Delta Maid

Though often likened to a WAG in appearance and to Patsy Cline in vocal timbre, singer/songwriter Delta Maid grew up in Liverpool’s Wavertree district—the same neighborhood that shaped George Harrison—yet her spare, acoustic style draws far more from Mississippi country-blues than from local Merseybeat traditions. Katie Foulkes, born there in 1985, first encountered Delta blues through her great-grandfather’s collection of 78s, assembled while he labored as a stoker on the New York docks during Prohibition, and through her parents’ recordings of Bonnie Raitt, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and especially Rory Block; Block’s Best Blues & Originals set ultimately prompted her to pick up the guitar. After honing a distinctive fingerpicking technique, she played the city’s folk venues, began composing original songs, and co-wrote “Make Up Your Mind” with Ed Harcourt, all before leaving her vascular-science studies at Lancaster University to focus on music full-time. Following the release of her debut EP Broken Branches, she supported Seth Lakeman, Ray LaMontagne, and Ellie Goulding on their British tours, appeared at the T in the Park, Latitude, and Big Chill festivals, and performed at Gary Barlow’s 40th-birthday charity concert; shortly afterward she signed with the former Take That singer’s management company. Geffen Records issued her first full-length album, Outside Looking In, in 2011.