THE MUSIC THAT MADE ME: MIA BORDERS, MUSICIAN, NEW ORLEANS
Mia Borders and her influences (photo of Mia by Tiffany Anderson)
THE MUSIC THAT MADE ME: MIA BORDERS, MUSICIAN
Talking to Paul Oswell
New Orleans native Mia Borders is a renowned singer-songwriter who has captivated audiences with her soulful voice and electrifying performances. Her critically acclaimed releases showcase powerful vocals, thoughtful songwriting, and a dynamic presence. Her catalogue includes three EPs, six LPs, and five singles - all released under her label, Blaxican Records. Off stage, Borders runs The Borders Foundation, a 501c3 founded to support artists from marginalized communities. This, then, is the music that made her - listen along with Mia's Spotify playlist - click here, or it's linked at the end!:
Johnny B. Goode by Chuck Berry
When I was about 3 or 4 years old, we had a few vinyl records in heavy rotation at my house. The first was Chuck Berry’s Berry Is on Top. I often asked my brother to put it on for me that so I could dance around. He obliged and sang along, but changed the lyrics to “Go go go, Mia, go. Go!” It was electric and exciting every time and it gave me my first taste of performing for a crowd (albeit one made up mostly of dolls and stuffed animals). The story of Johnny himself also deeply resonated with me, as I knew from an early age that I, too, wanted my name in lights.
Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel/Aretha Franklin
This is a 2-for-1. Another album that was played constantly was Simon & Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water. The title track remains my favorite song of all time. And Aretha Franklin... My god. I mean that. The voice of God is Aretha Franklin. It’s magnificent and holy and takes my breath away every time I hear it. Her piano playing is virtuosic and carries the mid tempo rhythm of the song. This is only cover of this song that I would say ties the depth of the original.
How Will I Know by Whitney Houston
The last album we bumped constantly in my childhood home was Whitney Houston’s eponymous 1985 release. My late mother’s favorite song was “All at Once,” but “How Will I Know” was infectious and I couldn’t stop listening to it. If you’ve seen my music video for “Mama Told Me,” I’m dancing to this song in front of my mother and my stuffies. Whitney Houston was the soundtrack to my life. When she died in 2012, it was like losing my mother again.
I Love You by Céline Dion
As I grew up, music continued to be a foundational part of my life. The world evolved and so did I, moving from vinyl to CDs. My first CD was Céline Dion’s Falling Into You. Every single time my beloved grandmother went into her room to take a nap, I put this CD on full blast and put on a concert in our living room. I don’t know how she slept through me trying to belt all of these songs, but she did. Or maybe she didn’t and just didn’t complain because she knew how much it meant to me. Céline was my first vocal teacher. She is, as Kelly Clarkson put it at the most recent Olympic Games, our gold medal athlete.
Dear Mama by 2Pac
If you’ve listened to my music, you’ll know that I pull influence from a wide range of genres. I grew up in the 1990s, and in my opinion, radio was never better than it was in the 90s. Pop, Alternative, R&B, and Hip-Hop artists we all cranking out banger after banger. 2Pac was a divisive figure in the entertainment industry, but in the music world, he was a beacon of light. He was a poet (read The Rose That Grew from Concrete if you haven’t) and went against the norms of the day. From “Brenda’s Got a Baby” to “Changes” to “Dear Mama,” his songs went so much deeper than the surface level of his contemporaries. This song in particular hit
me so hard as a child who lost her mother at an early age and desperately wanted a connection as profound as Tupac Shakur’s with his mother, the late Afeni Shakur - a revolutionary in her own right.
Fantasy by Mariah Carey
As the only biracial girl in my group of church friends, I was the butt of a lot of jokes. It seemed that I always stood out no matter where I went - either with my dark-skinned paternal family, or my fair-skinned maternal family. Along came Mariah Carey. Universally accepted as beautiful and outrageously talented, she was the first time I remember seeing someone who looked like me writing and singing her own songs. It was a revelation. She also doesn’t get the credit she deserves as a songwriter. She wrote 18 of her 19 number one hits (excluding her cover of Jackson 5’s “I’ll Be There”), and is the most successful female songwriter in the history
of the Billboard Hot 100.
Something Kinda Funny by The Spice Girls
The arrival of the Spice Girls seriously elevated my living room concerts. My best friend and I divvied up roles (I was Scary Spice and and Ginger Spice) and we put on shows, I tell you. There was dancing, light prop work, occasionally makeup (if we didn’t think we’d get caught), and plenty of girl power. Musically, I connected with the use of five-part harmonies and background vocals to create textures on top of the instrumentation. The instrumentation itself was also as genre-spanning as my own music would eventually come to be, drawing inspiration from contemporary pop and R&B, 70s funk, and 80s hip-hop.
I’ll Be Good for You by *NSYNC
*NSYNC was when my living room concerts peaked. I learned all of their choreography and was fully convinced that my life as a professional musician would include massive arena stage shows with high-flying props and full dance troupes with me. I was probably in the best shape of my life because that choreography was intense. Musically, it was more soul and R&B using five part harmonies to create shape and percussion and the iconic wall of sound in pop music. It was all deeply influential. It was around this time that I started getting serious about my songwriting. I wrote dozens and dozens of songs in various notebooks and started putting
them to music with my acoustic guitar. It was mostly sappy pop love songs, but it was the start of what would become my repertoire as it is today.
If I’m in Luck I Might Get Picked Up by Betty Davis
Betty Davis was a late discovery for me. I first started hearing her music around the time I made my New Orleans Jazz Fest debut in 2010. From there, it became an obsession and I bought her entire catalog and dove in head first. Her influence was felt mostly on my 2013 album Quarter-Life Crisis that I co-produced with Anders Osborne. We stacked guitar amps and made a full on funk rock album. I was in a dark place at that time (hence the album title) and cranking those amps and letting that aggression out musically was a transformative experience for me. My company Third Coast Entertainment® will launch our inaugural Under the Influence concert honoring Betty Davis on September 20 at the Broadside’s Indoor Pavillion.
Use Me by Bill Withers
Bill Withers has my heart and my soul. Hearing his words throughout my entire life and finally putting it together in my twenties that some of my favorite songs were all written and performed by the same man blew my mind. “Lean on Me,” “Ain’t No Sunshine,” “Lovely Day,” “Grandma’s Hands,” “Use Me.” The list goes on an on. So often I felt hindered by my rhythm guitar playing. It seemed to me that to lead my band, I also had to be Jimi Hendrix shredding on the stage, but Bill was everything I wanted to be. A profound lyricist singing his heart while surrounded by world class musicians. He became my beacon. He remains my musical idol to this day. Our second installment of Under the Influence will honor Bill Withers on October 3rd 2025 at the Broadside Indoor Pavilion.
Mia Borders plays with impressive regularity around the city - click here for her music and live dates, or click here to find out more about The Borders Foundation
New Orleans native Mia Borders is a renowned singer-songwriter who has captivated audiences with her soulful voice and electrifying performances. Her critically acclaimed releases showcase powerful vocals, thoughtful songwriting, and a dynamic presence. Her catalogue includes three EPs, six LPs, and five singles - all released under her label, Blaxican Records. Off stage, Borders runs The Borders Foundation, a 501c3 founded to support artists from marginalized communities. This, then, is the music that made her - listen along with Mia's Spotify playlist - click here, or it's linked at the end!:
Johnny B. Goode by Chuck Berry
When I was about 3 or 4 years old, we had a few vinyl records in heavy rotation at my house. The first was Chuck Berry’s Berry Is on Top. I often asked my brother to put it on for me that so I could dance around. He obliged and sang along, but changed the lyrics to “Go go go, Mia, go. Go!” It was electric and exciting every time and it gave me my first taste of performing for a crowd (albeit one made up mostly of dolls and stuffed animals). The story of Johnny himself also deeply resonated with me, as I knew from an early age that I, too, wanted my name in lights.
Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel/Aretha Franklin
This is a 2-for-1. Another album that was played constantly was Simon & Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water. The title track remains my favorite song of all time. And Aretha Franklin... My god. I mean that. The voice of God is Aretha Franklin. It’s magnificent and holy and takes my breath away every time I hear it. Her piano playing is virtuosic and carries the mid tempo rhythm of the song. This is only cover of this song that I would say ties the depth of the original.
How Will I Know by Whitney Houston
The last album we bumped constantly in my childhood home was Whitney Houston’s eponymous 1985 release. My late mother’s favorite song was “All at Once,” but “How Will I Know” was infectious and I couldn’t stop listening to it. If you’ve seen my music video for “Mama Told Me,” I’m dancing to this song in front of my mother and my stuffies. Whitney Houston was the soundtrack to my life. When she died in 2012, it was like losing my mother again.
I Love You by Céline Dion
As I grew up, music continued to be a foundational part of my life. The world evolved and so did I, moving from vinyl to CDs. My first CD was Céline Dion’s Falling Into You. Every single time my beloved grandmother went into her room to take a nap, I put this CD on full blast and put on a concert in our living room. I don’t know how she slept through me trying to belt all of these songs, but she did. Or maybe she didn’t and just didn’t complain because she knew how much it meant to me. Céline was my first vocal teacher. She is, as Kelly Clarkson put it at the most recent Olympic Games, our gold medal athlete.
Dear Mama by 2Pac
If you’ve listened to my music, you’ll know that I pull influence from a wide range of genres. I grew up in the 1990s, and in my opinion, radio was never better than it was in the 90s. Pop, Alternative, R&B, and Hip-Hop artists we all cranking out banger after banger. 2Pac was a divisive figure in the entertainment industry, but in the music world, he was a beacon of light. He was a poet (read The Rose That Grew from Concrete if you haven’t) and went against the norms of the day. From “Brenda’s Got a Baby” to “Changes” to “Dear Mama,” his songs went so much deeper than the surface level of his contemporaries. This song in particular hit
me so hard as a child who lost her mother at an early age and desperately wanted a connection as profound as Tupac Shakur’s with his mother, the late Afeni Shakur - a revolutionary in her own right.
Fantasy by Mariah Carey
As the only biracial girl in my group of church friends, I was the butt of a lot of jokes. It seemed that I always stood out no matter where I went - either with my dark-skinned paternal family, or my fair-skinned maternal family. Along came Mariah Carey. Universally accepted as beautiful and outrageously talented, she was the first time I remember seeing someone who looked like me writing and singing her own songs. It was a revelation. She also doesn’t get the credit she deserves as a songwriter. She wrote 18 of her 19 number one hits (excluding her cover of Jackson 5’s “I’ll Be There”), and is the most successful female songwriter in the history
of the Billboard Hot 100.
Something Kinda Funny by The Spice Girls
The arrival of the Spice Girls seriously elevated my living room concerts. My best friend and I divvied up roles (I was Scary Spice and and Ginger Spice) and we put on shows, I tell you. There was dancing, light prop work, occasionally makeup (if we didn’t think we’d get caught), and plenty of girl power. Musically, I connected with the use of five-part harmonies and background vocals to create textures on top of the instrumentation. The instrumentation itself was also as genre-spanning as my own music would eventually come to be, drawing inspiration from contemporary pop and R&B, 70s funk, and 80s hip-hop.
I’ll Be Good for You by *NSYNC
*NSYNC was when my living room concerts peaked. I learned all of their choreography and was fully convinced that my life as a professional musician would include massive arena stage shows with high-flying props and full dance troupes with me. I was probably in the best shape of my life because that choreography was intense. Musically, it was more soul and R&B using five part harmonies to create shape and percussion and the iconic wall of sound in pop music. It was all deeply influential. It was around this time that I started getting serious about my songwriting. I wrote dozens and dozens of songs in various notebooks and started putting
them to music with my acoustic guitar. It was mostly sappy pop love songs, but it was the start of what would become my repertoire as it is today.
If I’m in Luck I Might Get Picked Up by Betty Davis
Betty Davis was a late discovery for me. I first started hearing her music around the time I made my New Orleans Jazz Fest debut in 2010. From there, it became an obsession and I bought her entire catalog and dove in head first. Her influence was felt mostly on my 2013 album Quarter-Life Crisis that I co-produced with Anders Osborne. We stacked guitar amps and made a full on funk rock album. I was in a dark place at that time (hence the album title) and cranking those amps and letting that aggression out musically was a transformative experience for me. My company Third Coast Entertainment® will launch our inaugural Under the Influence concert honoring Betty Davis on September 20 at the Broadside’s Indoor Pavillion.
Use Me by Bill Withers
Bill Withers has my heart and my soul. Hearing his words throughout my entire life and finally putting it together in my twenties that some of my favorite songs were all written and performed by the same man blew my mind. “Lean on Me,” “Ain’t No Sunshine,” “Lovely Day,” “Grandma’s Hands,” “Use Me.” The list goes on an on. So often I felt hindered by my rhythm guitar playing. It seemed to me that to lead my band, I also had to be Jimi Hendrix shredding on the stage, but Bill was everything I wanted to be. A profound lyricist singing his heart while surrounded by world class musicians. He became my beacon. He remains my musical idol to this day. Our second installment of Under the Influence will honor Bill Withers on October 3rd 2025 at the Broadside Indoor Pavilion.
Mia Borders plays with impressive regularity around the city - click here for her music and live dates, or click here to find out more about The Borders Foundation
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