It’s hard not to be happy when listening to Marcia Ball’s blues. She melds the music of her native Louisiana with that of her longtime hometown Austin into a joyous gumbo that sounds like it could have been created any time over the last 70 years. One can hear echoes of New Orleans greats Fats Domino, Dr. John, and Professor Longhair in her boogie-woogie piano playing, but she says that Allen Toussaint was her biggest influence.
Ball will bring her bayou stylings to the Garden State on June 1 as part of Michael Arnone’s 32nd Annual Crawfish Fest at the Sussex County Fairgrounds in Augusta. The event will began on May 30 and features a top-notch lineup, including: Galactic, George Porter, Jr., Jon Cleary & The Absolute Monster Gentlemen, Terrance Simien and The Zydeco Experience, Southern Avenue, Eddie 9V, Stanton Moore, Rockin’ Dopsie, Bonerama, Carolyn Wonderland, and more.
Ball is a five-time Grammy nominee and she has won countless Blues Music Awards over a 50-plus year career. She has toured the world and played with everyone from Muddy Waters to Stevie Ray Vaughan. One interaction that remains high on her all-time list was playing with Jerry Lee Lewis in New York. Ball still tours regularly, but hasn’t released new music for her label, Alligator Records, since 2018. It sounds like that is about to change. Her reconfigured band is meeting this month in Texas to work on new, original material. A pioneer of the blues, ever forging ahead.
You can SEE Dave Popkin’s full interview below:
Marcia Ball – You Make Me Happy:
Marcia Ball – That’s How It Goes:
Marcia Ball and Irma Thomas – I Just Can’t Get New Orleans Off My Mind (Fats Domino Tribute Album):
Marcia Ball – Austin City Limits HOF 2018:
