Manda Mosher is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, and a founding member and co-leader of the Americana country group CALICO the band.

Early life and education

Mosher was born and raised in

La Crescenta, California La Crescenta-Montrose () is an unincorporated area in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The community is bordered by Glendale, California, Glendale to the south and west, La Cañada Flintridge, California, La Cañada Flintridge to ...

.Jim Simpson
"Review: Manda Mosher – City of Clowns,"
'' No Depression'', September 4, 2010. She grew up in a musical family and, starting at 15, was the lead singer for several local rock bands.Joe Montague
"Manda Mosher Reflects Upon Tom Petty, the City of Clowns & Calico the Band,"
Riveting Riffs, October 2012. She graduated from the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

in 1997 with a bachelor's degree in songwriting.Peter Gordon
"L.A. Newsbriefs,"
''Berklee Today'', Spring 2009. After graduating, she worked for a time at

Zomba Music The Zomba Group of Companies (sometimes referred to as Zomba Music Group or just Zomba Group) was a music group and division owned by and operated under Sony Music Entertainment. The division was renamed to Jive Label Group in 2009 and was place ...

and

The Recording Academy National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc. (NARAS), doing business as The Recording Academy, is an American Learned society, learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is widely kno ...

Career

Solo

Mosher's debut album ''Everything You Need'' was released in 2009 on Red Parlor Records. It was made up entirely of originals that she wrote or co-wrote, other than a cover of "Blue, Red, and Grey" by

Pete Townshend Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (; born 19 May 1945) is an English musician. He is the co-founder, guitarist, keyboardist, second lead vocalist, principal songwriter and leader of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s an ...

. In 2010, she released her follow-up, the five-song EP ''City of Clowns'', on Red Parlor Records. It includes a cover of

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

's "State Trooper". The EP was recorded in

Bronxville, New York Bronxville is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, United States, located approximately north of Midtown Manhattan. It is part of the Adminis ...

, and

Encino, California Encino is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. History Etymology The name Encino is the misspelling in masculine of Encina, the Spanish language, Spanish word for "holm oak” (Quercus ilex). The Spanis ...

. Mosher performed "Lay Me Down" on ''

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Scottish actor and comedian Craig Ferguson. This was the third iteration of the The Late Late Show (American talk show), ''Late Late Show'' franchise, airi ...

'' in 2009. Her song "Walk On", which she co-wrote, was featured on the soundtrack to the 2014 film ''

Walk of Shame A walk of shame is a situation in which a person must walk past strangers or peers alone for an embarrassing reason before reaching a place of safety and privacy. In sports In sports in which a player can be ejected from the match (such as penalt ...

'', starring

Elizabeth Banks Elizabeth Irene Banks (; February 10, 1974) is an American actress, director, and producer. She is known for playing chaperone Effie Trinket in ''The Hunger Games'' film series (2012–2015) and an ICCA commentator in the ''Pitch Perfect'' ...

. She has won several Los Angeles Music Awards, including the 2005 Female Singer/Songwriter of the Year, 2006 Rock Single of the Year for her song “Mr. Madness”, and 2010 National Touring Artist of the Year."Calico the Band Announces Their Debut Release 'Rancho California' for September 2,"
''

Guitar World ''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists and fans of guitar-based music and trends. The magazine has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original a ...

'', August 2014.

Calico the Band

In 2012, Mosher and fellow Los Angeles-based singer-songwriters Kristen Proffit and Jaime Wyatt formed CALICO the band, a California country Americana group, influenced by artists like

Gram Parsons Ingram Cecil Connor III (November 5, 1946 – September 19, 1973), known professionally as Gram Parsons, was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and pianist. He recorded with the International Submarine Band, the Byrds, and the Flying Bu ...

and

Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, bandleader, and activist. She is considered one of the leading music artists behind the country rock genre in the 1970s and the Americana (music), Americana genre ...

,"Calico the Band,"
''The Eden Magazine'', December 2016.Joe Montague

Riveting Riffs, 2014. and inspired by 1960s and 1970s

Laurel Canyon Laurel Canyon is a mountainous neighborhood in the Hollywood Hills region of the Santa Monica Mountains, within the Hollywood Hills West district of Los Angeles, California. The main thoroughfare of Laurel Canyon Boulevard connects the neig ...

country-rock music.Tony Sauro
"California harmonies: Trio inspired by country-rock sound,"
Recordnet.com, June 17, 2015."CALICO The Band,"
''

American Songwriter ''American Songwriter'' is a bimonthly magazine covering songwriting. Established in 1984, it features interviews, songwriting tips, news, reviews and lyric contest. The magazine is based in Nashville, Tennessee. History The ''American Songwri ...

'', August 20, 2015. In April 2014, Wyatt was replaced by Aubrey Richmond, who joined the band on vocals, violin and mandolin,Terry Roland
"Calico Stands with Roots in California Country,"
''No Depression'', August 27, 2014. with CALICO featuring the three-part harmonies of Mosher, Proffit and Richmond. The band's first album, ''Rancho California'', was released on September 2, 2014, on their label California Country Records, which Mosher co-founded. It features original compositions, along with a cover of

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

's "

You Ain't Goin' Nowhere "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" is a song written by the American musician Bob Dylan in 1967 in Woodstock, New York, during the self-imposed exile from public appearances that followed his July 29, 1966 motorcycle accident. A recording of Dylan perf ...

", and production by

Rami Jaffee Rami Jaffee (born March 11, 1969) is an American musician. He is the keyboardist for the rock band Foo Fighters, whom he initially joined in a touring and session capacity in 2005. He has contributed to seven of the band's studio albums, and for ...

of the

Foo Fighters The Foo Fighters are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Initially founded as a one-man project by former Nirvana (band), Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl, the band comprises vocalist/guitarist Grohl, bassist Nate Mendel, gu ...

. ''

'' called the album "music of great passion and beauty, cloaked in warm acoustics and close harmonies." It won Americana Album of the Year at the 2014 Los Angeles Music Awards. Now a duo of Mosher and Proffit, their follow-up, ''Under Blue Skies'', was released in 2017, with songs by Mosher and Proffit, plus covers of John Phillips' "

California Dreamin' "California Dreamin" is a song written by John and Michelle Phillips in 1963 and first recorded by Barry McGuire. The best-known version is by the Mamas & the Papas, who sang backup on the original version and released it as a single in Dec ...

" and

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 ...

's "Ladies of the Canyon".Terry Roland
"Calico the band: A Second Round of California Country,"
''No Depression'', November 14, 2017. '' No Depression'' called the album "one of the ten best Americana albums of 2017." The band performed at the 2014

Stagecoach Festival Stagecoach Festival is an annual country music festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert. Organized by Goldenvoice, a subsidiary of AEG Presents, it is a sister event to the Coac ...

Indio, California Indio (Spanish language, Spanish for "Indian") is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley of Southern California's Colorado Desert region. Indio is approximately east of Los Angeles, east of Palm Springs, ...

, and has toured the United States, United Kingdom, and Europe.

Discography

Albums

Extended plays

Singles

Film/TV soundtrack appearances

References

External links

Official website

CALICO the band website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mosher, Manda Living people People from La Crescenta-Montrose, California Berklee College of Music alumni American women singer-songwriters Singers from Los Angeles American women guitarists Americana musicians American women country singers American country singer-songwriters Guitarists from California Country musicians from California Year of birth missing (living people) Singer-songwriters from California 21st-century American women