ROCKLAND — Texas-born, Louisiana- raised pianist, vocalist and songwriter Marcia Ball will appear at the Time Out Pub at 7 p.m. Feb. 25 to promote “Roadside Attractions,” her new Alligator Records CD.
“Ball’s groove-laden New Orleans R&B, heart-wrenching ballads and driving Gulf Coast blues have made her a one- of- a- kind favorite of music fans everywhere,” an Alligator Records release states. “ Her music mixes equal parts simmering soul fervor and rollicking Crescent City piano.”
Four of Ball’s releases, including “Roadside Attraction,” have garnered Grammy nominations.
She recently was nominated for a 2012 Blues Music Award for the Pinetop Perkins Piano Player Award. She has previously won seven Blues Music Awards. Living Blues named Ball the Female Blues Artist Of The Year and Most Outstanding Musician — Keyboard in their 2011 Readers Poll.
Born in Orange, Texas, in 1949 to a family whose female members all played piano, Ball grew up in the small town of Vinton, La., right across the border from Texas. She began taking piano lessons at age 5, playing old Tin Pan Alley tunes from her grandmother’s collection.
In 1970, Ball set out for San Francisco. Her car broke down in Austin, and while waiting for repairs she fell in love with the city and decided to stay. It wasn’t long before she was performing in the city’s clubs with a progressive country band called Freda And The Firedogs.
She also began delving into the music of the great New Orleans piano players, especially Professor Longhair.
“ Once I found out about Professor Longhair, I knew I had found my direction,” Ball said in the release.
When the band broke up in 1974, Ball launched her solo career, signing to Capitol Records. She switched to Alligator records in 2001, with the release of “Presumed Innocent.”
Tickets cost $35. To order, call 596-6055 or go online to www.northatlanticbluesfestival.com/timeoutpub.html
The Time Out Pub is located at 275 Main St., Rockland.
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