Maria Woodford

Maria Woodford's "Bad Dog Blues" is currently featured on the Blues Festival Guide website in the Jukebox - Blues Festival Guide

Live Blues Review - Blast Furnace Blues Festival

The Blast Furnace Blues Festival in Bethlehem, PA was back for a second year and commenced on Friday September 14, 2012 with evening performances by local favorites James Supra Blues Band and Mike Dugan, with sets by Lurrie Bell and Watermelon Slim capped off by the inimitable Alexis P. Suter Band. The Blast Furnace Blues Festival is held on the beautifully renovated grounds of the former Bethlehem Steel factory. The festival again drew some big names, national acts and plenty of local talent. The Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania is fertile territory for blues talent and the festival proudly presented the best of the region including Craig Thatcher, Friars Point, Bev Conklin Combo, and the Sarah Ayers Band.


Maria Woodford is another talented local artist, known for her work with children’s music programs and her dynamic performances. She released her fourth full length CD in August 2012 titled Bad Dog Blues. Her throaty vocals and obvious song writing talents were in full form on Sunday at the Blast Furnace Blues Festival. - Blues Blast Magazine

Translated from the original German:

So far, singer and songwriter Maria Woodford, was mostly known amongst folk music circles. But with the release of her new album "bad dog blues" in 2012, she entered the world of blues.

It is obvious right away that has a perfect, strong and thick blues voice. She doesn't play around but offers honest and heartfelt performances of her beautifully expressive songs. This could be the motto for Maria Woodford's debut as a blues singer.

Starting with her opening song "Fumblin with the blues", you can't help but getting lost in her seductive voice. Her accompaniment on the piano, the harp (as guest player the unmistakable Phil Wiggins), guitar, bass and on drums is classically played and performed to the essence if the blues. And when Woodford decides to tell her own story in song or finds inspiration in Nina Simone's famous songs "Do I move you", "sugar in my bowl" or classics such as "Nobody's fault but mine", "Bad dog blues" is most definitely an album you'll be gripped to listen to until the very last song. Maria's voice and style of music is a perfect fit to her Nina Simone song choices. In those moments, June Thomas [correction - Ian Walters] rises to the Jazz piano blues, otherwise known for the Barrelhouse or Boogie style of play. All this changes in "Nobody Fault but mine", where the boogie bass rolls and Phil Wiggins plays the harp to the joyous listeners delight.

With this multi talented versatility in music, Maria Woodford and band are ready to light Jazz Clubs, Pubs and Festival stages alike on fire. Remarkable! - Wasser Prawda Magazin - Nathan Norgel

"Incredible voice, great stage presence, sweet moves, my kind of repertoire, excellent songwriting. Maria Woodford is the total package! And, her guitar playing is icing on the cake. Catch her now. She's a rising star." - Gaye Adegbalola

Bad Dog Blues
Maria Woodford: Bad Dog Blues (independent)

Representing the Lehigh Valley Blues Network, Maria Woodford is a lovely mix of resonant vocals that capture the grit that exists in the hardscrabble highway known as the Blues and delivers it back to us with a strong dose of soul and gospel feel.

Ms. Woodford begins her journey with the Tom Waits tune ‘Fumblin’ With The Blues’. We can hear the church in her voice and listening to that voice in contrast to the Waits song brings it to another level, slightly more respectable but unable to shake the aura of Saturday nights transgressions in the light of Sunday morning harsh glare.

The original title track ‘Bad Dog Blues’ has an interesting familiar feel to it. Sapphire ‘The Uppity Blues Women’ could have recorded this song. It contains super metaphoric construction and some damn good harp blowing by Mr. Phil Wiggins and when you hear it you will most likely hear the Sapphire reference.

While having a natural talent for the deeper, slower blues she can certainly turn the heat on in a raucous way. Case in point is her house rockin’ tribute to ‘False Teeth’. With wonderful lyrics that conjure up all sorts of adult situations, Maria gets down in the alley and lays the boogie on us all. With a deep, throaty approach she declares to her man to ‘take them out Daddy, let’s have some fun, ya gonna feel better after I have rubbed them some’ (his gums) oh yeh this might be worth hanging around for!

There is much promise in Ms. Woodford’s ability to convey the varied feelings and hues that exist in the Blues, she is someone to watch and track if you want to be ahead of the crowd.

She can be found at her website http://www.mariawoodford.com/index/ as well as facebook.
One thing all these artist have, besides outstanding talent, is their ability to bring it to a live audience and make the most of the moment. Seeing Rickey Godfrey play guitar and piano on stage and kneeling down to rip a solo straight from the heart, to Jarekus Singleton pouring his ‘old soul’ out on the stage and feeding off the energy returned by the appreciative people in attendance, to a sultry Maria Woodford dressed to the nines and going way down in the alley showing us the dark and the light side of life. - Blues411