New album from Mary Caroline

FOLK artist Mary Caroline has released her debut studio album Life On Earth and a video for the title track.

Mary got in touch with RealSoundsOK to tell us about her life, which heavily influences her sound.

She said: "The closest place I can call home is a remote trapper's cabin, 600km from the community of Yellowknife, just below the Arctic circle. In the north I work on a Animal Planet/Discovery show called Ice Lake Rebels. It follows the trials and tribulations of a group of Yellowknife house boaters living off grid, frozen in place on Yellowknife Bay. 

"The job gives me the opportunity to also live "off the grid", focusing on my songwriting. Recharging the batteries between tours and recordings."

Mary has returned from the wild recently to play a few gigs and will also play the Folk Alliance International in Kansas City on February 20th.

In the meantime, check out Life On Earth below and visit marycaroline.ca for more.

You can also read the Q&A Mary did with RealSoundsOK back in November 2014 here.

Mary Caroline Q&A

Your name:

Mary Caroline.

Where are you from?

Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada.

How would you describe yourself?

My music is rooted in acoustic folk music that is then worked through with a full band to give it more of a pop/folk vibe. I love writing thoughtful, vocal driven pieces, but I also try to balance it out with fun, more up-beat songs. 

I spend a lot of time at a remote cabin in the Northwest Territories. It is a small trapper’s cabin that is completely off-grid. My neighbour is a 75-year-old widow, who has a wealth of knowledge about living sustainably. I also have frequent exposure to First Nations people who live in balance with the land. It is peaceful and the landscape is breath-taking, and I take an incredible amount of inspiration from my time at my cabin. 

Who are your main influences musically?

I love edgy female front-people like Florence Welch or MIA, and I also love Canadian acoustic folk music, and I think my music comes out somewhere in the middle.

What do you hope to achieve in music?

I'm very excited to be releasing my debut studio album. This has been a big dream of mine for a very long time. I'm not sure where it will lead, but I would love to get some radio play across Canada, and hopefully internationally as well. I love touring, so radio success would defiantly allow me to tour further then I have in the past.

What has been the highlight of your career so far, and why? 

Two years ago I showcased at the Western Canada Music Awards. It was the first time I had travelled with a band outside of my home territory and it was really cool when people I'd never met where tweeting about my band. A lot has happened since then, but that was a big moment for me.

And what’s the moment you want to forget? 

I don't really have any regrets. I always try to take the good with bad and learn from hardships, so I don't really dwell on the past, or try to forget it, so this is a tough question for me to answer.

If you had to pick just one of your songs to represent your music, what would it be and why?

Such a Liar is a kind of edgy song lyrically, but with beautiful cello highlights. I love the contrast. I like to incorporate contrast into my songs and have the vocals in the foreground, so I think this song is a good representation of a lot of my other music.

Where can we listen to it?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJrSmVQJFHE

Where can we find out more about your music?

www.marycaroline.ca

www.facebook.com/marycarolinemusic

www.twitter.com/marycarolinenwt

http://instagram.com/marycarolinenwt

https://itunes.apple.com/ca/artist/mary-caroline/id383283514

Debut album in new year from Mary Caroline

FOLK pop artist Mary Caroline will release her debut studio album in January.

She has already released her first single Such A Liar, which you can listen to/watch below.

Mary told RealSoundsOK: "The album attempts to capture the edginess and beauty of my northern life, forging my own path in the remote wilds of the Northwest Territories.

"Over the past few years I've been busy touring extensively throughout Canada. I also spent time living in a remote trapper's cabin on the shores of the Liard River, 600km from the community of Yellowknife. Here I learned about the old trapping lifestyle, sustenance living and Arctic gardening.

"In order to achieve what I wanted for this album, I removed myself from those familiar surroundings and spent this past summer recording at Hamilton, Ontario's converted church studio Catherine North."

For more on Mary, visit marycaroline.ca or facebook.com/marycarolinemusic