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 to the south and west, La Cañada Flintridge to the east, and Angeles National Forest to the north. Accor ...

.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 music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cou ...

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 The Recording Academy (formally the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences; abbreviated NARAS) is an American learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is famous for its Grammy A ...

Career

Solo

Mosher's debut album ''Everything You Need'' was released in 2009 on

Red Parlor Records Red Parlor Records (Red Parlor Entertainment Group) is an independent record label, founded in 2005 by Steven Goff and Jerry Krenach. Red Parlor is based in Norwalk, Connecticut and distributes its releases through Entertainment One in the US, Pr ...

. 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 co-founder, leader, guitarist, second lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s. Towns ...

. 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 singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...

's "State Trooper". The EP was recorded in Bronxville, New York, and

Encino, California Encino ( Spanish for "oak") is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. History In 1769, the Spanish Portolá expedition, first Europeans to see inland areas of California, traveled north through Sepulved ...

. 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, airing ...

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

Elizabeth Banks Elizabeth Banks (born Elizabeth Irene Mitchell; February 10, 1974) is an American actress and filmmaker. She is known for playing Effie Trinket in ''The Hunger Games'' film series (2012–2015) and Gail Abernathy-McKadden in the ''Pitch Perf ...

. 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 – that has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original arti ...

'', 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) who was known professionally as Gram Parsons, was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and pianist who recorded as a solo artist and with the International Submarine Band, ...

and

Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. She has released dozens of albums and singles over the course of her career and has won 14 Grammys, the Polar Music Prize, and numerous other honors, includin ...

,"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 neighb ...

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 Songwr ...

'', 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. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

's "

You Ain't Goin' Nowhere "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" is a song written by 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 performin ...

", and production by

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

of the

Foo Fighters Foo Fighters are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Foo Fighters was initially formed as a one-man project by former Nirvana (band), Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. Following the success of the Foo Fighters (album), epony ...

. ''

'' 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 Phillips and Michelle Phillips 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 ...

" and Joni Mitchell'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 The Stagecoach Festival is an outdoor country music festival held annually at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California. Various artists attend, whether they be mainstream or relatively unknown, ranging from folk, mainstream country, bluegrass ...

Indio, California Indio ( Spanish for "Indian") is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley of Southern California's Colorado Desert region. It lies east of Palm Springs, east of Riverside, east of Los Angeles, 148 mil ...

, 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