Mary McPage and the Assassins

Mary McPage and the Assassins, photo by Steven Seiller ©2011

Recently at Engel’s in Edmonds 

As a little girl, Mary McPage loved singing in church. Later she started singing in blues bands in Idaho and Florida, then Seattle. How do you go from church music to singing in blues bands? “Fear!” she says. “The Blues gets into your soul and won’t let go. It scares me, but I look it straight in the eye and do it anyway.” It’s not fearlessness; with Mary you get the sense that she is fully aware of facing down that fear, and paying her respects.

Mary’s driving low-soprano voice shows all of her influences as she relives memories of sounds from earlier experiences: the reverence of church music; then-pop favorites like Englebert Humperdink; country divas like ”sweet cotton candy soprano” Dolly Parton, Lorretta Lynn, and Tammy Wynette;  rock and roll from Stevie Nicks and Ann Wilson; and real soulful power singing from Janis Joplin and Etta James. 

Part of trying to voice her musical memories is finding the right musicians to help channel the sound. And Mary has a talent for finding and surrounding herself with some of the best musicians in town. With the fabulous Patrick McDanel on bass for the past year, Mary has been able to stretch out and do some deeper, funkier stuff. On guitar and vocals, Honolulu’s Keith Fraser brings a blend of jazz and rock influences from Mike Stern to Jeff Beck to Hendrix. Always searching for that warm sound, Keith delivers masterful chord architecture and superb melodic solos that only the best players can.

A favorite experience for Mary was at the Best of Blues awards show in 2009; her then-band had broken up when she learned they were nominated as Best Band, “which was a total shock!” she laughs. “Wanted to do something different so we did a total acoustic blues set, first acoustic band playing at their awards shows. A really cool moment.”

See Mary McPage and the Assassins. Get their full show calendar here.