Mary McGuinness – Shadowcatcher
I’ve written about Texas-born, Nashville-based Mary McGuinness before. I know I won’t be surprised by the quality of her work. She’s sung about dark times but with a voice that’s got a drop of angst & melancholy to smoke a tune down to its filter. But Mary surfaces each time with beauty in her melodies. It may be the timbre of her voice, but this isn’t a cheesy shallow singer desperately seeking taste in her work. She always has sustenance.
Mary sings a few miles down the road this time from folkier tunes & pop music into loftier easy-listening, middle-of-the-road sensibility & possesses a classy repertoire. “Double Vision” even comes with a banjo embedded in a Madeliene Peyroux/Diana Krall enticing song. There’s still an intriguing creativity to Mary. There are times she sways between her world & the musical essence of a Jane Oliver. She simply cruises with a velvety tone on pieces like “Once In a Blue Moon.” Frank Sinatra could’ve done this. That’s how good the song is. Slide guitars, piano & snappy snare beat & backing vocals that inhale the deep droughts of the melody & drift on.
Singers go through changes from LP to LP. Sometimes it’s the material, the arrangements, or the vocalist that begins to show, progress…diversity. Even with the title track, “Shadowcatcher,” the penetrating performance captures the wonderous range of Mary’s voice. Never conceding sincerity. It’s perfectly placed. There are 10-well-clarified numbers on Shadowcatcher (Dropped Jan. 26-DesertStrand), produced carefully by Joe Pisapia.
Whereas previous CDs were more rural & folky, this appears more easy-listening. Not quite jazz, not blues, not standards. Mary has an enduring original quality spread liberally through her songs. There’s a reason Mary is an acclaimed artist — it’s all here with nothing embellished or sweetened for mainstream consumption. She peppers it with her originality & always with her charm. And therein lies her talent.
The subjects are serious. Yet, nothing here is going to sting the heart or suffocate. Mary presents her topics brightly & clarifies each. Musicians just drop right inside the music & accompany Mary with composure & a contemplative air.
Mary returns to a more regionally established genre with “Bounded Beauty” — a well-textured country ballad that triggers an Emmylou Harris-intonation. Then play faster & looser on a sparkler “Springtime Thunder” with Mary’s Reba McIntyre enthusiastic take & Mary Chapin-Carpenter contour. I like Mary McGuinness — she’s not all about entertaining listeners but enlightening them. Yes. I like this artist a lot. She says something.
Highlights – “Dreamy Feeling,” “Double Vision,” “Once In a Blue Moon,” “Shadowcatcher,” “Keep Dancing,” “Bounded Beauty,” “Springtime Thunder,” “Touchstone” & “Turn Down the Lights.”
Musicians – Dan Knobler, Jen Gunderman, Robert Kearns. Mickey Raphael, Zac Clark, Marc Pisapia, Jess Nolan, Jennie Okon, Zephaniah Bostow with strings: Austin Hoke, Carl Larson, Josee Klein & Annaliese Kowert.
Color images courtesy of AristoPR & Mary’s website. CD @ https://marymcg.com/ & song samples @ Bandcamp.
