Maria Sangiolo – Adult Performance Biography
Passion, poise and power…these three words describe what one can expect at this singer/songwriter’s solo concerts for adults. Fueled by her engaging voice and deft guitar playing, Sangiolo opens her heart and the listener’s simultaneously, making connections to the complexities of the human experience. Her voice, described by The Boston Globe is ‘angelic and pure…a born singer.’ Her “stage presence is like a veteran,” says Livingston Taylor. She delivers her songs “touching lyrics and understated melodies with depth, poise, and grace,” noted the San Diego Union Tribune.
Born and raised in Stoughton on the south shore of Massachusetts, now residing in Northeastern Connecticut, Sangiolo has been singing since, as a young child, she could hear the angel of music riding in the backseat of her parent’s blue Chevy wagon. Formal training on the violin led her to the discovery of her voice and resulted in private guitar lessons and voices lessons at the New England Conservatory of Music during high school. She spent years performing jazz, popular music and classical art songs before she learned of the acoustic music scene in Boston. She began performing her own songs in 1989.
Of Maria’s debut CD, Eyes of the Heart (Raging River Records 1993), The Boston Globe said, “Hometown singer soars in her debut album, every so often a knockout new voice emerges.” EOTH played so frequently on WUMB FM that the album was named to their most played list. Her sophomore release, Follow Your Own Road (Signature Sounds 1996), landed her on Signature Sounds Records, a prestigious, independent label. This deal launched her career nationally with an aggressive touring schedule and heavy airplay to make her name on the folk charts at college stations throughout the US and abroad.
But it was Blue Earth (Signature Sounds 1998) that garnered national praise, ‘…crowning achievement…exquisite fingerpicking…such a rich voice…songs that are sturdy, clear and accessible.’ Produced by award-winning guitarist and songwriter, Jim Henry, (who has toured with Mary Chapin Carpenter and Eliza Gilkinson) critically acclaimed Blue Earth gained her national attention when she departed from the typical path of the singer/songwriter. Blue Earth contains 5 originals and 7 tastefully chosen covers by known and not-so-known writers.
Sangiolo calls her fifth recording, The Way We Live (Raging River Records 2002), her most intimate collection of songs to date. This recording show-cases her range of writing styles from light-hearted, melancholic ballads to rich narratives in the traditional folk form, to fun, contemporary folk.
The birth of her first daughter took her off the road temporarily in 1998 soon after she released Blue Earth. She continued to perform but began to immerse herself in her community. She was elected to the local Board of Education and began booking the renowned folk club The Vanilla Bean Café in her hometown of Pomfret while raising her family. Her second daughter was born in 2005. During this time, she never stopped observing and reflecting on the world inside her and around her in this small, rural town. In fact, her writing drew from a deeper well conjuring up images of land use, mortality, war and bittersweet moments in relationships in her latest recording for adults, The Way We Live.
The Way We Live paints “small town life with an urban songwriter’s instinct for intimate insight and empathy for the complexities that can haunt even the simplest lives” said The Boston Globe. Produced by award winning guitarist Jim Henry (Blue Earth) and joined by Richard Gates, Gideon Freudmann and Cheryl Hoenemeyer, The Way We Live has a bare bones sound that is rooted in tradition and doesn’t get in the way of the songs or Sangiolo’s voice.
Sangiolo has shared the stage with Steve Stills, Patty Larkin, Cheryl Wheeler, Chris Smither, John Gorka, Livingston Taylor, David Wilcox, Tracy Grammer, Lori McKenna and Mark Erelli to name a few. She enjoys return engagements at Club Passim (Cambridge, MA), The Iron Horse (Northampton, MA), The Freight and Salvage (Berkeley, CA) and Eddie’s Attic (Atlanta, GA), among numerous others. Her work thus far spans twenty-five years and nine recordings, headlining her shows for the past fifteen years. Sangiolos’ grassroots following both nationally and regionally in her home of New England has positioned her well for the long road as an artist.
Discography
- Hard Words, Raging River Records 1992
- Eyes of the Heart, Raging River Records 1993
- Follow Your Own Road, Signature Sounds 1996
- Blue Earth, Signature Sounds 1998
- Hello Moon, RRR 2000
- The Way We Live, RRR 2002
- Fairy Moon – Songs of the Ring, RRR 2004
- Under the Mystic Sea RRR 2007
- Maria and Friends – Planting Seeds RRR 2011
Program Booking
To book or discuss program options please contact me:
Maria Sangiolo, Long Night Moon Music, PO Box 285, Pomfret, CT 06258
[email protected] or call 860-974-1691 or 860-208-5284 cell.
