Long before critics raved about singer-songwriter Danielle Miraglia’s rich, whiskey-smooth voice and her Gibson-honed blues guitar chops, teenage Danielle recalls bopping happily down Revere Beach Boulevard in her hometown, Janis Joplin pouring out of her Walkman and into her heart. Miraglia admits that she cut her teeth as a guitarist on heavy metal — Guns ’n Roses, Hendrix and Led Zeppelin — but gravitated towards the blues as she hit the vibrant open mic scene around Boston and Cambridge in the mid-1990s while a student at Emerson College, where she studied creative writing. She credits the purchase of a Gibson J-45 as her official passport into the blues-roots-rock that she plays to this day. “It changed everything. It taught me how to play; I never wanted to put it down.” In addition to scorching, driving Delta blues guitar and slide dobro, Miraglia plays a mean harmonica.

Miraglia’s music does not fit into any pat, one-size-fits-all category, alternately wearing such labels as folk-blues and roots-rock with a touch of Exile On Main Street-era Rolling Stones thrown into the brew. “The music I love either moves your heart or it moves your groin,” she says. “It’s got to change your body chemistry in some way.” With three solid releases under her belt — 2005’s debut Nothing Romantic, 2011’s Box of Troubles and 2015’s rousing Glory Junkies — Miraglia has a rich and varied catalog of original music to dip into. Her latest, Glory Junkies, explores our celebrity-besotted, “selfie nation” with a wary, witty eye. It’s a fun record that doesn’t take itself too seriously, full of scorching harp and dobro slide guitar and Miraglia’s stunning voice that comes out of nowhere, grabbing your heart and covering you with goose-bumps.

Photo by Caroline Alden

. . .

The Peter Parcek 3 play the kind of pure, stripped-down, dirty blues rarely heard these days. It’s raw and gritty in the tradition of Muddy Waters, Otis Rush, and B.B. King with a healthy dollop from the British blues interpreters Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck, whom Parcek himself had the pleasure of experiencing live during a sojourn in England many moons ago.

Raised in a tiny rural town in Connecticut, Parcek recalls what a revelation it was to hear Muddy Waters over the radio and how it sent him running to the record store to buy up every Chess recording of Muddy Waters he could find. “All of the hairs on my arm stood up! It just slayed me. Listening to Muddy’s record, I can’t explain why to this day but at some point I started crying. I believe it was recognition of something in the music that I didn’t yet understand.” It wasn’t long before the young Parcek was bugging his mother to buy him a guitar and the rest is history, but with a few bumps in the road.

Parcek not only sings and plays the blues but he has lived the blues as well, refusing to let a potentially devastating setback early in his music journey derail his vision and drive. In the early 2000s, Parcek released Evolution, a stellar collection of quirky original and traditionally-inspired tunes, establishing himself on the Boston music scene as a fresh and visionary guitarist and singer-songwriter. The disc sold briskly and Parcek’s career seemed to be on the up and up until legal issues brought his musical momentum to a discouraging and bittersweet halt.

Fast forward a decade and Parcek returned with The Mathematics of Love, a captivating mix of vibrant originals and covers by the likes of Mississippi Fred McDowell and Jessie Mae Hemphill. This Vizztone disc heralded the return of Parcek and garnered him widespread critical acclaim and nominations for a Blues Blast Music Award and a Blues Music Award. Mathematics continues to spread the blues love around the world and has become a winning calling card as he tours the world with his Fender and pork-pie hat, spreading the gospel of the blues.

Photo by Margaret Lampert Photography

• Danielle is a dynamic and captivating musician; her rich soulful voice and blues guitar mastery resonate in a performance both rare and unforgettable. Paul Patchel, State Street Blues Festival, Media, PA
• With hints of Bonnie Raitt and Rory Block, Danielle Miraglia is carving out a new place all her own in the music world. Simply put, she is stunning . . . with a voice that just comes out of nowhere. She animates a stage and commands the rapt attention of all within earshot. This is one artist to watch, she is gong to be huge. Jamey Reilly, The PSALM Salon
• Danielle Miraglia is a treasure! She captivated her audience from the first few notes she played until the end of her second encore She is charming, talented, a total professional, and completely down to earth. I can’t wait to bring her back next year! She is always welcome on our stage. Barron Chandler, Director, Narbeth Summer Concert Series
• . . .
• Peter Parcek has got the blues, and thank goodness for it . . . a modern sound with few rivals. Christopher Llewellyn Adam, Cashbox
• A guitarist and all-around musician who’s in a league in a game of his own. Tom Clarke, Hittin’ the Note
• Not a moment of this CD is less than jaw-dropping . . . and dripping with blown-out inventiveness Mark S. Tucker, Fame Magazine

• Danielle Miraglia’s

• Website | Video | Interview

• The Peter Parcek 3’s

• Website | Video | Interview