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Zoe Mulford In Concert Presenting her Book, The President Sang Amazing Grace
Zoe is a powerful performer, noted for vivid storytelling, humor, and deep compassion. She backs her clear voice with guitar or claw-hammer banjo and draws on the traditional music of the US and the British Isles to make sense of the present day. Raised in Swarthmore, she now lives in the north of England and tours on both sides of the Atlantic.
"The President Sang Amazing Grace" first appeared on Zoe's 2017 album "Small Brown Birds," and was widely played on independent folk radio shows across the country. Joan Baez heard the song on KPFA while driving near her home in California and chose to cover it on her Grammy-nominated 2018 album "Whistle Down the Wind." The video created for the Joan Baez track by animator Jeff Scher was featured on the website of The Atlantic. In 2019, children's publisher Amy Novesky adapted Zoe's lyric and Jeff's paintings into a book for Cameron + Company.
"supremely evocative and sometimes cheekily humorous" - fRoots Magazine
Zoe grew up in Swarthmore, where some of her earliest songwriting was for the Young People's Theater Workshop at the Players Club of Swarthmore. She took up the guitar and fell in love with the banjo during a twelve-year stint in Durham, North Carolina. Four years in Washington, DC introduced her to the community of contemporary songwriters, including the Azalea City Recordings cooperative label, which has released her five albums to date. She has lived in Manchester, England since 2006.
"The President Sang Amazing Grace" was voted "Song of the Year" at Folk Alliance's 2018 International Folk Awards. In 2019, Zoe was selected for the Emerging Artist showcase at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival.
Video Links:
The President Sang Amazing Grace (NERFA 2018 - with piano)
https://youtu.be/2qdB1EypJFU?t=60
Welcome In Another Year
https://youtu.be/Dxe3jDoG2SY?t=36
All of the Songs Were Road Songs
https://youtu.be/WmyPFccRHgo?t=45
Press Links:
Joan Baez on All Things Considered with Ari Shapiro
https://www.npr.org/2018/02/27/584648802/joan-baez-on-whistle-down-the-wind-and-working-through-pessimism
NYU
Philadelphia Inquirer
https://www.inquirer.com/news/zoe-mulford-the-president-sang-amazing-grace-joan-baez-20191013.html