Maia Sharp opens up on her newest release, Echo

Music at the Mission presents Sharp in concert Oct. 17, 8 p.m. West Milford — Four years ago, Maia Sharp achieved a lifelong ambition when Bonnie Raitt invited her to open for and perform with her on the road. Now it’s your turn: If you’re hoping to hear music that will mirror, touch and maybe change your life, that dream comes true with Echo. Produced by studio legend Don Was, Sharp’s new album heralds her ascension into the spotlight after being embraced by Raitt, Carole King, the Dixie Chicks, Art Garfunkel, Keb’ Mo’, Terri Clark, Trisha Yearwood and many others who have recorded her songs and treasured her talent. Sharp is a uniquely gifted singer, writer and multi-instrumentalist, whose peers are the most discerning artists in the business but whose music on Echo reaches out toward the wider world. Her way with a melody, her sophisticated chord movements, the twist and flow of her lyrics all testify to a writing technique that’s equal to the best in the business. But what makes Echo triumphant is how all of these attributes serve the greater goal of stirring emotions. “Echo is the first album I’ve ever done where there’s truth in every single song,” Sharp says. “I know it sounds cheesy, but whether I knew it or not, truth always found a way into them. Sometimes I was halfway through writing a song before I realized that something I thought was just a nice opening line or a hook in the chorus was actually about something that had absolutely happened to me.” Sharp started early on the journey that led ultimately to Echo. She hadn’t yet hit her teens when she was already on the road to mastering piano, guitar and saxophone. Following the example of her father, Randy Sharp, a respected songwriter, she performed original material in local clubs, kept her ears open not only to contemporary folk and rock but also to jazz and classical elements. She won significant critical notice and radio airplay with her albums, Hardly Glamour (Ark 21), 2002’s self titled Maia Sharp (Concord) 2005’s Fine Upstanding Citizen (KOCH) and in that same year Sharp was one third of the exquisite collaboration with Art Garfunkel and Buddy Mondlock on Everything Waits to Be Noticed (EMI/Manhattan). Sharp’s path toward Echo opened unexpectedly in 2005. It began when Raitt released Souls Alike, with three Sharp songs in the lineup including the single “I Don’t Want Anything To Change.” That album also featured Sharp’s backup on those and several other tracks, which led to her joining Raitt on tour. The experience inspired Sharp to challenge herself even further by limiting her next string of gigs as well as her EP, Eve and the Red Delicious, to a minimal presentation: just her, bassist Darren Embry, and a growing body of songs, speaking eloquently on their own. Echo is a collection of truths and a thorough representation of who Maia Sharp is today. “These songs were written over a period of three years,” she sums up. “I wrote a lot of other songs during that same time, but these felt especially right for me and cohesive with each other. There’s a common thread of flaw and imperfection, recognition and then celebration. Perfection is highly overrated and, I’m betting, pretty boring. It took me a while to get here but I’m okay that I’m not perfect.” That is the appeal, and the accomplishment, of Echo. Music at the Mission is a non-profit, all volunteer-run music venue dedicated to presenting the finest live music in the beautiful Highlands region of northern New Jersey. MATM presents its productions at the West Milford Presbyterian Church, 1452 Union Valley Road, West Milford. For further information, please visit www.MusicattheMission.org or call 800-613-1455.