Mia Borders
Background information
Born1987 (age 35–36)
New Orleans, United States
Genressoul, funk, rhythm and blues
Occupation(s)
  • singer-songwriter
Instrument(s)
  • rhythm guitar
Years active2006–present
Websitemiaborders.com

Mia Borders (born 1987) is an American singer-songwriter from New Orleans, Louisiana, mixing soul, funk, rhythm and blues, and electronic music.

She has released six albums, three singles, and three EPs - the latest being 2019 release, Good Side of Bad.[1]

Life

Borders in 2012

Born in New Orleans, Borders was given her first acoustic guitar at the age of ten, while her first electric guitar came as a later present from her grandmother. One of her grandfathers was a trumpet-player.[2] After attending Taft School in Connecticut, she was planning to go on to a film school in Georgia, but in January 2006, after Hurricane Katrina, returned home to New Orleans.[2] She got her first work as a professional musician later in 2006 and enrolled at Loyola University the same year. In 2009 she released her first LP, Southern Fried Soul, and in 2010 graduated in English. After working briefly as a paralegal, she took the decision not to go to graduate school and instead to make her living by playing music.[2]

Borders has cited Bill Withers and Etta James as being among her influences.[3] Still based in her home city, she now does many tours, performing chiefly at clubs and festivals. The events and venues she plays include House of Blues in the French Quarter, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival,[4] Tipitina's, the Essence Music Festival, the Santa Cruz Blues Fest, Nightfall at Chattanooga, Telluride Cajun Festival, Tab Benoit's Voice of the Wetlands, the Levitt Shell in Memphis, Tennessee, Wakarusa, the Long's Park Amphitheater in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the Green Parrot in Key West,[5] and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. Her overseas expeditions have taken her to the Bourbon Street Fest in São Paulo, Brazil.[6][7]

At the New Orleans Jazz Fest of 2012 Borders appeared on the Gentilly Stage with a five-member band and teased the crowd: "Join me on this next song. I'm sure you sound like angels – angels that have been drinking in the hot sun! Let's do this!"[4]

In 2013 she was interviewed for OffBeat by Brett Milano, who reported that her new album Quarter Life Crisis included a song beginning "You emotionally fucked me" and that the title had come from her therapist. Milano also noted that Borders had a saying of Che Guevara tattooed on her arm meaning "Better to die standing than to live on your knees; "[8] however, the quotation is also attributed to Emiliano Zapata,[9] Dolores Ibarruri,[10] and Jean-Paul Sartre.[11] Quarter-Life Crisis was co-produced by Borders and Anders Osborne.[12]

Apart from a collection of guitars and keyboards, she also owns a full drum kit, which helps her with mixing her compositions. My Darling Love, released as a single in 2014, was written for her brother's wedding.[13] In September 2016 Borders unveiled her fifth studio LP, Fever Dreams, with the supporting artists including Jesse Morrow, John Papa Gros, Takeshi Shimmura, and Rob Lee.[12][7]

In March 2019, Borders released her latest EP, "Good Side of Bad," under her own label, Blaxican Records.[14]

Critical reception

In 2012 The Times-Picayune called Borders "studiously cool"[6] and "lusciously sly and sultry". In 2014 it commented that "Her voice possesses a natural, appealing bite to its expressive contours" and that she was "simultaneously clean, sultry and a bit lascivious".[15] USA Today has reported on "her blues/soul/funk repertoire" and her "deeply funky" version of Stevie Wonder's Living for the City.[4] OffBeat has hailed her "great music and great intensity".[16]

In his book When Not Performing, David Spielman gives two pages to Borders and suggests "she could be the next big thing".[2] Writing in the Huffington Post online, Christina Oxenberg describes her voice as "an instrument of exquisite beauty" and strongly recommends hearing her live.[13]

When reviewing her latest release in 2019, Brett Milano of Offbeat described Borders and her music as "well-steeped in classic soul."[17]

Discography

  • the ep as MNSKP (Pound4Pound Productions EP, released January 2007)[18]
  • The Nashville Cuts as MNSKP (Pound4Pound Productions EP, released October 2008)[19]
  • Southern Fried Soul (Blaxican Records LP, released August 8, 2009)[20][21]
  • Magnolia Blue (Blaxican Records/Hypersoul Records LP, released June 3, 2010)[15]
  • Live at House of Blues New Orleans (Live Nation Studios)[22]
  • Southern Fried Soul - Special Edition (Blaxican Records LP, released April 2011)[23]
  • Wherever There Is (Blaxican Records LP, released April 18, 2012)[3]
  • Quarter-Life Crisis (Hypersoul Records LP, released April 25, 2013)[12]
  • Mama Told Me (Acoustic) (Blaxican Records single, released 2013)[24]
  • My Darling Love (Blaxican Records single, released July 8, 2014)[25]
  • Fever Dreams (Blaxican Records LP, released September 2, 2016)[12]
  • Find Another Lover (Remix) (Blaxican Records single, released September 2016) [26]
  • Good Side of Bad (Blaxican Records EP, released March 29, 2019)[14]

References

  1. ↑ Mia Borders discography on Spotify
  2. 1 2 3 4 David G. Spielman, When Not Performing (Pelican Publishing, 2012), pp. 36–37
  3. 1 2 Susan Langenhennig, Festival style: Mia Borders talks about her musical inspirations, her favorite shades and more in The Times-Picayune online dated April 10, 2012. Retrieved April 23, 2017
  4. 1 2 3 Jerry Shriver, Jazz Fest: Emerging acts take the spotlight in New Orleans in USA Today dated May 4, 2012 at usatoday.com. Retrieved March 7, 2017
  5. ↑ Konk Life Editor, LOCAL OBSERVATIONS / KEY WEST LOVES MIA BORDERS dated February 10, 2015 at konknet.com. Retrieved April 23, 2017
  6. 1 2 Keith Spera, Mia Borders is studiously cool at the New Orleans Jazz Fest in The Times-Picayune online dated May 3, 2012. Retrieved April 23, 2017
  7. 1 2 Mia Borders Releases Fifth LP "Fever Dreams" at prweb.com. Retrieved February 25, 2017
  8. ↑ Brett Milano, Mia Borders Rocks out of Quarter-Life Crisis in OffBeat online dated July 1, 2013, at offbeat.com. Retrieved March 7, 2017
  9. ↑ said it? 'Better to die on your feet, than live on your knees' dated October 22, 2015, at timpanogos.wordpress.com. Retrieved November 9, 2018]
  10. ↑ Paul Hofmann, Dolores Ibarruri, 'La Pasionaria' Of Spanish Civil War, Dies at 93; An Indomitable Leftist in The New York Times dated November 13, 1989. Retrieved April 6, 2019
  11. ↑ A quote by Jean-Paul Sartre at goodreads.com. Retrieved November 9, 2018
  12. 1 2 3 4 Brett Milano, Mia Borders, "Fever Dreams" (Blaxican Records) in OffBeat online dated November 22, 2016. Retrieved April 23, 2017
  13. 1 2 Christina Oxenberg, Mia Borders is Unstopable dated February 17, 2017 at huffingtonpost.com
  14. 1 2 "Good Side of Bad (CD)". Miaborders.com. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
  15. 1 2 Andrew Adler, Mia Borders returns to New Orleans Jazz Fest with a lusciously sly and sultry performance on the Acura Stage in The Times-Picayune online dated May 2, 2014. Retrieved April 23, 2017
  16. ↑ David Kuniano, Mia Borders: Quarter Life Crisis (Hypersoul) in OffBeat dated June 1, 2013. Retrieved April 23, 2017
  17. ↑ Mia Borders, Good Side Of Bad (Blaxican) in Offbeat online dated May 29, 2019
  18. ↑ "the ep" by MNSKP on CDBaby
  19. ↑ "The Nashville Cuts" by MNSKP on CDBaby
  20. ↑ Briana Prevost, Mia Borders, Southern Fried Soul (Independent) in OffBeat dated December 1, 2009. Retrieved April 23, 2017
  21. ↑ Southern Fried Soul at bandcamp.com. Retrieved February 26, 2017: Released August 8, 2009; Mia Borders – Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar; Pablo Gonzalez – Bass; Nick Hingel – Drums, Vocals; Kyle Sclafani – Lead Guitar, Vocals; Jim Wilson – Piano, Keys; Cyrus McGoldrick – Saxophone; produced & mixed by Mia Borders for Pound4Pound Productions; recorded for Blaxican Records at Sound Emporium, Nashville, Tennessee
  22. ↑ "Live At House Of Blues, New Orleans" by Mia Borders on iTunes
  23. ↑ "Southern Fried Soul (Special Edition)" by Mia Borders on CDBaby
  24. ↑ "Mama Told Me (Acoustic) — MIA BORDERS". Miaborders.com. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
  25. ↑ My Darling Love by Mia Borders at bandcamp.com. Retrieved May 2, 2017
  26. ↑ "Find Another Lover" (Remix) (f/ Alfred Banks) by Mia Borders
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