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Maria
Gillard has been performing since 1982. She started performing folk, country
and Irish music in local Irish pubs with musical partner, Frank Meyer. In
1983 and 1984, she studied songwriting and performance at the Augusta Heritage
Workshop in West Virginia with Holly Near, John McCutcheon and Si Kahn. In
1986, she began singing and performing her own music in area coffeehouses
and acoustic music clubs. This led to her first recording, Snapshots, a collection
of original songs, which she produced with Eric Garrison. She then moved to
Northampton, MA and joined a songwriters' group, which included Erica Wheeler,
Jim Henry, Bernice Lewis and others. During this time, she played in many
venues around New England as well as the Washington D.C. area. In 1991, she returned to her home of Rochester, NY and formed a folk/bluegrass band called the Black Turtle Band. The band performed at regional music clubs, festivals, and weddings. While in the band, she also played solo and in 1994, released a self-titled cassette, Live at the Sunken Room, recorded live to DAT by Glen Drinkwater. In 1996, she teamed up with Jim Henry and produced her first CD "Bound to Happen." In 1997, she was chosen as a finalist for the New Folk Songwriters Competition at the Kerrville Folk Festival. That same year she toured through New Mexico, Colorado and Nashville. She was then resident musician at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY for the month of August, where she gave concerts, private instruction, led large groups in singing, and taught songwriting and creative journaling. This led her to the endeavor of singing in nursing homes in Western New York, increasing the quality of life for the elderly through sing-alongs and old favorites. She is asked back time and again to places she has performed, and is well loved by the residents. Maria is performing extensively, both solo and with a back-up band, mostly in New York State. She is presently a vocal and guitar instructor at the Finger Lakes Community College in Canandaigua, NY. "A warm inviting voice singing simple renderings of deeply personal songs," Crossroads Magazine. "Gillard's voice is an easy mix of country/folk, comfortable blues and good old jazz. Fun stuff!" Victory Review, Seattle "A straightforward, unpretentious performer, enjoying life and bent on communicating musically" Victor Heyman for Sing Out! Magazine "She's got a big world in there.." Martin Juredine, Barking Spider, Cleveland "The most colorful thing to come out of Rochester since Kodachrome" Herman Schwartz, BIG FAN, University of Virginia.
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