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Geoff Muldaur Biography

geoff-muldaur
  • Born: in Pelham, NY
  • Years Active: 1960s-2000s
  • Member of: Jim Kweskin & the Jug Band
  • Genre: Country

Guitarist Geoff Muldaur, one of many artists to emerge from the folk, blues, and folk-rock scenes centered in Cambridge and Woodstock, was already a well-known blues performer at the time he met up with old-time folk enthusiast Jim Kweskin. Sharing the bill at a 1963 concert in Boston, the two shared many musical interests, and when Kweskin was approached by Vanguard Records, he brought Muldaur into his group the Jim Kweskin Jug Band. This association led to many successful albums and marriage to the group's fiddle player Maria D'Amato (later Maria Muldaur). Four years and five successful albums later, the couple migrated to Woodstock, NY, where they became part of a new musical community that included Bob Dylan, the Band, Paul Butterfield, and many other notable artists. They divorced in 1972, and Geoff began producing local and national blues artists, as well as making his own recordings. He also composed scores for film and television, earning an Emmy in the process, and his definitive recording of "Brazil" was featured in Terry Gilliam's film of the same title. Muldaur has toured Britain, Germany, and Ireland, and appeared at Carnegie Hall, Royal Festival Hall, the Kennedy Center, "A Prairie Home Companion," the San Francisco Blues Festival, and the Winnipeg and Edmonton Folk Festivals. After breaking away from his solo recordings and performances in the late 80s, Geoff returned to the studio for 1998's The Secret Handshake and 2000's Password while a live performance during this resurgence, Beautiful Isle of Somewhere, was released in 2003. His blues-folk stylings are born of respect for music's history, from the perspective of a contemporary artist very much of his own era. ~ Zac Johnson, Rovi

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