Zoe Mulford: Music, from Maryland and Manchester

Zoe Mulford and I met at the 2004 Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) conference in Monticello, NY.  Zoe sent an email as soon as she saw both our names on the list of attendees seeking to share a room.  I didn't know a soul who would be attending the conference, and this first gesture of friendship and welcome was precious and reassuring. Average attendance for this event is 700 musicians from all across North America, so Zoe and I met amidst a tidal wave of musicians rushing through the doors at Kutsher’s Resort.

Zoe hailed from Maryland, and was at NERFA along with several other artists on the same recording label.  She's soft-spoken and seemingly timid, but this is deceptive; after just a few moments of conversation, her wit and intellect is unmistakable.  Her quiet is actually due to thoughtfulness:  Zoe considers her words carefully before speaking, and what she says is concise and insightful -- a trait that is even more evident in her song lyrics, but I didn’t know that yet. 

Although Zoe was booked for several Private Showcases in 2004, so was everyone else – there were hundreds of Showcases throughout the resort, with new performers every 15 minutes, and the rooms are not easily located.  In the mad dash from room to room, I missed Zoe altogether, but as we parted, she gave me a copy of her first CD, Traveling Moon, which features a dancing cow on the cover...

Let's be honest: the cow had me worried.  If I had actually heard Zoe perform at NERFA, I would have understood all about the cow and been listening to Traveling Moon non-stop on my ride home from NERFA.  As it was, though, I delayed.  It wasn't until 6 months later that I rediscovered the CD and thought, "I promised her I'd listen..." -- so I did.

By the third song, Miles to Babylon (sung a capella,) I was a fan.  My husband asked me if it was a Judy Collins CD; Zoe's voice is equally pure and sweet, so that was a good guess.  There were a couple of familiar tunes (Prodigal Son and a verse of Tell Me Why) but most are Zoe’s own songs, such as mysterious The Street That Wasn’t There and sensual Low Tide.  While my favorite cut on the CD is Songs of Love and Distance, I did write an additional verse for Life Is Too Short to Fold Underwear – which Zoe has posted on her website with all the others fans have written.

Flash forward to 2007:  Zoe lives in Manchester, England, and has two excellent CDs out now: Traveling Moon (with the now-beloved cow) and Roadside Saints.  Both are excellent, although RS is a little more "produced" in terms of additional voices and instrumentation.  Where Traveling Moon is effectively a solo feature, Roadside Saints proves that Zoe plays well with others.  Both CDs feature her crystalline voice, and her thought-provoking, fun-loving, all-embracing lyrics.

As a musician, this tiny lady packs a surprising wallop:  fingerpicking on her Koa Alvarez guitar or clawhammerin' on her Goodtime banjo, she backs herself up with just the right lattice to support her vocals and let the songs flower.  But don't just take my word for it: check out Zoe on MySpace http://www.myspace.com/zoemulford or on her own website: http://www.zoemulford.com/  Both offer audio, so you can hear her for yourself.  My favorite of the songs available is Elegy (available on both websites) but there isn't really a song available that isn't worth hearing on either site.  I do, however, recommend buying both of her CDs – Zoe has many more songs worth hearing than just the few on the internet!