Artist: Maureen Brown, Album: Be Close, Song: Down To The Quarter

Maureen Brown is a drummer from Toronto, Ontario who has been performing for the last 3 decades.  She is one of our country's most accomplished percussionists in the blues genre yet is also classically trained.  She was once a member of the Edmonton Philharmonic Orchestra.  She has won numerous awards in the blues category and has shared the stage with artists like Kenny Wayne, Big Mama Thornton, Jeff Healey (see blog 10/6/10) and Otis Rush.  She released an album called, Be Close, in 1997 on her own Pug Productions label.  It was produced by Ian Thomas and featured the talents of Richie Hayward (Little Feat) and Kim Wilson (Fabulous Thunderbirds).  The recording was spread out over a six year period from 1990 to 1996 and it is a rare find today.  Down To The Quarter, is a N'awlins flavoured track from this release.  You can check out some really cool video footage of her performances on her You Tube channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/drumrrgrrl).  Today, Maureen is still actively involved in music.  She has various musical projects on the go including session work and acting.  She has also entered an artistic competition entitled, Design For Paul McCartney, and you can vote for her submission at http://www.talenthouse.com/creativeinvites/preview/ada1ed2d07d043bff66ac8133768f3dc/237.  You can keep tabs on her at http://www.myspace.com/maureenbrown.  The album, Be Close, is a rare find today but there were used copies trading on Amazon between $5 and $70.  Thanks for reading and enjoy!