A couple of years ago on a lazy weekend afternoon I was thumbing through the channels and landed on one that featured the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.  I caught it at a good time too as one of my newer favorite artists, Galactic, right at the beginning of their set.  After one cut they brought out a young lady to sing their latest single “Hey Na Na” and I was entranced:  just who IS this?  What was her name again?  Little did I know at the time, but I was slowly getting hooked by the commanding stage presence and incredible voice of one Maggie Koerner.

I had to find out more about this Maggie Koerner and did some searching for videos on YouTube, where I came to find that there is much more to her than the funk/soul queen performance that she displayed at the Jazz Fest that day.  Her song “Neutral Ground” is a fabulous piece of work, a dark trancelike piece with much ebb and flow between acoustic instrumentation, distorted passages, heavy feedback, and solid organ playing.  But that voice…  THAT VOICE…  such a beautiful, haunting instrument that sways between softer passages and soulful roars.  This is not just a song but an adventure for the senses and Koerner nails it, taking a bit of hoodoo spirit and wrapping it in such a deep and passionate vocal delivery that intertwines magnificently with the backing music.

After catching that video I downloaded her Neutral Ground release, which is highly recommended.  With a voice that features hints of artists as far ranging as Stevie Nicks, Aretha Franklin, Amy Winehouse, Miranda Lambert, and Joss Stone, Koerner’s music is just as bewitching as her voice.  Like the title cut , many of the songs feature quite the atmospheric vibe; bits of darker nooks and crannies but there are moments of sheer beauty within these songs as well.  “Dear Pril” is quite barren featuring acoustic and cello and Koerner’s singing quite naked and plaintive, but then something like “I Love You I Do” she bares her soul with a strong, soaring delivery.  And “He Calls Me Mama”?  Pure soul.

In 2016, Maggie released an EP entitled Dig Down Deep that’s just as solid as her previous releases.  If you are looking for a new, soulful talent that can sing without overselling it, give Maggie Koerner a shot.  I’m looking forward to a long fruitful career from this young talent!