Marcia Ball Will Raise the Roof

At Chandler Music Hall Nov. 9

For more than 30 years, Marcia Ball has delivered her signature brand of Texas blues, Louisiana R&B and Gulf Coast boogie woogie to audiences all over the world. On Friday Nov. 9 at 7:30 p.m., Ball brings her high-energy blend of rollicking, two-fisted New Orleans boogie piano, Louisiana swamp rock, and smoldering Texas blues to Randolph’s Chandler Music Hall, in a performance that is guaranteed to knock your socks off!

According to The Boston Sunday Herald, "Her voice can break your heart with a ballad or break your back with a rocker." The Austin Chronicle heralds her as "a class act whose soulful, horn-laden swamp pop and murderous honky-tonk make her a stellar example of musical artistry."

Over the course of a career that spans three decades, Ball has earned a huge and intensely loyal following through critically acclaimed albums and continued non-stop touring. Her live performances are legendary.

Born in the southeast Texas town of Orange, Ball grew up across the border in Vinton, La., in the heart of a musically vibrant region stretched across the Louisiana-Texas border. Raised in a family of confident female pianists, she began taking piano lessons at age five, playing old Tin Pan Alley tunes from her grandmother’s collection. From her aunt, Ball was exposed to more modern and popular music, but it wasn’t until she was 13, that she discovered the blues. She sat mesmerized while legendary New Orleans rhythm and blues singer Irma Thomas delivered the most soulful and spirited performance the young teenager had ever seen.

"She blew my mind," Ball says. "I think it was the first time I ever saw a woman onstage leading a band, and I know it was the first time I ever saw a pregnant woman leading a band that way."

After attending Louisiana State University in the late 1960s as an English major and playing in the acid rock band Gum, Ball and her first husband took off on a cross-country road trip, intending to settle in San Francisco. Stranded in Austin by car trouble, they quickly discovered the city’s thriving music scene and decided to stay. It wasn’t long before she was performing in the city’s clubs with a progressive band called Freda and the Firedogs, while beginning to hone her songwriting skills.

Ball’s solo career was launched when the band broke up in 1974. She signed with Capitol Records and her debut album, "Circuit Queen" came out in 1978. Six critically acclaimed albums on the Rounder label were released in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1990, Ball collaborated with Angela Strehli and Lou Ann Barton and recorded the hugely successful "Dreams Come True." Her album, "Sing It!," released in January 1998, was nominated for both a Grammy and a Blues Music Award as "Best Contemporary Blues Album."

Ball and her band have appeared at the White House and been featured on leading television and radio programs, including "Austin City Limits" and National Public Radio’s "Fresh Air" and "Piano Jazz."

Blues Revue declares, "Marcia Ball has an uncanny ability to synthesize all the sounds of the Texas-Louisiana border and deliver them with an honesty that makes it all seem natural and logical. She has this amazing ability to light up a room."

Reserved seating tickets are available through the Chandler box office at 728-6464 and tickets@chandler-arts.org. This performance is presented by Chandler Center for the Arts with sponsorship support from CFM US Corporation and The Point. Chandler Music Hall is wheelchair accessible.

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