Medallion Opera House Presents: Heather Maloney

Heather Maloney is a singer-songwriter and folk musician. According to her mother, her singing career began in the aisles of a Northern New Jersey grocery store, where she developed a reputation for serenading shoppers. The writing would come much later, after spending the first few years of her early 20s in a state of self-proclaimed “Musical A.D.D.” She is trained in classical operatic, improvisational jazz and classical Indian vocal techniques.

Heather Maloney celebrates the release her 2018 EP, Just Enough Sun. The six songs (five new originals and a cover of Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall”) were recorded as mostly single-take, live performances in a room where instruments bled into vocal mics and vocals into instruments. The result is a raw and deeply vulnerable collection of songs that follow Maloney’s literate and often heartbreaking exploration of family history, childhood dreams and the adulthood realities that butt-up against them: loss, misogyny, unrequited love, poverty, and even the moral dilemma of sending monkeys into space for the sake of science. The daughter of a psychotherapist and a carpenter, Heather’s songwriting is equal parts introspective and relatable.

Just Enough Sun is released by the celebrated indie record label, Signature Sounds and co-produced by accompanist Ryan Hommel. The recording effortlessly captures Hommel and Maloney’s dynamic live performances as a duo, with subtle instrumentation that lifts the songs up to new places without ever shifting the focus too far from Maloney’s stunningly visceral voice and thought-provoking lyrics.

“Utterly gorgeous — visceral.” — Vall Haller, New York Times

“Her not-so-secret weapon is that voice — pretty but not precious, fully able to launch into aural backflips but perhaps more affecting when intimately expressive.” — Boston Globe

Tickets: $15 in advance (Gorham Town Hall, White Mountain Cafe and online at www.medallionoperahouse.org) and $20 at the door.