MARIA VENTURA BIO
Maria's been singing almost constantly since her crib days, but it
wasn't until Paige van Antwerp, the drummer from the band Plymouth Rock,
heard her playing guitar and singing at her home that Maria was
invited to sing a few songs with that band at White Electric,
a small club in Providence, RI. Maria played and sang three songs
with the band that night and it was something of a local sensation,
with people in the Providence arts and music communities still
talking about it months later. At that point, in the first half
of 2001, Maria was 9 years old.
Soon after that, Maria played her first full set in Providence, RI
at AS220, a great art and performance space where she has been
playing fairly regularly ever since, as well as at other Providence
clubs like The Green Room
and The Century Lounge.
In mid 2002, Cynthia Hopkins of Gloria
Deluxe first heard Maria
play and sing when they were both on the same bill at an AS220
benefit concert. Maria was then invited to be the opening act at a
CD release party for Gloria Deluxe at Arlene Grocery in NYC. Since
then, Maria has played at Arlene's several times (as recently as
three weeks ago) both solo and with her now defunct rock band,
The Vitatonics. She has also played at other NYC venues including
FEZ, Pete's Candy Store, Low Bar and twice at the Three Farms
summer music festival on the East River, where she opened for
David Johansen of New York Dolls and Buster Poindexter fame.
When Maria was 11, she formed the all-girl punk band The Prom
Bombs. Unfortunately, after only three loud, fast, raucous
shows, The Prom Bombs fell apart.
About the same time, Maria joined up with Joel Thibodeau of
String Builder to form
the duet The Hiccups. They've played New York, Providence and
New Hampshire and still get together to do a show occasionally.
Also about that time, Maria was recorded singing for a video
segment in Cynthia Hopkins' play Accidental Nostalgia, which
has already had successful runs in RI, NY, and Seattle,
Washington, and which will soon be touring the country.
Oddly, Maria (whose middle name is Joelle) and Joel Thibodeau
have the same birthday, July 16th. Last summer, for Maria's
twelfth and Joel's twenty-eighth birthdays, they rented AS220
and had a party with ten bands. At the party, Maria played and
sang solo, with The Hiccups and The Prom Bombs, and did a rousing
cover of Helter Skelter with V.Majestic and of The Zombies' "She's
Not There" with Mahi Mahi.
Not long before this, on the same stage, Maria did a one show,
one song stint as the drummer in an all-Ventura Danzig tribute
band, singing a song about Hamlet (don't ask!). And soon after
that, Maria opened for the Blue Man Group at a benefit at Rhode
Island College, where she played for her first audience of over
1,000 people.
All told, Maria plays guitar, keyboards, saxophone, and a little
bit of drums. A few weeks ago, she started accordion lessons with
Providence's amazing composer and band leader, Alec K. Redfearn,
who had been the bass player in The Vitatonics.
Maria recently turned 13 and is currently without a band, although
she is actively trying to recruit members to reform The Prom Bombs.
A recent live show by Boston's Juliana Hatfield and her band has
inspired Maria to focus more singularly on playing electric guitar
and straight-ahead rock'n roll.
[/bio]
permanent link
Sat, 19 Feb 2005
Contact Info:
If you would like to contact me, please send an E-mail to
chepizarro <AT> comcast <DOT> net
[/contact]
permanent link
Wed, 09 Feb 2005
Past Shows
March 5 and 6, 2005:
I was in a Cabaret show in providence, RI at AS220. I
sang 2 songs in this show. One that my dad and I wrote and
another that the Director and feature artist Venus
Prescott wrote. Other artists that performed in this Cabaret were
Keith Munslow, Pam Murray, Princess Pearl, and super funny actress Casey Seymour Kim.
