Essra Mohawk, legendary singer/songwriter who has been releasing her music on major labels, and doing backup vocals and writing songs for countless other artists for half a century, will appear at The Great Escape's West Nashville location at 5400 Charlotte Avenue on Thursday, August 29th to perform songs from her new CD, sign merchandise and talk to fans.
"The One and Only Essra Mohawk" is Mohawk's 12th studio album. She has been featured as a singer with Frank Zappa, The Jerry Garcia Band, Schoolhouse Rock and Sesame Street, and has been an opening act for Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Grateful Dead, Procol Harum and more. (She was scheduled to play the first day of Woodstock but got delayed in the massive traffic leading to the festival and arrived too late to perform.) She has recorded background vocals for John Mellencamp, Carol King, Kool & the Gang, collaborated with Al Jarreau, Art Garfunkel, Bob Weir and Keb' Mo'- and her songs have been recorded by Tina Turner, Cyndi Lauper, Peabo Bryson, Lorrie Morgan, Rita Coolidge, Marty Balin and others.
Born Sandy Hurvitz, Mohawk began her career as a recording artist when she released her first single in 1964, "The Boy With The Way" for Liberty Records under the stage name Jamie Carter. She was then discovered by the legendary producer Shadow Morton, who got two of her original compositions recorded by female superstars The Shangri Las ("I'll Never Learn") and The Vanilla Fudge ("The Spell That Comes After"). In 1967, she spent a short period performing with Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention, and was signed to his production company, Bizarre.
In December of 1968, still using her original name, her first album, "Sandy's Here At Last" was released on Verve Records. While recording that album, her roommate nicknamed her Essie (from her initial "S") which then became Essra. Her name was Essra Hurvitz until she married Frazier Mohawk and became Essra Mohawk. The following year, she signed with Reprise Records and released the album "Primordial Lovers", which was recognized later by Rolling Stone magazine as being "one of the best 25 albums ever made". For the now-iconic Woodstock Festival in August of 1969, Mohawk was booked to perform, but could not get to the event in time, due to being caught in the heavy traffic jam clogging all roads that led to the festival at that time.
In the mid-70's, Mohawk went on to appear in the television series Schoolhouse Rock, and also sang on "Teeny Little Super Guy" for Sesame Street in the 80's. In 1974, she signed with Asylum Records and released her third album, "Essra Mohawk", followed by "Essra" on the Private Stock label in 1976. Since that time, she has recorded eight more studio albums and written over 800 songs. Her newest album, "The One And Only Essra Mohawk" was released on August 2nd. Gonza, a record label in the UK, will soon be reissuing all her albums in order, starting with "Sandy's Here At Last" on August 30th (the day after her appearance at The Great Escape)- and will be issuing a compilation DVD containing scores of past performances and interviews, which will be out later this year.
Essra Mohawk will appear at The Great Escape Charlotte Avenue (in West Nashville) at 5400 Charlotte Avenue at 7:30 p.m. to sing songs from her newest CD, sign merchandise and talk with fans.
WHO: The Great Escape Nashville Superstore
WHAT: Live performance, meet-and-greet and merch signing with Essra Mohawk
WHERE: 5400 Charlotte Avenue in West Nashville (by Pep Boys & Burger King)
WHEN: THURS, 8/29 (7:30 p.m.)
And, if you're a fan of The Great Escape, don't forget to take a little time to let people know this by voting for us in the Nashville Scene "Best Of Nashville" contest. We're eligible in the "Best Place To Buy Vinyl" and the "Best Place To Buy/Sell Music" categories. (We'd really appreciate it, folks) just like we appreciate all the support that you've already given us all these years!
Nashville Scene Best Of Voting
THE GREAT ESCAPE CHARLOTTE AVENUE SUPERSTORE
(Buying-Selling-Trading: DVDs, CDs, Video Games, Comics, Toys, CCG, Gaming, Books, Magazines, Memorabilia & more!)
5400 Charlotte Ave. (Across from New Life Record Store, by Pep Boys, Burger King, Goodwill & Sir Pizza.)
615-385-2116
contactus@thegreatescapeonline.com
Open Monday-Saturday 10 a.m. - 9 p.m., Sunday 12 p.m. - 7 p.m.
