Maia Sharp

Maia Sharp
Genres	Country, Rock
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Labels	Ark 21 Concord Koch Crooked Crown
Website	maiasharp.com

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 Garfunkel.

Sharp was born in the Central Valley in California, the only child of country songwriter Randy Sharp and anthropology professor Sharon Bays. When she was four, the family moved to Los Angeles. When she was five she recorded her first song. By the age of twelve she played piano, saxophone, oboe, and guitar, and by her twenties she was performing her jazz/folk songs in L.A. acoustic venues. Musically, she was inspired by Bonnie Raitt, Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne and Sting. Sharp studied music theory at California State University, Northridge and began to focus on song-writing. She came out as a lesbian at the age of 23.

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. Her next album Tinderbox failed to be released when Ark 21 was incorporated into PolyGram. Three of its songs featured on Sharp's 2002 album Maia Sharp on Concord. Her 2005 album Fine Upstanding Citizen was released by Koch. 2009's Echo, released by Crooked Crown, is, according to Sharp, her most personal album to date.

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