Mal Blum Interview, Tour Dates, and Music Video

Story By Star Beat 

Mal Blum is a quirky singer-songwriter who mixes the sweet with the serious. The guitar and ukulele songwriter from White Plains, New York also performs with Simon Littlejohn on harmonica, banjo, and keyboard. Her song “Ode to kulele” has gotten over 10, 000 views on YouTube and has received play on LOGO. Currently, she's writing her next full-length album and gearing up for a few east coast dates with Melissa Ferrick. We spoke with Mal about her new interest with piano, how to feel comfortable when writing about serious topics, opening for Kimya Dawson, and her upcoming tour.

Now 21, Mal has been playing music since she was a teenager and performing since 15. While her main instrument is acoustic guitar she recently started playing piano last summer. She plans on recording a song or two on piano for her upcoming album.

“It's really different for me,” she says. “I'm not as comfortable with piano at all, but it's definitely sort of a different direction. I also play the ukulele which is silly but I think it's really fun.”

Mal's songs are very heartfelt and sweet, but there's also serious songs about drugs and surgery infused in the music.

“For a long time I sort of hide or layered the serious content of whatever songs I was writing, with this funny, jokey edge, in order to make it easier to deliver to people,” she says. “Not because I thought it would be received better but because I felt less vulnerable. It was funny because I think half of the time people got it and half the time people didn't get it. Sometimes people would be like, 'you're really funny, you're hilarious' and some people would be like, 'that was such a sad song.' I think as I'm getting older it's getting a lot easier to sort of take away from the humor and just be like this is what I'm really talking about.”

There are common themes throughout her music like love, romantic interest, waiting, and food, she says. Some songs are witty and cute.

“If you're always singing about love, it gets a little old, so I think it's good to change it up but I also think you can't force whatever it is you're writing about.”

In the works is two videos for “My Name Is Earthworm” from her latest full-length Goodnight Sugarpop. One will be an animated video and the other is more of a film short directed by Ballard C. Boyd who also directed “Ode to kulele.” It's expected out by Spring.

Mal's had the chance to open for acts like Melissa Ferrick, Kimya Dawson, Amanda Palmer, and Hamell of Trial.

Here Mal tells us about two standout moments in her career.

She also speaks about getting compared to Kimya Dawson.

“I love Kimya Dawson. I think she's great, but I think it's inaccurate [to compare us]. I think people like to lump people into categories which don't necessarily reflect the music that they actually play.”

The two fit into the “anti-folk” genre but the comparisons might be easy to make. I think it's more appropriate to say that fans of Kimya Dawson, or even Paul Baribeau, Hop Along, or Emilyn Brodsky would enjoy Mal. That doesn't necessarily mean there's a huge comparison., maybe to you there might. Just listen for yourself.

In February, Mal has a few shows with Melissa Ferrick. Last year she played some dates with Ferrick and it went well so she got invited for some local dates this year.

“I'm excited to be touring with somebody who I completely respect and knows so much more than me, and is also really a nice person,” Mal says. “Her shows are really good and she's just a magical performer. I like everything about touring with her.”

The tour will hit up locally at Maxwell's in Hoboken on Feb. 12 and The Bell House in Brooklyn on Feb. 13. She also recently recorded some songs at Melissa Ferrick's studio in Massachusetts. You can join her mailing list here (see right side of screen). 

Mal Blum Tour Dates:

w/ Melissa Ferrick
Feb. 6 @ Driftwood Folk Cafe, Plymouth, MA
Feb. 11 @ Sellersville Theatre, Sellersville, PA
Feb. 12 @ Maxwell's, Hoboken, NJ
Feb. 13 @ The Bell House, Brooklyn, NY

w/ Brittan Shoup
Feb. 24 @ Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs, NY