Folk singer, songwriter Zoe Mulford made a stop at the WYSO studios towards the end of her Midwest tour this year. She performed live on Midday Music and spoke with host Evan Miller about her career.
As soon as Mulford could reach the keys she was fascinated by the piano. Her mother was alongside her for much of her career.
"My mother, who was a classically trained orchestral bass player, tried to teach me stuff and I was not having any of it because I wanted to sit there and figure it out for myself." said Mulford. "So we had more fights about music than about anything else because we both felt so strongly about it. Once I started going out on the road for a while she came with me and did the driving and helped carry everything. If I blanked out any of the words on stage, she would helpfully call them out from the back."
One highlight of Mulford's career happened in 2018 when Joan Baez happened to hear her song on the radio. Mulford said that she wasn't even sure if she was going to go through with putting out her song "The President Sang Amazing Grace."
"I wrote that song over the course of a weekend, and I had no idea if it was any good, but my friends encouraged me to put it on the next record. So we put it in and sent it out to the radio, and it was played on all the little local folk shows across the country. Joan Baez happened to be driving her car in Berkeley, California and turned on her radio. The next thing I know, I get an email from her manager saying, Joan wants to record your song."
Stream and purchase Zoe Mulford's music on bandcamp and find more info on her website zoemulford.com.
