Olga Wilhelmine Munding
Olga Wilhelmine Munding | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Olga Wilhelmine Munding |
| Born | October 18, 1976 San Francisco, California, United States |
| Genres | Blues, country, pop |
| Occupation(s) | Actress, producer, singer |
| Years active | 1990–present (actress) 1996–present (singer) |
| Labels | 219 Records |
| Website | www |
Olga Wilhelmine Munding (born October 18, 1976) is an American New Orleans–based blues musician, producer and actress.[1]
Early life and education
[edit]Munding was classically trained in music as a child. She went to the Nueva School for gifted children in Hillsborough, California, where she received a Yehudi Menuhin scholarship in classical piano, violin and music composition. She went into public school when her parents divorced and that began a long spiral downwards into "the blues", which finally culminated into hitting rock bottom with her divorce many years from Clarksdale-based Squirrel Nut Zippers musician James "Jimbo" Mathus. She studied drama and musical theater at San Mateo Performing Arts Center in San Mateo, California, and Judy Berlin's, Kids on Camera in San Francisco.
In college, she lived in Boulder, CO and hosted multiple radio shows [2] at KGNU and produced a syndicated college show called Joes Blue Plate Special which aired on over 200 college stations and had a sponsorship with Doc Martin's. At the radio station, she hosted six regular local radio shows on KGNU Boulder/Denver Colorado, as well as ran the Community Calendar. In 2000, she was voted "the most alluring voice on the front range" by Best Of Boulder, Boulder Weekly newspaper.[3]
Career
[edit]Music
[edit]Munding is a blues vocalist and guitar player known for her sultry voice and Southern sound, performing and recording under the singular name Olga™. Munding first took interest in the blues, when she was in high school.[4] She developed her signature style through an extended tutelage under the pioneering female blues musician Jessie Mae Hemphill.[5] Munding and Hemphill recorded together extensively and participated together in Martin Scorsese’s The Blues.[6]
Munding has released five albums on her label 219 Records, Now Is The Time, North Mississippi Christmas, Whatever You Want, Kiss Your Blues Away, and Blues Babe.[6][7] In 2011, she released her fourth album "Whatever You Want",[8] which was written with Cody Dickinson of the Grammy-nominated North Mississippi Allstars and mixed and produced by Emmy winning producer Winn McElroy.[9][10]
She has played with Chris Isaak, Los Lobos, North Mississippi Allstars and co-engineered the Grammy nominated song, "Monkey to Man" by Elvis Costello.[6][11][12]
She is also the founder and president of the Jessie Mae Hemphill Foundation, which honors the legendary and influential musician who served as her mentor and friend.[13][14][15] The foundation supports, preserves, and archives the indigenous music of northern Mississippi and provides assistance for musicians in need from the region who could not survive on meager publishing royalties. This gained prominence in 2008 when Munding fought publicly with a popular musician Cat Power who has used but not credited a Hemphill song on one of her albums.[16] On August 16, 2011, Munding was elected to the Blues Foundation's Board of Directors.[17]
On February 3, 2012, Munding in association with the Jessie Mae Hemphill Foundation organized the “Hill Country Blues Celebration” in Como, Mississippi to celebrate the “Repatriation of Como, Mississippi Recordings, Photographs and Videos from the Alan Lomax Collection” and the loan of the Hill Country Blues Photography Collection from the Jessie Mae Hemphill (JMH) Foundation to the Emily Jones Pointer Library.[18][19] Alan Lomax was an American folklorist and ethnomusicologist who traveled throughout the United States, Europe and the Caribbeans as part of his quest to record previously unrecorded and often overlooked folk music. Lomax visited the Como area during the 1950s and again in the 1970s. His recordings, photographs, and film from his time in Como comprise the collection presented to Como's Emily Jones Pointer Library.[19] Lomax's recordings, film and photos are in the process of digitization and wider availability online.[20]
She released her fifth album, a Christmas EP in 2012 called North Mississippi Christmas.[21]
Acting
[edit]She has appeared in numerous television shows and movies. She acted, and co-produced in the short film, The Statue which not only screened in 36 different film festivals, it won the New Orleans Film Festival in 2010.,[22] and producing the Jessie Mae Hemphill & Friends documentary,"Dare You Do It Again". In 2016, Munding began audiobook narration.[23]
Filmography
[edit]| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Statue | Actress (Girl Musician) | Short film |
| The Somnambulist | Actress (Nurse) | Thriller | |
| Red | Mary Louise Parker photo double | Action/ Comedy/ Crime | |
| 2011 | Cutoff, LA | Actress (Alice) | Short/ Drama |
| 2012 | Django Unchained [24] | Stand-in / violinist | Western |
| The Courier | Actress (Doctor) | Action/ Crime/ Thriller | |
| 2013 | Dawn of the Planet of the Apes | Stand-in | Action/ Fantasy |
| 2014 | Gone | Actress (Mysterious Traveller) | Short, Mystery |
| Devil's Due | Actress (Violinist) | Horror | |
| 13 Sins | Actress (Pianist) | Horror/ Thriller | |
| Bad Country | Actress (Waitress) | Crime/ Drama | |
| 2015 | Bullets at the Ballet | Actress (Mdme. Krakatov) | Action, Short film |
| Paranormal Abduction | Actress (Nurse) | Thriller | |
| Bad Ass 3: Bad Asses on the Bayou | Actress (Violinist) | Action, Drama | |
| Focus | Actress (Nicky's Crew) | Comedy, Crime, Drama | |
| Runaway Hearts | Actress (Drug Buyer 2) | Drama, Family | |
| 2016 | 10 Cloverfield Lane | Stunt and photo double for Mary Elizabeth Winstead | Thriller |
| 2017 | Vore | Nina (lead) | Drama |
| 2020 | Night Teeth | Stunts | Netflix drama |
| 2023 | The Boogeyman | Stunt double for Marin Ireland | Thriller |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Treme | Actress (Mardi Gras Muse) | 1 episode |
| 2015 | Scream Queens | Actress and Stunts (Lady Red Devil) | 4 episodes |
| 2016 | Salem | Actress and Stunts (Female Refugee) | 1 episode |
| 2018 | NCIS: New Orleans | Actress (Helo EMT) | 1 episode |
| 2021 | Blood Relative | Stunt double for Melissa Leo | pilot |
| 2022 | Leverage: Redemption S2 | Stunt double for Jackie Goldston and Taylor Shurte | 2 episodes |
| 2023 | Secrets of Sulphur Springs | Stunt double for Kelly Frye | 1 episode |
Discography
[edit]- Blues Babe (2003)[25]
- Kiss Your Blues Away (2004)[26]
- Now is the Time (2006)[27]
- Whatever You Want (2011)[8]
- North Mississippi Christmas (2012)[21]
Awards
[edit]Best Original Song 2012 ("Loving You is All I Know" from Statue) at Treasure Coast International Film Festival.[28]
Best Film, for movie Statue at Brainwash Film Festival in 2012[29]
Best of the Fest, for Statue at Short Sweet Film Fest in 2013[30]
Best Louisiana Film, for Vore at New Orleans Horror Film Festival 2017[31]
Prominent positions held
[edit]In August 2015, Munding was elected as Local Board Member (New Orleans) of Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and elected in 2019 to the National Board.[32] From 2011 to 2014, she served on the Blues Foundation's Board of Directors.
In the summer of 2020, Olga began a quest to search for fellow performers' unclaimed residuals held in trust by SAG-AFTRA [33] by using social media to assist in searching for performers or their estates to locate them.[34]
References
[edit]- ^ "Olga, Now Is the Time". Rambles.net. 2006-09-30. Retrieved 2014-07-12.
- ^ "Singer Olga Munding returns to Mississippi: Memphis Commercial Appeal". Commercialappeal.com. 2011-07-30. Retrieved 2014-07-12.
- ^ Gross, Josh. "Boulder News, Entertainment, Music, Movies & Classifieds". BoulderWeekly.com. Retrieved 2014-07-12.
- ^ "Olga's Bio". Jambase. Retrieved 2011-05-01.
- ^ "ArtsNewOrleans - Olga". Archived from the original on 2012-03-22. Retrieved 2011-05-02.
- ^ a b c "Artist Biography". Laolga.com. Retrieved 2013-04-06.
- ^ [New Releases] Olga "Now Is The Time" Jackson Free Press, October 18, 2006
- ^ a b "Whatever You Want Album". Billboard. 2011-06-21. Retrieved 2011-06-23.
- ^ JUNE 2011 SONICBIDS “ARTISTS 2 WATCH” "The record was produced, engineered and mixed by Emmy winning producer Winn McElroy at his studio, Black Wings Studio in Water Valley MS.
- ^ Olga's Whatever You Want featuring Cody Dickinson Swampland.com
- ^ Episode 303 Artist: Olga Wilhelmine Munding Chicagoacoustic.net Quote: “Los Lobos "adopted" me, and let me hang out and observe how they did things. I often sat on the stage during their shows."
- ^ Olga Wilhelmine with Cody Dickinson River Cities Reader 23 JUNE 2010
- ^ Jessie Mae Hemphill Profile The State Journal posted July 24, 2006
- ^ Blues musician Jessie Mae Hemphill dies Blues News 30/07/2006
- ^ Jessie Mae Hemphill, 71, Blues Musician, Dies, The New York Times. July 25, 2006,
- ^ Matador Records Skips Important Credit on Cat Power's Jukebox SF Weekly. Andy Tennille Wednesday, Apr 9 2008
- ^ Blues Foundation Archived 2016-05-30 at the Wayback Machine The Blues Foundation Board of Directors posted August 17, 2011
- ^ "Repatriation in Como, Mississippi". American Blues Scene. 3 February 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
- ^ a b "Como to celebrate 'Hill Country Blues' Feb. 3". The Panolia. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
- ^ Rohter, Larry (30 January 2012). "Folklorist's Global Jukebox Goes Digital". The New York Times.
- ^ a b "Two Sides of the Same Coin". My Spilt Milk. 2013-01-01. Retrieved 2014-07-12.
- ^ "Statue (2010)". Thebuskingproject.xcom. Archived from the original on August 30, 2011. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
- ^ "Olga Wilhelmine: Books". Amazon.com. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
- ^ "Django Unchained". IMDb.com. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
- ^ "Blues Babe Album". Cduniverse.com. Retrieved 2011-05-01.
- ^ "Kiss Your Blues Away Album". Cdbaby. 2010-11-17. Retrieved 2011-05-01.
- ^ "Now is the Time Album". Cdbaby. 2010-11-17. Retrieved 2011-05-01.
- ^ "Services". Tcifilmfest.com. Retrieved 2014-07-12.
- ^ "18th Annual Festival Winners! 2012! – Brainwash Movie Festival: Drive-in Bike-in Walk-in Film Festival in Oakland, California". Brainwashm.com. 2012-11-21. Retrieved 2015-10-20.
- ^ "Short. Sweet. Film Fest, US (2013)". IMDb.com. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
- ^ "2017 NOLAHFF | AWARDS – NOLA Horror Film Fest". Archived from the original on 2017-10-06. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
- ^ "Opposition Party Wins Big In Re-Run Of SAG-AFTRA Election In New Orleans". Yahoo.com. 17 December 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
- ^ Robb, David (2020-06-04). "SAG-AFTRA Board Member Olga Wilhelmine Is On A Mission To Connect Actors With Their Unclaimed Residuals". Deadline. Retrieved 2020-06-12.
- ^ "Olga (@Olgabluesbabe) | Twitter". Archived from the original on 2020-06-08. Retrieved 2020-06-12.