Maia Sharp is an American singer and songwriter. In addition to her solo career, she has written songs for and collaborated with several country and pop musicians including

Cher Cher ( ; born Cheryl Sarkisian, May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Goddess of Pop", she is known for her Androgyny, androgynous contralto voice, Music an ...

Trisha Yearwood Patricia Lynn Yearwood (born September 19, 1964) is an American country singer. She rose to fame with her 1991 debut single "She's in Love with the Boy", which became a number one hit on the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' Hot Country Songs ...

Terri Clark Terri Lynn Sauson, known professionally as Terri Clark (born August 5, 1968) is a Canadian country music singer who has had success in both Canada and the United States. Signed to Mercury Records in 1995, she released her self-titled debut that ...

Bonnie Raitt Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. In 1971, Raitt released her Bonnie Raitt (album), self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed Americana (mu ...

Edwin McCain Edwin Cole McCain (born January 20, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. His songs " I'll Be" (1998) and " I Could Not Ask for More" (1999) were radio top-40 hits in the U.S., and five of his albums have reached the ''Billboard ...

, and

Art Garfunkel Arthur Ira Garfunkel (born November 5, 1941) is an American singer, actor and poet who is best known for his partnership with Paul Simon in the folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel. Born in Forest Hills, Queens, New York, Garfunkel became acquainte ...

Early life

Sharp was born in the Central Valley in California, the only child of country songwriter Randy Sharp and

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

professor Sharon Bays. When she was four, the family moved to Los Angeles, and at the age of five she recorded her first song. By the age of twelve she played piano, saxophone,

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...

, and guitar, and by her twenties she was performing her jazz/folk songs in L.A. acoustic venues. Musically, she was inspired by

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan Mitchell (née Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter. As one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitch ...

Jackson Browne Clyde Jackson Browne (born October 9, 1948) is an American rock musician, singer, songwriter, and political activist who has sold over 30 million albums in the United States. Emerging as a teenage songwriter in mid-1960s Los Angeles, he had his ...

and

Sting Stimulator of interferon genes (STING), also known as transmembrane protein 173 (TMEM173) and MPYS/MITA/ERIS is a regulator protein that in humans is encoded by the STING1 gene. STING plays an important role in innate immunity. STING induces typ ...

. Sharp studied music theory at

California State University, Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge), is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. With a total enrollment of 36,848 students (as of Fall 2024), it has the ...

and began to focus on song-writing. She

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

as a lesbian at the age of 23.

Career

Sharp played her first gig in 1993. Two years later, she met music executive Miles Copeland and recorded her debut album, '' Hardly Glamour'' (1997), on his record label

Ark 21 Ark 21 Records was a record label established by Miles Copeland III and Stewart Copeland in 1997. It was based in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles. Artists * Kathem Al-Saher * Ragheb Alamah * Aswad *The Badlees *The Beautiful South * John Berry *Beli ...

. Her next album ''Tinderbox'' failed to be released when Ark 21 was incorporated into PolyGram. Three of its songs were featured on Sharp's 2002 album ''

Maia Sharp Maia Sharp is an American singer and songwriter. In addition to her solo career, she has written songs for and collaborated with several country and pop musicians including Cher, Trisha Yearwood, Terri Clark, Bonnie Raitt, Edwin McCain, and Art G ...

'' on

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other words Arts and media * ''Concord'' (video game), a defunct 2024 first-person sh ...

. Her 2005 album '' Fine Upstanding Citizen'' was released by

Koch Koch may refer to: People * Koch (surname), people with this surname * Koch dynasty, a dynasty in Assam and Bengal, north east India * Koch family * Koch people (or Koche), an ethnic group originally from the ancient Koch kingdom in north east In ...

. 2009's ''Echo'', released by Crooked Crown, is, according to Sharp, her most personal album to date. During her career, Sharp has collaborated with other musicians including

Lisa Loeb Lisa Anne Loeb (; born March 11, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author and actress. She started her career with " Stay (I Missed You)" from the film '' Reality Bites'', the first number-one single on the ''Billboard'' Hot 10 ...

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Jules Shear Jules Mark Shear (born March 7, 1952) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He wrote the Cyndi Lauper hit single " All Through the Night", the Bangles' hit " If She Knew What She Wants", and the Ignatius Jones and Allison Moyet ...

and

Jonatha Brooke Jonatha Brooke (born January 23, 1964) is an American folk rock singer-songwriter and guitarist from Massachusetts, United States. Her music merges elements of folk, rock and pop, often with poignant lyrics and complex harmonies. She has been a ...

. As a songwriter, her songs have been recorded by musicians including

Kim Richey Kimberly Richey (born December 1, 1956) is an American singer and songwriter. Early life Richey was born in Zanesville, Ohio, on December 1, 1956. She grew up in Kettering, Ohio, graduating from Fairmont East High school in 1973. Career Riche ...

Amanda Marshall Amanda Meta Marshall (born August 29, 1972) is a Canadian Juno award winning pop-rock singer and songwriter. She has released four studio albums; the first was certified diamond in Canada, with the second and third certified 3× platinum and p ...

Paul Carrack Paul Melvyn Carrack (born 22 April 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter and composer who has recorded as both a solo artist and as a member of several popular bands. The BBC dubbed Carrack "The Man with the Golden Voice", while '' ...

The Dixie Chicks The Chicks (formerly the Dixie Chicks) are an American country music band from Dallas, Texas. The band consists of Natalie Maines (lead vocals, guitar, bass guitar) and sisters Martie Maguire (vocals, fiddle, mandolin, guitar) and Emily Stra ...

and

Kathy Mattea Kathleen Alice Mattea (born June 21, 1959) is an American country music and bluegrass singer. Active since 1984 as a recording artist, she has charted more than 30 singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs charts, including four that reac ...

. She collaborated with

and Buddy Mondlock on the 2002 album '' Everything Waits to be Noticed'', Garfunkel's debut as a songwriter. Sharp contributed the track "Castaway" to the album '' Music from the Aisle of Lesbos'', an album featuring various lesbian artists from different genres. In 2009 Sharp opened for

on several dates. She started a national concert tour in October 2009.

Discography

Solo albums

* 1997: ''Hardly Glamour'' * 2002: ''

'' * 2005: '' Fine Upstanding Citizen'' * 2006: ''Eve and the Red Delicious'' * 2009: ''Echo'' * 2012: ''Change the Ending'' * 2015: ''The Dash Between the Dates'' * 2021: ''Mercy Rising'' * 2023: ''Reckless Thoughts''

Collaborations

* 2002: '' Everything Waits to Be Noticed'' (with

and Buddy Mondlock)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sharp, Maia American women country singers American country singer-songwriters California State University, Northridge alumni American lesbian musicians American LGBTQ singers American LGBTQ songwriters Living people Singer-songwriters from California Year of birth missing (living people) LGBTQ people from California Lesbian singers Lesbian songwriters 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singer-songwriters 21st-century American women singers Country musicians from California 20th-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American LGBTQ people