Maria Muldaur Went From Jug Band to Midnight at the Oasis

Maria Muldaur was born Maria D'Amato in Greenwich Village in 1942 and attended Hunter College High School. Her listening ranged widely: Kitty Wells, Hank Williams and Bob Wills, early rhythm and blues from Ruth Brown to Muddy Waters, Alan Freed's rock 'n' roll shows, and doo-wop groups like the Platters. All of it fed a voice that could move between traditions.

In the early 1960s she performed with the Even Dozen Jug Band alongside John Sebastian, David Grisman and Stefan Grossman, then became a featured vocalist and occasional fiddler with Jim Kweskin & the Jug Band. She was part of the Greenwich Village scene that included Bob Dylan, and her recollections appear in Martin Scorsese's 2005 documentary No Direction Home. She married fellow band member Geoff Muldaur, and after the group broke up the couple made two albums. When the marriage ended in 1972, she began her solo career and kept the name.

Her 1973 solo debut, Maria Muldaur, contained “Midnight at the Oasis”, which reached number six on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1974 and 21 in the UK. Later that year Waitress in a Donut Shop brought a re-recording of “I'm a Woman”, which reached number 12, her last Hot 100 hit. She opened for the Grateful Dead in the summer of 1974 and in the late 1970s became a backing vocalist for the group.

Around 1980 she became a Christian and released Gospel Nights and There Is a Love, before returning to secular music in 1983 with Sweet and Slow, shaped by vintage jazz and blues. Her 2005 release Sweet Lovin' Ol' Soul was nominated for both a Blues Music Award and a Grammy, and in 2019 she received the Trailblazer award at the Americana Music Honors & Awards. She kept recording into the 2020s, including the 2021 album Let's Get Happy Together. Between jug band and Americana honours, her career shows how many American roots can live in a single voice, from “Midnight At The Oasis” to the later songs such as “Open Your Eyes”.