- What’s the story behind your album’s title?
Mercy Rising is the first song on the album and the most all encompassing theme of where life was for me when I was putting the album together. I had been stuck in a place of confusion and resentment over someone and just needed something to change. Time didn’t seem to be making it any easier so the song is asking for any little shift, shake up, new perspective to help me move forward. Mercy Rising felt like a fitting way to convey that with the cinematic production I knew I wanted to give it.
- Why did you chose to anchor the album with the songs you did?
The original last song was “Missions” which is so personal and has such a big full band let’s-leave-it-all-on-the-field kind of ending that I didn’t think I could follow it. But then, the SongWriter podcast (hosted by Ben Arthur) with Cheryl Strayed came up so I decided to put that last as a kind of hidden track at the very end after a 10 second break. Hopefully the listener will feel like I’m giving them 2 last songs.
- Where do you draw inspiration from when writing?
I used to draw inspiration from anything and everything; personal experience, friends’ lives, things I overheard on the street, other song lyrics I heard incorrectly so now the thing I thought I heard is new (that was a fun one) but for this album and the songs I’ve written since, I drew from personal experience. I think I’m at a place where I only want to write about real things. I also think (and hope) people will connect more to songs that come from that true place. Now, I’m drawn to the truth. I’m more than happy to co-write someone else’s story with them, I just want to keep it real. I write with an organization called “Songwriting With: Soldiers” where veterans, active duty servicemembers, first responders and/or their families are paired with a professional songwriter who then makes a song out of the stories told in those rooms. It’s so powerful and I know it’s part of my new loyalty to true stories.
Mercy Rising is the first song on the album and the most all encompassing theme of where life was for me when I was putting the album together. I had been stuck in a place of confusion and resentment over someone and just needed something to change. Time didn’t seem to be making it any easier so the song is asking for any little shift, shake up, new perspective to help me move forward. Mercy Rising felt like a fitting way to convey that with the cinematic production I knew I wanted to give it.
- Why did you chose to anchor the album with the songs you did?
The original last song was “Missions” which is so personal and has such a big full band let’s-leave-it-all-on-the-field kind of ending that I didn’t think I could follow it. But then, the SongWriter podcast (hosted by Ben Arthur) with Cheryl Strayed came up so I decided to put that last as a kind of hidden track at the very end after a 10 second break. Hopefully the listener will feel like I’m giving them 2 last songs.
- Where do you draw inspiration from when writing?
I used to draw inspiration from anything and everything; personal experience, friends’ lives, things I overheard on the street, other song lyrics I heard incorrectly so now the thing I thought I heard is new (that was a fun one) but for this album and the songs I’ve written since, I drew from personal experience. I think I’m at a place where I only want to write about real things. I also think (and hope) people will connect more to songs that come from that true place. Now, I’m drawn to the truth. I’m more than happy to co-write someone else’s story with them, I just want to keep it real. I write with an organization called “Songwriting With: Soldiers” where veterans, active duty servicemembers, first responders and/or their families are paired with a professional songwriter who then makes a song out of the stories told in those rooms. It’s so powerful and I know it’s part of my new loyalty to true stories.
- When/where do you do your best writing?
I’ve never noticed a pattern about that. Day, night, home, traveling…I just need to be focused but open to unexpected twists and turns. I write alone when I can but I write with other people more often so the flexibility that comes with collaboration has set me up to not have a pattern.
- What are your “must have” albums for the road?
Everything by Bon Iver who also i’d like to work with.
- Do you have a favorite gift from a fan?
You’re going to laugh. I have a fan who is a doctor who just gave me a few N95 masks!
- Have you met any of your heroes? If so, how did it go?
Yes, I have worked with Bonnie Raitt and Carole King and they are both so cool and down to earth. What a relief.
- What are your “must have” albums for the road?
Everything by Bon Iver who also i’d like to work with.
I’ve never noticed a pattern about that. Day, night, home, traveling…I just need to be focused but open to unexpected twists and turns. I write alone when I can but I write with other people more often so the flexibility that comes with collaboration has set me up to not have a pattern.
- What are your “must have” albums for the road?
Everything by Bon Iver who also i’d like to work with.
- Do you have a favorite gift from a fan?
You’re going to laugh. I have a fan who is a doctor who just gave me a few N95 masks!
- Have you met any of your heroes? If so, how did it go?
Yes, I have worked with Bonnie Raitt and Carole King and they are both so cool and down to earth. What a relief.
- What are your “must have” albums for the road?
Everything by Bon Iver who also i’d like to work with.
Maia Sharp is an American singer and songwriter. Known for her solo work, Sharp is also a well established songwriter, with songs recorded by the likes of Cher, Trisha Yearwood, Terri Clark, Bonnie Raitt, Edwin McCain, and Art Garfunkel.
Now, with a new album set to be released, Mercy Rising, is her boldest yet most confessional offering to date. After living in the Los Angeles metro area for most of her life, Maia moved to Nashville at the beginning of 2019, partly to be in an unapologetically songwriter centric town and partly as a personal life reboot. Soon after arriving and settling in to her new Nashville digs, Maia started recording Mercy Rising at Resistor Studio, owned and operated by her friend Joshua Grange, an accomplished all-around musician and engineer currently playing with Sheryl Crow and Lucinda Williams. They tracked drums (Ross McReynolds), bass (Will Honaker) and electric guitars (Josh) there to get that real-humans-playing-music together energy and make the most of a sonically beautiful room full of great players. Sharp, then brought those tracks back to her home studio where she performed and engineered acoustic guitars, piano, Wurlitzer and vocals making sure to get friends and co-writers Mindy Smith, Peter Groenwald, PJ Pacifico, Anna Schulze, Thomas Finchum, Cyd Greenwood and Gabe Dixon in to sing and/or play on the album as well.
Mercy Rising is set to be released May 7th 2021... Find out more via the following LINK
Now, with a new album set to be released, Mercy Rising, is her boldest yet most confessional offering to date. After living in the Los Angeles metro area for most of her life, Maia moved to Nashville at the beginning of 2019, partly to be in an unapologetically songwriter centric town and partly as a personal life reboot. Soon after arriving and settling in to her new Nashville digs, Maia started recording Mercy Rising at Resistor Studio, owned and operated by her friend Joshua Grange, an accomplished all-around musician and engineer currently playing with Sheryl Crow and Lucinda Williams. They tracked drums (Ross McReynolds), bass (Will Honaker) and electric guitars (Josh) there to get that real-humans-playing-music together energy and make the most of a sonically beautiful room full of great players. Sharp, then brought those tracks back to her home studio where she performed and engineered acoustic guitars, piano, Wurlitzer and vocals making sure to get friends and co-writers Mindy Smith, Peter Groenwald, PJ Pacifico, Anna Schulze, Thomas Finchum, Cyd Greenwood and Gabe Dixon in to sing and/or play on the album as well.
Mercy Rising is set to be released May 7th 2021... Find out more via the following LINK