-- Jonnye Webber
The Boston Sunday Herald once said, “Piano pounding Marcia Ball plays masterful, red hot tracks from the Texas-Louisiana border.
Her voice can break your heart with a ballad or break your back with a rocker.” Rolling Stone declared, “Rollicking, playful, good time blues; intimate, reflective balladry. Her songs ring with emotional depth.” The Austin Chronicle offered, “Class act
whose soulful horn-laden, swamp pop and murderous honky-tonk make her a stellar example of musical artistry.” The Associated Press proclaimed, “Take a buttery voice laid over two fisted barrel house piano playing and apply it to Boogie, Blues, Rock, and Soul and it’s a killer combination that leaves your toes tapping.” That is the Marcia Ball, the piano-playing performer that the world of music knows.
There is also the Marcia Ball that has endeared herself to the Pittsburgh area. Several years ago, she took the stage at the Pittsburgh Blues Festival when it was still being held at the Pittsburgh Brewing Company. Many remember that day. A very long train roared through just thirty-feet behind the stage. Did that distract the performer, Marcia Ball from her stellar performance? That Marcia Ball threw back her head laughed heartily and played even more furiously. The Allegheny Park Summer Series welcomed Marcia to one of their Friday evening concerts. Before the appointed time, the elegantly dressed woman took those long strides across the stage and engaged the audience with two and a half hours of music that included romping and rollicking and soulfulness. That evening, many forgot that the sun had long ago set as the overwhelmed crowd danced, frolicked, and had an unbelievably good time. Many think back and can remember that this was the woman who also played at the Decade. The Decade is long gone but the stories and the memories are still floating through a nostalgic Pittsburgh. Need to know more or have you formed a mental picture of this hard working, driven woman? Marcia Ball, who started long ago in a country band as Freda and the Firedogs. It was a broken down vehicle in Austin, Texas that changed her life and her music. The journey has been a long and fervent one. Marcia Ball was the woman who accompanied BB King to the Whitehouse; Marcia Ball was the woman who jumped into the national television program that included being on the Then New Orleans Social Club in Austin that shows on PBS. It was Marcia Ball that performed in New Orleans Music in Exile that showed the world the devastation and the aftermath of Katrina. It was Marcia Ball that performed with the Cincinnati Pops that was shown on PBS and offered a ‘Musical Celebration of America’s Rivers. Her renditions of “Way Down Yonder in New Orleans and her soulful, “Louisiana 1927” will long be etched in America’s memory as they remember the horrific loss in the delta lands. Marcia Ball is a multi-dimensional person who does endless traveling, writes quip of the road to engage her fans in her everyday down-to-earth life, and does endless fundraising.
I personally wanted to talk with the woman and find out about the inner Marcia Ball, the one who can toss back her head with a laugh and yet draw a tear with a soulful rendition.
After contacting Deb at the Rosebud agency and waiting several weeks, I sat, staring at the phone, nervously perspiring and suffering from a dry throat, and waited to make the call. At twelve 12:00 P.M. sharp and 11:00 A.M. central, the phone was ringing. I then heard a hesitant, husky hello. I was ecstatic and stated that it was my first musician interview. Of course, my friends kept trying to call despite my begging them not to. Marcia was very patient.
Jonnye: Marcia, thank you for the time for this call. After hearing your concert in Cleveland and talking to so many of your fans that traveled hundreds of miles to see you, I just had to talk to you. You introduced a new song that you had written the night before to both the audience and the band. Afterwards, my husband said that he had never before seen a standing ovation for a song that was “sprung” on a person’s own band. In that moment, everyone knew that something great had happened.
Marcia: (laughing). Thank you.
Jonnye: You sang of sadness, despair, and devastation in the New Orleans. When you drove through the Cleveland area on the way to the venue, you had to see the sadness and what was left from the demise of the steel industry. You talked of giving a portion of each sale to the relief efforts. Do you just do fundraising for New Orleans?
M: I try to do what I can. The people of New Orleans need a lot of help. New Orleans is just a small part of the world. I try to support those musicians that were displaced. My band totally supports my ongoing efforts through the Nola Relief. It is our mission to increase awareness to others around the country. The people with the most need are those that are at odds with life through no fault of their own. It is the “working poor” that face the most challenges through nature’s devastation. They are not able to “pull themselves up by the boot straps.” The question I like to ask people, “Where do you go when you can’t go home?” Most of us will never know that kind of despair.
J: What efforts have you joined personally involved to help those in New Orleans with their efforts?
M: I am involved with the Tipitina’s relief efforts and the NOLA relief programs. The purpose is to provide housing and instruments to those musicians who were displaced. It is an ongoing program that is trying to preserve and restore an irreplaceable music community that is unique to Lousiana.
J: You have done PBS specials from the Austin Roadhouse and filmed a performance with The Cincinnati Pops. I understand it was New Orleans based. What was the main purpose?
M: The fans want to be entertained but I feel that the “fan” can be taken to a higher place where their understanding in increased and enhanced. Awareness of a situation needs to be spread. The fan needs the opportunity to evaluate others’ plights in this world and maybe
forget some of their own troubles.
J: I have noticed that your songs are about the waterways. Is there a reason why?
M: In addition to battling the destruction caused by the water, I am involved in saving the wetlands of Louisiana. If you eat crab and shrimp, it comes from Lousiana. It is America’s land for everyone. Everyone should have a “stake” in reclaiming it.
J: What do you want as your legacy?
M: I hope my songs will be remembered and to be continued to be played. I feel my songs hold hope and redemption. When the music is “done good,” it naturally makes people feel better. People come to music for RELIEF. People have everyday struggles and life struggles. People need entertainment. Before Katrina, the world knew a superficial New Orleans. Now, they know the purpose of the music and its legacy.
J: How do you keep the momentum and the energy levels going? One day you are at the White House, the next day you are back in the bus on the way to the next show.
M: (Laughing) I love what I do. I am “perfectly suited” for my job…for the meeting of people, for the travel, and the writing. I feel very “fortunate.”
J: I am very impressed with your “Ball Bearings” that you post on your site. Why do you write? Is it to keep you busy while on the bus or is to show the “glamorous or unglamorous” side of a musician?
M: I feel that people want to hear about life on the road. I enjoy sharing the stories about the day, the meals, and the gigs. I am going to write more.
J: We still talk about how you were elegantly dressed to play on a hot muggy night in a city park in Pittsburgh. Is there a reason?
M: I feel that my audience is worthy of my respect. I dress for them to let them know that I have prepared for them. I have been doing this for a long time and have learned that I owe my fans.
J: What is planned for the future?
M: I have a new record coming out soon. It will have songs about Katrina, home issues, and ideas. I am hoping that it will offer complete escapism. Basically, it will be about REAL LIFE.
J: Marcia, thank you for talking with me. I hope that I can portray the depths of your inner self.
M: (Slight Pause) That is what it is all about, the people, the music, and the life.
Reluctantly, I clicked the phone off. I sat there for a few long while. I marveled at having talked with a woman who graciously gave so much of herself.
