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Misty Mamas
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When OREGON ART BEAT broadcast a segment on Misty Mamas, the response was amazing. When these four women weave their lovely harmonies, it is spine tingling. "Our phones and web site were jammed with requests to know where they were playing and how to buy their CDs.” - Jeff Douglas, Executive Producer, Oregon Art Beat, Oregon Public Broadcasting (May - 2004)
Since emerging on the Portland acoustic music scene in 1997, the four-woman band Misty Mamas has earned an enviable reputation as one of the finest, most entertaining bands in the Pacific Northwest. Misty Mamas blends folk, bluegrass, country, Celtic and original music into a seamless and highly distinctive Americana sound that has entranced thousands of fans. Whether performing at a large concert hall or an intimate house concert, Misty Mamas makes an emotional connection with its audiences, thoroughly captivating listeners with beautiful and moving music and a natural, friendly presentation.
The members of Misty Mamas are Carol Harley (guitar, banjo, ukulele & mandolin), Chris Kokesh (fiddle, guitar), Laura Quigley (acoustic bass) and Dana Abel (accordion, guitar). All four women are excellent lead and harmony vocalists, giving the band a vocal depth few groups can match, as well as tremendous flexibility when it comes to arrangements. Victory Review hails the band for “lush, pitch-perfect harmonies, gentle tasteful arrangements [and] fresh interpretation of songs.” Bluegrass Unlimited agrees, describing Misty Mamas as “excellent singers [whose] voices blend like milk and honey.”
Though flattered by critics' frequent comparisons with the neo-bluegrass approach of Alison Krauss and Emmylou Harris, the members of Misty Mamas are intent on creating their own signature sound. Strong original material is at the heart of that sound. The band's discography to date - four CDs - features songs written by group members Chris Kokesh, Dana Abel Laura Quigley and Carol Harley. The band's original songs are augmented by fresh arrangements of traditional material and well-chosen covers from such contemporary artists as Gillian Welch, Lyle Lovett, Tom Paxton, Shawn Colvin, Bill Staines, Tim O'Brien, Lynn Morris and Dave Carter.
In addition to winning over countless fans, radio DJs and critics, Misty Mamas and its members have received several prestigious individual and band honors. Chris Kokesh has won several awards for her songwriting, from the Portland Songwriters Association, the Columbia Gorge Bluegrass Festival and the Maryhill Winery Amphitheater. Laura Quigley, who has toured Europe with Laurie Lewis and Tom Rozum as well as Ireland with the “Oh Sister, Where Art Thou” tour, won the Best Bass Player award at the Washington State Bluegrass Championships in 2001. The Source Weekly, Bend, OR named Misty Mamas's show the “Best Old Style Concert” in 2003.
A road-tested, professional touring band that plays more than 100 engagements each year, Misty Mamas has delighted audiences throughout North America and beyond, most recently representing the United States at the Shanghai International Music Festival in China. Other notable festival appearances include the Strawberry Music Festival in California, the Walnut Valley Festival in Kansas, Wintergrass in Washington, the Sisters Folk Festival in Oregon and the Oklahoma International Bluegrass Festival. Misty Mamas has also appeared at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee; Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri; and in showcases at the Folk Alliance, International Bluegrass Music Association and NW Booking conferences. Misty River is also on the 2004/5 performers roster of the Young Audiences National Organization.
Misty Mamas has recorded four CDs: Rising, released in 2000, Live at the Backgate Stage, released in 2002, Willow, released June 2004 and “Midwinter - Songs of Christmas” released November 2004. The Misty Mamas CDs have received extensive radio airplay in the U.S. and Canada, as well as in such countries as Australia, New Zealand, China, Spain, England, Italy, Germany, France, Ireland and Belgium. Total Misty Mamas CD sales have exceeded 50,000 and are regular top five sellers in the Oregonian's Best of the NW List
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