Sultry songstress Maria Muldaur, backed by an array of talented musicians, brings her forthright, smoky vocals to her second album for Telarc. A soulful mixture of ballads and stompin' Southern blues fill the eleven tracks on this recording—a must for Muldaur fans and lovers of great Roots music.

The material for Southland of the Heart is culled from a myriad of songwriters, many of whom have contributed tunes to prior Muldaur recordings. The collection includes its share of the sultry love songs and spirited, gospel-flavored numbers for which Muldaur is known.

Recorded in Los Angeles, unlike several of her previous recordings which were made in Louisiana, Southland of the Heart is also a departure from the straight-ahead blues that Muldaur has been known to perform in recent years. “On this album, I was taking somewhat of a chance,” Muldaur said. “As songs started coming in, I kept thinking I love these songs, but they’re not blues; they’re bluesy but they’re not the straight-ahead blues that I’ve been doing. Then I thought—these are the songs that are moving me now. They’re blues for our times, and they need to be heard.”