Reviews:: Mary Stewart

I know plenty of our regular readers have been asking a similar question: "Oh Nova Scotia, have you finally run out of sweet-voiced, female singer-songwriters who play an appealing brand of pop-infused folk?". Negative my friends, old Nouvelle-Ecosse has another great one for you, and her name is Mary Stewart.

Raised in the heartland of our fair province (if we even have a heartland, what exactly would constitute a heartland?), this New Glasgow native has always been around music, and a career in music was on her mind from an early age as she recorded a four song demo in her hometown at sixteen. That demo was recorded by fellow Pictou County native Fred Lays, also known as Canadian Country star George Canyon, so it's clear the music community up there knew they had something special in young Mary. It's also clear that in many respects, the name Fred Lays is superior to George Canyon, but I can see why it might not work as stage name.

Anyway, I usually avoid the "sounds-like" game most reviewers love, but it's hard to listen Mary's new self titled album and not think of another female with a soaring voice who brokeout of Halifax over the last couple years: Jenn Grant. When you consider the fact that Jenn has been a hill favorite since we reviewed her first album, oh, and I guess also the the success she's enjoyed here at home as well as across the country, it's certainly not a bad comparison from Mary's perspective. And, like Jenn, Mary comes across as sugar-sweet as the hand-drawn cupcakes that adorn her website, but despite the occasional references to cats and cookies, Mary's songs show her to be as complex as any other woman in her 20's - dealing with relationships that fail more often than not, and trying to find her place in the world.

Mary was wise enough to call upon on some of her friends to beef up the instrumentation on her debut album, and her songs are the better for it. The strings on album opener Money Trees, the steel guitar on uptempo Someday In May, and piano finger-plucked violin on Separation are all welcome touches, but for me, it is Mary's songwriting and melodies that really stand out. I think my favorite track is A Mess, which, for the first half of the song anyway, is simply Mary and her guitar, but the apologetic refrain ("Normally I'm neater, normally I put some effort in") is lovelier than it really has any right to be.

If Mary Stewart is any indication, our province is nowhere near done producing talented female singer-songwriters. I think it's safe to say that if you've enjoyed any of other ladies that have been making waves in Canada's Ocean Playground (oh yikes, that is bad, sorry about that) - like Rose Cousins, Rebekah Higgs, Cristina Martin, Meaghan Smith, Amelia Curran, Erin Costelo, Tanya Davis, and Ruth Minnikin to name but a few - then Mary will be a welcome addition to your music rotation.

MP3:: Mary Stewart - Someday In May
MYSPACE:: www.myspace.com/marystewartmusic

If you are in Canada's Ocean Playground, Halifax to be specific, you can catch Mary live during the next few weeks:

15 May 2009 20:30 Minstrels Halifax, Nova Scotia
22 May 2009 5:30 Upstairs Apartment Gallery Halifax, Nova Scotia
3  Jun 2009 20:00 The Frigate Halifax, Nova Scotia
5  Jun 2009 20:00 TBA Halifax, Nova Scotia