Maria Muldaur & The Campbell Brothers Perform at Skirball Cultural Center Tonight

Tonight, August 22, 2013 at 8:00 p.m., Maria Muldaur and The Campbell Brothers perform together for the first time at the Skirball Cultural Center as part of this year's Sunset Concerts. Best known for her Grammy-winning mega-hit "Midnight at the Oasis," Muldaur teams up with guitarists Chuck and Darick Campbell, as well as a dynamic rhythm section led by Phil and Carlton Campbell, for a world premiere collaboration combining traditional blues, African-American gospel, and The Campbell Brothers' signature steel guitars.

The Skirball's Sunset Concerts series presents free community concerts on Thursday nights throughout the summer, featuring an eclectic mix of traditions and styles from around the globe. The 2013 season concludes with Dendê and Band (August 29).

For each concert, the expansive courtyard is transformed into a vibrant, festive performance space. Concertgoers arrive early to dine under the stars, visit the museum galleries, and explore the Skirball's stunning architecture and hillside setting. As the bands take the stage, music fans of all ages sing along, dance in the aisles, and gather at the foot of the stage to celebrate with the performers.

Maria Muldaur is best known worldwide for her 1974 mega-hit "Midnight at the Oasis," which received several Grammy nominations and enshrined her forever in the hearts of Baby Boomers everywhere. In the thirty-nine years since, Muldaur has toured extensively worldwide and has recorded thirty-nine solo albums covering all genres of American roots music, including gospel, R&B, jazz, and big band, as well as several award-winning children's albums. In recent years, Muldaur has settled comfortably into her favorite idiom: the blues. Often joining forces with some of the top names in the business, she has recorded and produced on average one album per year. Both her critically acclaimed 2001 release, Richland Woman Blues, and the follow-up album, Sweet Lovin' Ol' Soul were nominated for a Grammy and also by the Blues Foundation as Best Traditional Blues Album of the Year. For her 2009 release, Maria Muldaur & Her Garden of Joy, she revisited her original jug-band roots, teaming up with John Sebastian, David Grisman, and Dan Hicks. The album was nominated for Best Traditional Blues Album of the Year by the Blues Foundation, and garnered Muldaur her sixth Grammy nomination. On Steady Love (2011), she returned to her much-beloved New Orleans (her "musical and spiritual home") to record a contemporary electric blues album that reflects "Bluesiana Music," her own brand of New Orleans-flavored blues, R&B, and "swamp funk."

The Campbell Brothers create what NPR calls "a soul-stirring blend of gospel and the power and volume of electric blues and rock." Compelling material from the African American Holiness-Pentecostal repertoire is enlivened with a new twist: the growling, wailing, shouting, singing and swinging voice of the steel guitar. Pedal steel guitarist Chuck Campbell and his lap steel-playing brother Darick Campbell are two of the finest in this tradition. Rounding out the band is a high-energy rhythm section featuring brother Phil Campbell on electric guitar and his son Carlton Campbell on drums. The Campbell Brothers, who have been playing together for nearly two decades, have performed at some of the world's most prestigious venues including the Hollywood Bowl, the Kennedy Center, Brooklyn Academy Of Music, and Symphony Space.

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