Quotes & Reviews
| Written by Andy Duffelmeyer |
| Tuesday, 15 September 2009 10:11 |
| Mary McAdams, a Des Moines-based singer/song-writer originally from Madison, WI, has put together ten exceptional tracks for her debut, self-titled album. Although I’m probably not the first to say it and certainly won’t be the last, McAdams has a lot of talent – and the ability to take her music as far as she wants to.McAdams’ music definitely has a country flavor to it, but there are some elements of blues and rock ‘n’ roll in the mix as well, forming a very palatable ending product. Most of the songs feature a pretty standard pop-music line-up: drums, keyboard, guitar and bass, along with McAdams’ vocal work.
“Fight For Me” is one of the highlights of the album, combining story-telling with a nice instrumental arrangement and building up emotion and sound until the last few notes of the song. “If I Could Breathe” is another great track with hypnotizing chorus and bridge sections that let McAdams really show off her vocal range. As good as McAdams’ singing, song-writing and acoustic guitar work is, the backing band adds a lot to many of the tracks. Jon Locker plays bass on many of the cuts and also produced the album at Sonic Factory Studios in Des Moines, while Tony Bohnenkamp co-produced and took care of much of the percussion work. James Biehn did some nice work on the electric guitar on many of the tracks as well. McAdams will be the first artist for the return of Concert Corps, putting on a CD release show at the Temple for the Performing Arts on Sept. 18 at 7 p.m. The full band is expected to be on hand with McAdams, so don’t miss a chance to hear some great original music from a local rising star. |
“Mary’s voice on her self-titled debut is honest, unapologetically strong and downright ROCKIN’. The writing is full of imagery as she gives us a refreshing look at magic in, “Bubbles”. “As the cities and towns are in trouble, The kids will find the magic…mixing a nickel’s worth of soap and a cup of rain”. Makes you believe in magic all over again.”
-Sweet Talk Radio, Los Angeles, CA.
“WOW!! WOW!! This is Awesome!! ‘Don’t fight to win Baby.…Fight for me.’ WOW!! That’s a single. World-class production!! Everybody, buy this CD!! There aren’t enough superlatives.”
-B. John Burns, Attorney, Des Moines, IA.
“After the fist tome I listened to Mary McAdams’ new self titled CD, I knew it right away; This is a WINNER. Strong songs, sung by a warm, heartfelt voice Mary McAdams is blessed with. On the 10 tracks of this CD (which she mostly wrote by herself) you will recognize the craftmanship and drivin’ spirit she is blessed with as a songwriter and singer. For what it’s worth, this CD is quite as often in my cd player at home as I will spin it in my show. Mary McAdams is “Top of the Bill”. Let there be no mistake!!!”
- Roel Stäbler DJ FM 104.1 C. Houtmanstraat 41, The Netherlands
Iowa singer-songwriter Mary McAdams only lives about two hours away from me, but I think I actually see her more in Colorado! Last year was my first at Rocky Mountain Song School and somehow knowing that there were other Iowan’s there gave me a little boost of confidence to hang out with people outside of the group of musicians from Fairfield. I saw her plenty of times again this year around the campgrounds and in classes. I did meet Mary for the first time in Iowa though, at a Just Plain Folks showcase at Ritual Cafe in Des Moines.
Just Plain Folks is a wonderful organization that supports musicians of all types, their motto is “We’re all in this together”. Among other things, they tour the country having showcases of local musicians in various cities to help people get to know each other. I believe Mary was one of the organizers of the Des Moines event a few years back, because Mary has been supporting area musicians of all sorts for years, from teaching music and songwriting to students in Iowa schools to hosting a monthly Open Mic at Ritual Cafe, so it’s great to see her out there with her own brand new album!
Her self-titled debut tackles a broad range of topics – from keeping the spark alive in married life to corporate greed (and that’s just the first two songs!), but all told from the lens of Everywoman. Putting on on the CD is kind of like sitting down with a dear friend and a pot of tea and catching up on the past couple years, chatting openly about everything near to her heart lately. That’s not to say it’s sleepy or quiet, quite the opposite! The lush, layered production rocks, and Mary’s voice soars above it all to drive those stories home. I heard in an interview that she originally thought the album was just going to be her and the guitar, and I don’t think that would have been a bad thing – check out these videos of Mary playing a couple of my favorite songs from the album solo at an outdoor event:
See? I think it would have been a solid album on it’s own, but I’m really digging the production too. Mary recorded at The Sonic Factory in Des Moines and those guys seem to be pretty with it. They even have a webcam set up to broadcast in the studio, so I got to see Mary recording some vocals a few months back. Cool stuff.
To hear some of those tunes from the album, check out www.myspace.com/marymcadamsmusic You can purchase the album direct from Mary’s website, or get it from CDBaby or download it on iTunes.
-Heather Miller-Rodriguez, 100.1 FM, KRUU-LP
“Mary McAdams should mount a national tour behind this album release – and everyone in America should be listening. This Des Moines songwriter is Des Bomb.”
-Thomas Goldman
“Some men have thousands of reasons why they cannot do what they want to. All I need is one reason why I can.”
–Willis Whitney