Maria Muldaur

Maria Muldaur returns to the music of her youth on her latest effort for Edmonton, AB-based label Stony Plain. And the results are quite a treat. Although the American singer-songwriter is still best known for her 1974 hit, "Midnight at the Oasis," her four-decade-long career has traversed the spectrum of roots music, with two previous Stony Plain releases garnering Grammy nominations (Richland Woman Blues in 2002 and Sweet Lovin' Ol' Soul in 2005). On Garden of Joy, Muldaur wraps her voice around a selection of traditional jug band tunes, as well as two new compositions by singer-songwriter Dan Hicks. Muldaur bills her newest release as "good time music for hard times," and she certainly delivers. Coming at a time when jug band music is seeing a post-modern revival, Muldaur's tribute to the music of the Depression is both unnervingly apt and superbly executed.