“I think collaboration has been my favorite part, to be honest… I’ve been really fortunate throughout the years to be in orbit with deeply thinking, deeply feeling musicians,” reflects Massachusetts-based “writer song-singer” Heather Maloney of the personal highlights of her musical career, which officially began 17 years ago, when she released her 2009 debut full-length, Cozy Razor’s Edge.
Although Maloney has established herself as an accomplished solo artist across nine studio releases and nearly two decades (earning praise from the likes of SPIN, No Depression, and Graham Nash), she’s found herself regularly working with a number of noteworthy names throughout that time. 2014 saw the release of Woodstock, a collaboration with indie folk outfit Darlingside; 2015’s Making Me Break was produced by Band of Horses’ Bill Reynolds; and 2019’s Soil In The Sky features Dawes frontman Taylor Goldsmith, Lake Street Dive’s Rachael Price, and legendary folk musician and composer Jay Ungar.
The most recent full-length from Heather Maloney, Exploding Star, is a collection of songs written in the wake of her father’s death, which dropped almost exactly a year ago, a fact she’s quite excited to hear me acknowledge during our recent phone chat: “I literally was just like, ‘Oh my god, we’re coming up on the one-year anniversary!’” The LP features production from longtime friend Don Mitchell of Darlingside (who features on album track “Ordinary World”), along with arrangements from folk-punk duo High Tea (who appear on “To a Special No One”).
However, Maloney tells me these 12 songs weren’t originally intended to be recorded or released as an album. But, luckily, friends and family talked her into it, offering fans an opportunity to see a slightly different side of Heather: “It’s a departure from previous albums. It’s a lot more introspective, as a whole, than anything I’ve released before… I used to kind of center albums around a few songs that the record label would say are radio singles, because they were upbeat or something, but I was always a nerd for the more introspective songs, and this whole collection is that.” She says that, while she had some trepidation about sharing so many songs revolving around grief, the opportunity to play them on the road throughout 2025 actually provided an unexpected kind of catharsis: “There’s a surprising joy playing them live to an audience!”
Earlier this week, Heather Maloney kicked off a run of collaborative dates with friend and fellow folk singer/songwriter Hayley Reardon, which will find itself at The Loft at City Winery this Saturday, January 24th. “This tour is a bit of a soft launch of this show that Hayley and I put together. We’re kind of forming in real time,” laughs Heather, before going on to tell me what audiences can expect of the evening: “It’ll be some Heather songs, some Hayley songs, and then some songs that we’ve been working on together.” She tells me that a lot of the songs they’ve been working on have been based around Irish mythology, a few of which will likely get their live debuts in Philly.
Heather and Hayley (who’s also on the phone) tell me spaces like City Winery, where artists have the opportunity to intimately connect with the audience, are their favorite kind of “venues” to play: “The listening room is kind of ideal for what we do; both of us are word nerds [laughs].” However, both of them also regularly play private house shows. Heather’s got a couple coming up next month in Seattle (You can request one of your own on her website.) and Hayley has played homes all across the globe. “It’s a whole other world! It’s it’s own thing… The music shines because it’s so intimate, but anything can happen,” says Hayley, laughing.
Recently, Heather has even taken up an additional kind of performance setting: “I did the European river cruise this past fall. It was me and other singer/songwriters and diehard fans on a boat; it’s like a destination show. If your favorite artist is doing one of these, you can just hop on a boat with them! The second I got off the cruise, I was like, ‘I wanna do another one of these!’” And next July – after Heather embarks on a run of fall dates opening for Dar Williams (who she’s a huge fan of) on the other side of the pond (which actually kicks off in Ireland) – is the Heather Maloney Iceland Cruise (also featuring High Tea), which includes a Meet & Greet, Q&A, and Storytelling, in addition to three private concerts with the two artists.
Heather Maloney first became inspired to take up music while living and working at a meditation center as a yogi, so I’m curious to hear how that has impacted her daily routines while on the road, and, after audibly blushing, she tells me, “I wanna answer with the most romantic thing, and I do maintain a meditation process… But, Hayley and I, the very first night, pick out a show to watch every night on the tour, and it’s Hunting Wives [laughs].” “It calms us down… and stresses us out, but in a different way,” adds a laughing Hayley, before Heather concedes, “I wanna say we’re doing yoga, but we just stay home, eat pizza, and watch Hunting Wives.”
*Get your tickets here.
