On August 28, Blix Street/Crooked Crown Records will release Change The Ending, the new album from acclaimed singer-songwriter-producer Maia Sharp. The record features guest vocals by The Rescue’s Adrianne Gonzales, Garrison Starr, Dawn Thomas and Bonnie Raitt. Sharp will be touring with Raitt in October and can be heard on the nine-time GRAMMY® winner’s new album, Slipstream.
Fans can check out the poignant lead single, “Me After You,” beginning today at http://maiasharp.com/view/Artist/. Sharp will be previewing songs from Change The Ending in a series of shows this summer, beginning this Friday, June 15, when she opens for Melissa Etheridge at Britt Pavilion in Jacksonville, OR. See below for itinerary.
Change The Ending follows Sharp’s 2009 album, Echo. Produced by Don Was, it contained the Top 10 Triple A radio hit “John Q. Lonely” and “Death By Perfection,” which featured Raitt and was tapped by NPR as “Song of the Day.” The new album reaffirms Sharp’s gift for capturing the subtleties and shades of gray that characterize relationships.
Sharp grew up in Los Angeles, where she started playing local clubs while she was still in her teens. She gives a sly wink to her hometown’s most recognized industry with the new album’s cover art – revealed at http://maiasharp.com today. Filmmaking provides the perfect metaphor in the title track, as the narrator considers how a romance might have fared with a little rewrite. “It’s a beautiful story,” she observes ruefully in the chorus, “if you change the ending.”
During the recording sessions, Sharp admits, “We did change the ending a few times – and it was always for the better.” After producing Edwin McCain’s latest album, Mercy Bound, as well as two songs for Art Garfunkel’s upcoming record, she elected to produce Change The Ending herself. She assembled a notable crew of musicians to back her, including guitarist Linda Taylor (Tracy Chapman, Edwin McCain), who often accompanies Sharp on the road, drummer Matt Chamberlain (The Wallflowers, Fiona Apple) and bassist David J. Carpenter (John Doe, Toni Childs).
“I had been working with several other artists on their albums and I was just hooked on that whole feeling, so I decided to produce this album alone,” says Maia. “I had to learn to be my own sounding board because I’d finish a vocal and come out and there was nobody else there to go ‘yeah, that was great’ or ‘you really need to do that again.’ But it was a great experience and I learned a lot.”
“Sharp always leads with her heart and comes across as a performer worth getting to know,” said USA Today in a three-star review of Echo while NPR’s “All Things Considered” hailed her as “a songwriter set to arrive” and The Washington Post called her “a sterling up-and-coming talent.”
In addition to her string of acclaimed solo albums and numerous production credits, Sharp is also a sought-after songwriter whose songs have been recorded by Raitt, the Dixie Chicks, Keb’ Mo’, Terri Clark, Cher, Trisha Yearwood and many others.
Maia Sharp – Change The Ending – Track Listing
1. Me After You
2. The Middle
3. Buy My Love
4. I See Cecelia
5. Standing Out In A Crowd
6. Rising
7. Change The Ending
8. Sober
9. Your Stepping Stone
10. The Bed I Made
11. Buy My Love (Remix)