'm not in real life. The idea of being a rule breaker in this song was attractive to me because I'm such a hopeless square.” A hopeless square, or perhaps just a regular Jane, Maia is nevertheless a songwriter's songwriter. Bonnie Raitt has recorded a song of Maia's, and so have The Dixie Chicks, Edwin McCain and Trisha Yearwood. Even Cher (yes, that Cher) has done a Maia Sharp song. Carole King has written with Maia, just like Kim Richey, Jules Shear, Timothy B. Schmit, David Wilcox, Lisa Loeb and Paul Carrack.

“Maia is making some of the most innovative and soulful music around,” says Raitt, “with songs that are head and shoulders above the rest. She has become one of my favorite artists. Fine Upstanding Citizen is a brilliant album, start to finish.” Sharp, who can also play guitar, oboe and piano, grew up playing sax along with Raitt's albums.

When last we heard from Maia Sharp, she'd released a pair of albums within months of each other (her own Maia Sharp and Everything Waits To Be Noticed with Art Garfunkel and Buddy Mondlock) and then opened for the Garfunkel/Sharp/Mondlock tour. It was planes, trains and automobiles last year, as Sharp made Fine Upstanding Citizen in LA, New York, Nashville and Austin, and also toured with Edwin McCain. The new CD is already off to a great start at Triple A radio thanks to the quick start for “Something Wild.” A big old tribal beat drives this heavy rocker, which is on nearly three dozen stations out of the box. Those drums are a real attention-grabber, making “Something Wild” one of the more notable tunes on an album filled with noteworthy tunes. Maia's version of “A Home” is slightly quicker and less earthy than the way The Dixie Chicks did it, and it's a stand-out track here. “Red Dress” and “Fall Like Margarite” top a list of wonderful songs that includes “The Reminder,” “Regular Jane,” “Flood” and “Kinder Blues.”

It was Garfunkel who said, “In the tradition of great female artists, Karla Bonoff, Bonnie Raitt, Christine McVie, Shawn Colvin, Sarah McLachlan...now enter Maia Sharp.” Maia has reached new heights with Fine Upstanding Citizen . Enjoy it over a good cup of coffee.

Will Appeal To Fans Of
Sheryl Crow, Jackson Browne, Shawn Colvin, Joni Mitchell

Site
www.maiasharp.com

On:
WDET Detroit
WXPN Philadelphia
WFUV Bronx/New York
WFPK Louisville
WTMD Baltimore
WMMM (Triple M) Madison
WXRV (The River) Boston
WNCS (The Point) Burlington/Plattsburgh
WRLT Nashville
KRSH (The Krush) Santa Rosa
WUIN (The Carolina Penguin) Wilmington
KTBG (The Bridge) Kansas City
WRNX Springfield
WAPS (The Summit) Akron
KBAC (Radio Santa Fe) Santa Fe
DMX
WYEP Pittsburgh
KPRI San Diego
WZEW (Zew 92) Mobile
KRVB (The River) Boise
KTHX (The X) Reno
KSPN Aspen
WBJB Lincroft/Monmouth NJ
KTAO Taos
...and more!

What Is Radio Saying?
"Maia continues to make great music for our listeners...."
—Bruce Warren, PD/GM, WXPN Philadelphia

"Like the tribal drums that open "Something Wild", there's a message in the air...a calling to be heard, an artist on the verge - Maia Sharp.
—Chuck Horn, MD, WDET Detroit

What Is The Press Saying?
"Maia Sharp conjures the allure of yesteryear's Brill Building luminaries....Sharp wields her crisp, alluring choruses like a temptress; listeners will surely be ensnared"
—Billboard

What Musicians are saying?
"Maia is making some of the most innovative and soulful music around with songs that are head and shoulders above the rest. She has become one of my favorite artists. Fine Upstanding Citizen is a brilliant album, start to finish."
—Bonnie Raitt

Performances/Tour
Look for Maia to begin touring in March.

Retail
Fine Upstanding Citizen is in stores March 22, 2005.

Contact
Jessica Pomerantz
Pomerantz@kochent.com 
212.353.1413