Heather Maloney
City Winery Philadelphia presents Heather Maloney live on Friday, Feb 28 at 7:30pm.
Massachusetts-based “writer song-singer” Heather Maloney found music in the midst of three years at a meditation center, honing a sound moored in days of silent reflection and reverence for storytellers like Joni, Rilke, Ken Burns, and the anonymous authors of Zen parables. While she eventually traded the quiet, structured life as a yogi for the kinetic life a touring musician, the core of her songwriting remains centered around same curiosity about our inner world, and the desire to articulate it through storytelling. She now has eight studio album releases under her belt, each one marked by inspiring collaborations with musicians, songwriters and producers.
With over 1,000 shows in the US & Canada, and 8 studio albums under her belt, she released her first live album, “No Shortcuts: Live at the Academy” in 2022.
On Heather’s 2019 album, Soil In The Sky, her “ability to channel emotion is radical” (PopMatters) and the tracks are stacked with special guests who help her deliver an immense range of sound and sentiment in 12 songs; there’s a duet with Dawes front-man Taylor Goldsmith on the Walt Whitman-inspired love song “We Were Together”, an appearance by Rachael Price on the album’s opening track “Enigma”, and Jay Ungar lends his legendary folk fiddle to “Oklahoma Lullaby”, a song inspired by Ken Burns’ documentary The Dustbowl. (Ungar composed Ashokan Farewell in Burns’ The Civil War). The all-star band includes drummer Griffin Goldsmith (Dawes), and multiple members of the Amos Lee band.
The Bluegrass Situation called her 2015 release, Making Me Break (produced by Band of Horses’ Bill Reynolds) “an intoxicating blend that captures the sonic texture of indie rock, the humanity of folk and the spirituality of a Rumi poem.”
In 2014 she released “Woodstock”, her collaborative effort with Boston quartet Darlingside, which drew praise from the New York Times and Graham Nash.
Heather’s songs have played on NPR stations across the country and her live appearances have aired on syndicated programming like eTown and AudioTree. Her song “Nightstand Drawer” was used in the season finale of the CBS TV series "Elementary", and her songs have also been featured on a number of editorial Spotify playlists & Starbucks’ in-store nationwide playlists.
As well as a songwriter and performer, Heather is an illustrator and linocut artist who carves and prints visual representations of her songs on a variety of mediums. She considers the integration music and art to be an inspiring new chapter as a creative, and while most of her growing catalog is reserved for her Patreon community, she periodically releases limited-edition prints to accompany albums and singles.
Heather has toured throughout the US & Canada as a headliner and also in support of acts including Lake Street Dive, Shakey Graves, Gary Clark Jr., Rodrigo y Gabriela, Colin Hay (Men at Work), Mary Chapin Carpenter, Shawn Colvin, Dar Williams and many more.
She is currently working on a new studio album (slated for release in early 2025), and touring actively throughout the US. She’ll embark on her first European tour in the fall of 2025.
“Lyrics that cut to the chase” – Huffington Post
“Utterly gorgeous – visceral.” – Val Haller, New York Times
“Her not-so-secret weapon is that voice ”– Boston Globe
“Delicious... really excellent” – Graham Nash
“...stunning, breathy, and starkly memorable.” – SPIN Magazine
