Marcia Ball honed her powerful singing and deft, rollicking

keyboard chops while growing up in Vinton, Louisiana.

After attending Louisiana State University, Marcia

moved to Austin, Texas, in the late 1970s. Ball proved

an important and popular figure on the Austin music

scene, first as the leader of Freda & the Firedogs and

later as a solo artist signed to Capitol Records. Her

recording debut was a progressive country album titled

Circuit Queen (1978).

 

In the 1980s, Ball's signature piano style, a mix of

zydeco, swamp blues, Louisiana blues, and Boogie

Woogie emerged. She signed with Rounder Records.

and released a succession of popular and critically 

acclaimed albums including, Soulful Dress (1984), 

Hot Tamale Baby (1985), Gatorhythms (1989), Let

Me Play with Your Poodle (1997) and Sing It! (1998) the

Grammy-nominated album with Tracy Nelson and

Irma Thomas.

 

 

In 2001, Marcia Ball moved over to Alligator

Records and released several award-winning albums

including, Presumed Innocent (2001), a Handy Award

winner for "Blues Album of the Year," the Grammy

Nominated "Contemporary Blues Album of the Year"

So Many Rivers (2003) and the Grammy-nominated 

Live! Down the Road (2005) and Peace, Love & BBQ 

(2008).

 

Ball was awarded the Blues Music Award for

"Contemporary Blues Artist of the Year - Female" in

2004 and won "Best Blues Instrumentalist -

Keyboards" in 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2009. She was

inducted into the Austin Music Hall of Fame in 2018. She 

also garnered the BMA's Pinetop Perkins Piano 

Player Award in 2012, 2015, and 2019, and continues 

to play clubs and festivals the world over.