Maria Woodford
Maria Woodford is an ear-trained musician who has been performing, writing, and playing guitar, bass, and mandolin for 16 years. Maria's music ranges from jazz and blues to folk and alt-country. Ms. Woodford has also performed in a variety of theatrical productions, and has appeared on over 18 studio and live albums in the past six years.
Maria has had the honor of attending master classes at The Augusta Heritage Center (AHC) with critically acclaimed vocalists Gaye Adegbalola (Alligator Records) and Ginny Hawker (Rounder Records). Ms. Woodford now teaches during the Blues Week portion of the five week summer program at AHC. Maria Woodford is currently studying with grammy winning guitarist David Cullen at Kutztown University and expects to graduate in 2008 with a degree in music education with a concentration in jazz voice & guitar. Passing on the traditions and knowlege of music is every bit as important to Maria as her writing and performing. "Sharing what I know and helping others to express themselves creatively is an inspiration I just couldn't do without. I love teaching as much as I do performing." [Maria Woodford on music education April 2006].
Ms. Woodford has travelled over 80,000 highway miles and has recieved many awards including the B.E.A.M. grant for independent music and Songwriter Magazine's Honerable Mention for her song "Travellin' On". This year she was nominated for 7 Lehigh Valley Music Awards. Maria Woodford continues to tour regionally with guitar player Jake Heck (also nominated for several LVMA's), and teaches private and group lessons at her studio, "Happy Fingers Music" in Easton, PA.