Marcia Ball - The Party's Still Going On

Marcia Ball (born March 20, 1949, Orange, Texas) is an American blues singer and pianist raised in Vinton, Louisiana.She was described in USA Today as "a sensation, saucy singer and superb pianist... where Texas stomp-rock and Louisiana blues-swamp meet." Ball was born into a musical family. Her grandmother and aunt both played piano music of their time and Ball started piano lessons when she started school, and showed an early interest in New Orleans style piano playing, as exemplified by Fats Domino, Professor Longhair, and James Booker. She has named Irma Thomas, the New Orleans vocalist, as her chief vocal inspiration. Ball studied English at Louisiana State University in the 1960s while playing in a band called Gum.In 1970, at age 21, she started a progressive country band called Freda and the Firedogs in Austin, Texas, and began her solo career in 1974.In May 2015, Ball won the 'Pinetop Perkins Piano Player' award at the Blues Music Awards ceremony.