Deidre McCalla

Deidre McCalla is an Atlanta based singer/songwriter and “Playing For Keeps” is an apt title for her most recent MaidenRock Records CD. With five critically acclaimed albums to her credit, Deidre McCalla has delighted audiences from Maui to Maine with her powerful songwriting, expressive vocals, deft guitar work and smile-inducing presence.

Affectionately dubbed a "dreadlocked troubadour“ by the Miami New Times, Deidre has toured nationally for over two decades plying her distinctive brand of contemporary folk - a rich, acoustic blend of folk, rock, country and pop. Her songs, artfully crafted and soulful, chronicle our strengths and weaknesses and celebrate the power and diversity of the human spirit. Deidre has shared the stage with a long list of notables that includes Suzanne Vega, Tracy Chapman, Holly Near, Odetta, Cris Williamson, and Sweet Honey in the Rock.

Deidre McCalla’s first album, “Fur Coats and Blue Jeans” (Roulette Records) was released when Deidre was 19 and a student at Vassar College. Deidre later studied jazz guitar at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music in Milwaukee and released three albums with the pioneering women's music label Olivia Records. Deidre has taught Performance at Warren Wilson College's Swannanoa Gathering and regularly conducts workshops on diversity and other issues on college campuses across the U.S. Deidre's work has been published in Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology, The Original Coming Out Stories, and Chrysalis: A Feminist Quarterly, and she is featured in The Power of Words: A Transformative Language Arts Reader. Deidre is a proud member of AFM Local 1000 and the North American Folk Alliance, a recognized performer in the Southern Artist Registry, and a Touring Artist for the Georgia Council for the Arts.

Major Featured Performances
Carnegie Hall, Vancouver Folk Festival, National Women’s Music Festival, Asheville Belchere Festival, Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival, Chattanooga Riverbend Festival