Hello helloooo

If you live in Texas, Mare and Nomad are heading your way in a few days. Shows coming up in Conroe, Houston, Dallas and Austin (then back to Conroe, then back to Austin).

Tour dates are copied below.

Lots of excitement in the air, including the fact that Mare's got a new children's music record on the GRAMMY ballot. Also, C.F. Martin and Co. (yup, the guitar people) have just named us PREFERRED MARTIN ARTISTS (their term for an artist endorsement). This means, among other things, that we'll be getting a new guitar! Hooray!! And who said nothing good would come out of US Airlines cracking my current guitar?

Please come join us at one (or more) of the shows below and help us celebrate. Also, a few of these spots are new for us, so please consider passing this email on to friends you have in any of the following locations.

See you soon!
xo,
Mare & Nomad


http://www.marewakefield.com
http://www.myspace.com/marewakefield

Mare Wakefield is a PREFERRED MARTIN ARTIST
new children's music record Green Means Go on the GRAMMY ballot!


Mare Wakefield Oct 2009 Texas Tour

"Oregon cafes, small Texas towns and twangy Nashville rolled into one"  ~ Cranky Crow

"Simply Amazing" ~ Skope Magazine

 
***TEXAS TOUR DATES FOR MARE and NOMAD****

Saturday, Oct 10th
**CONROE**
Conroe Cajun Catfish Festival
Go Texan Wine Stage
Downtown Conroe
11am (yep, kinda early!)

Monday, Oct 12th
**HOUSTON**
Mucky Duck
2425 Norfolk St.
Houston, TX 77098
we're playing Wayne Wilkerson's famous open mic
please come cheer us on!
7pm

Tuesday, Oct 13th
**DALLAS**
Opening Bell
1409 S. Lamar St. #012
Dallas, TX 75215
Open mic feature
7pm

Thursday, Oct. 15th
**AUSTIN**
House Wine
408 Josephine St.
Austin, TX 78704
512-322-5210
8pm

Friday, Oct. 16th
**CONROE**
Corner Pub
302 N. Main St.
Conroe, TX 77301
936-788-2390
9pm

Saturday, Oct. 17th
**AUSTIN**
Concert at Sol Studio with the fabulous George Ensle
3400 Kerbey Ln
Austin TX 78703   
7pm show
for more information or reservations,
contact Steve Milan smilan@juno.com or 512-589-5164
We're so excited to be doing this show with George Ensle, an Austin-based "song painter" who was nominated for Singer/Songwriter of the Year by the Texas Music Academy just last year.  George has won songwriting awards from the Kerrville Folk Festival and the Austin Songwriters Group among others.  You can check out George's information and music at http://www.georgeensle.com.



 
===================================================

MARE WAKEFIELD PRESS

 “Musically sophisticated, weaving elements of jazz and bluegrass into her compositions. Don't pass up the opportunity to see her perform.”
 ~ Cheryl Eddy, San Francisco Bay Guardian

 
"Cozy brilliance ... Could she be the merger of Maria McKee, Natalie Merchant, Shawn Colvin and Dolly Parton?"
~ Michelle Manker, Louisville Eccentric Observer

 
“A rootsy, singer/songwriter collection from one of the best we've heard. Four Stars!”

~ Maverick Magazine, UK



"Wakefield soars above convention." ~ Honest Tune Magazine



"Sweet and clever folk-pop" ~ Willamette Week



Mare hits the road in support of latest release, Ironwood. Coming to a town near you!

 
=====================================================
 MARE WAKEFIELD HIGHLIGHTS & BIO
 
**Mare's skill as a performer and songwriter has been recognized by many prestigious songwriting competitions including the International Songwriting Competition, Great American Song Contest, River Bluff Music Festival (Nashville, TN), Willamette Valley Folk Fest (Eugene, OR), Berklee College of Music Songwriting Competition (Boston, MA) and many more.
 
**New album "Ironwood" is currently being featured in Starbucks Coffee shops across the country.

**New children's music record, "Green Means Go" currently on the GRAMMY ballot.
 
**Mare's album Ironwood was the highest debuting new album on the AMA charts for the week of July 15, 2008.
 
**Recent television appearances include “Inside Music Row” (Nashville, TN), “The Set” (St. Louis, MO) and “The Tim Qualls Show,” (Wilmington, DE).
 

"Every star in the sky will shine for you; every dreamer that died survives in you.” In the refrain of Ironwood opener “Enjoy the View,” Mare Wakefield might just be singing about herself. The girl from Southeast Texas went from playing Oregon coffee shops to headlining major Northwest festivals before a songwriting scholarship brought her to Boston’s Berklee College of Music which boasts alums such as Gillian Welch and Aimee Mann (two of many artists that Mare has been compared to). Currently based in Nashville, Mare--pronounced Mary--continues her upward trajectory by co-writing with hit songwriters and burning up the highways with her fourth studio album in tow.
       Back from a 4-week European tour and a 5-week Western US tour, Mare and pianist/guitarist/husband Nomad Ovunc hit the road to bring their music to a town near you. Check marewakefield.com for more tour info and updates.
 

http://www.marewakefield.com
http://www.myspace.com/marewakefield

Mare Wakefield is a PREFERRED MARTIN ARTIST
new children's music record Green Means Go on the GRAMMY ballot!

... or Best Gig Award for the Aug-Sept. 2009 tour

Every tour has them, these golden moments that come out of nowhere. Moments that make you say “ahhhh, NOW I remember why I gave up a promising career in ____________ to play music!”

For Nomad and me on this tour, that golden gig happened at the Spirit Room in Jerome, Arizona. “Where?” you ask. Jerome! Population 200. Elevation 5,080.  It’s a tiny Old West mining town nestled on the side of an Arizona high desert hill. Now the town survives almost exclusively on tourism.

We booked a Tuesday night there on a recommendation from the Fiddler’s Dream down in Phoenix (another stellar gig). There was a modest guarantee and a room for two nights, but to really describe Jerome, I have to start with Flagstaff.

Now, being basically happy, positive people, we don’t give a “worst gig of the tour” award. But oh buddy, if we did, this Flagstaff show would have won hands down. We had left a virtual paradise in Anaheim (another great gig!) to play this coffee shop in Flagstaff  -- for a guarantee of $20. No, that’s not a typo. I guess it was a momentary lapse of reason on my part, but it was a Monday night, and we were driving right through…

Anyway, it wasn’t the money (or lack thereof) that made this gig bad. Even if it had paid $500, it still would have sucked -- though much less!  :-)  No, it was abysmal because for some strange reason, no one was listening to us. I don’t mean that they were distracted, or talking through our songs. I literally mean it was as if no one could HEAR us. The lone exception, and only reason we made it through that night, was a sweet family who, I found out later, had actually driven an hour and a half to see our show. For some reason THEY could hear us, but seriously I don’t think anyone else could. No one clapped, no one smiled, no one tapped a single toe. At one point I even asked the girls behind the counter how to turn the stage lights on, and they didn’t look up either. Nomad actually asked ON MIC, “Are we in some kind of a vortex where no one can hear us?” I laughed. No one answered.

That gig FINALLY ended, and we found a dingy grocery store, bought bread and cheese and ate sandwiches in the gloomy parking lot. Also, we made a phone call to Jerome to double check that there would be a room waiting for us, and the woman, instead of confirming our reservation, began to give Nomad long-winded directions. “Go through two of those things. What are they called? Where you don’t have to stop but you drive in a circle? Roundabouts, right. So you go through two of those. Or is it three?” etc. Meanwhile Nomad’s cell phone is beeping cause the battery is dying. I honestly thought he was going to hyperventilate from his deep breathing trying to keep calm.

But Nomad survives, the room is confirmed, and we drive off into the dark Arizona night.

I’ll skip the part about the winding, nineteenth century mountaintop trails and gravel-road rollercoasters our GPS recommended (what had that lady said about roundabouts? Maybe we should have written that down!). We finally had to turn the GPS off and turn on (gasp!) our brains. Follow the PAVED road. We get to the town. Almost midnight. Really looked like something out of  ummm, what was that cowboy show, with Miss Kitty? Except for the electricity of course.

Hotel reception was closed, but the bar had our keys. Dimly-lit, two or three customers, juke box playing … was that Tom Waits? The bartender had long, silver hair and the kind of laid-back attitude that makes a California surfer seem uptight. Sign over the bar reads “Jerome, AZ. We’re all here because we’re not all there.” Funky. Almost spooky, but really cool. I could feel the day’s tension fading along with our cell phone reception.

And the room! Again, from the Miss Kitty show. (Except for the giant flat-screen TV on the wall, oh, and the whirlpool tub, and the microwave … hmmm, maybe I need to watch that show again?) But the giant antique bed frame and the furniture and the hotel itself were certainly in-keeping with the Old West theme. And to have a real bed! How many nights in a row had we slept in the car? Six? Seven? Soft pillows, clean sheets, fluffy down comforter. Felt like heaven.

I wanted to do everything at once. Pop the complimentary popcorn, watch a movie, take a whirlpool bath. In the end, we just slept.

We woke up early the next day and realized we didn’t have to drive at all. First day in weeks we didn’t have at least a 3 or 4 (if not 8 or 9) hour drive ahead of us. We breakfasted in the room and then moseyed around town, aimlessly ambling and fully understanding the true meaning of the word “mosey.” Town was pretty much two streets. We walked them twice, impressed by the authentic Old West buildings, but left breathless by the surrounding mountains and canyons. Red, yellow, pink, orange, green and gray. Hard to believe that bare rock can have so many different colors. But I’ve always loved the desert, ever since I was six and my family moved to Phoenix for three of the happiest years of my young life. I love the sun, the dry air, the hardy and strange-looking cacti. The barbeque smell of creosote mixed with sage. Smells clean. Smells like sunshine.

We handed out cards with info about that night’s show. And people actually took them and said thank you! Some of them even showed up that night. Amazing. Guess that shameless self-promo actually works sometimes … or maybe there’s just not that much else to do in Jerome on a Tuesday  :-)

We splurged and went out to lunch, choosing the restaurant with the best smells and the best views.

Little more walking, then back to the hotel for a whirlpool bubble bath (one of the perks of touring with your husband!). A note of warning here: I’d recommend EITHER bubble bath OR whirlpool jets. The combination left us fighting off an ever-growing mountain of monster bubbles … but that was kind of fun too.

The icing on our Jerome cake was really our show at the Spirit Room. Like I mentioned, a few folks showed up with our cards in hand. A few more had read the posters. Some regulars knew that the room had an acoustic night. In other words, people came for a show. Same bartender (sweet guy named Chuck) was there, and I almost fainted with pleasure when he covered up the pool table for our performance. Here’s a place that knows how to host listening-based music!

Though it was a Tuesday night, most folks stayed for the full 3-hour concert. They listened, they laughed, a few cried, and they all sang along! For a performer, this is the kind of audience that keeps you going another whole year. (“I’m NOT wasting my life, I AM reaching people!”)

They all signed the mailing list, and most bought multiple CDs. But even the extra income (though nice!) wasn’t as important as their attention and appreciation. This is why we do this. We have so much to give, and these Jerome folks took it all in. Genuine connections. Real bonding. Through music. That’s the whole point of my existence, and Jerome and the Spirit Room reaffirmed this for me.

So they get our “Best of Tour” award (which is basically this blog), and they may even be named one of the Top 5 All Time Best Gigs (still working on that list).

Thank you Spirit Room. Thank you Jerome residents and visitors. Thank you everyone who made these 2009 tours possible and, yes, even profitable. Nomad and I are home now, safe and sound, tired but happy, and full of enough love and light to sustain us through the winter and prepare and motivate us to get back out there and do it all again next year.

In the words of Roy Rogers, “Happy trails to you, till we meet again.”

love,
Mare

So super excited. Nomad and I just got the call last night from C.F. Martin & Co. (yup, the guitar people) that we've been officially recognized as Preferred Martin Artists (their version of an artists endorsement).

Some of you may know I've been playing Martins for all of my performing life, so in addition to being a huge honor, this recognition also means a lot to me personally.

And to think this all came out of a gigantic crack in my current Martin, courtesy of U.S. Airlines!

All I need now is to figure out how to add the logo to my website  :-)

Just got the news that we were an Honor Award Winner in the 10th annual Great American Songwriting Contest, in the Contemporary Acoustic/Folk category for our song "About the War."

You can read a list of all the honorable Honor Award winners here:
http://www.greatamericansong.com/honorary.html

We are sooo soooo happy to get this news. Yes we are. And now we will rush home and bake cookies to celebrate. Really, we've been looking for an excuse to bake cookies for WEEKS now!! After all, adults can't just bake cookies because they feel like it, can they? I mean, it's the middle of March, not a cookie-type holiday in sight. No children coming to visit. Plus we're supposed to be getting ready for swimsuit season... But we have no choice. Awards call for celebrations. And celebrations call for cookies (at least in my book--which just happens to be a cookie recipe cookbook).

Wishing you all many awards, honors, celebrations and cookies! :-)))))

So I get this email a few days ago from someone in Boston saying they found a piece of paper that they thought looked like something that I had written to prepare for a radio interview. He explained that he picked it up out of mild curiosity, thinking it would be a shopping list or some other mundane thing and instead found some "interesting things" written on it. Words like "Slimeball" and "Whiskey Does It Better" for starters, plus "Mom's old Johnny Cash and Irish Rovers records."

It was funny. A few notes I had taken to prepare for our WUMB interview many months ago. I had then left my entire notebook on top of the car and driven off, losing not just those notes, but all our mapquest directions and even a few potential song lyrics.

As I was writing this person back, confirming that yes, it was mine, and to thank him for helping to clean up my accidental litter it occured to me that this piece of paper likely did NOT have my name on it anywhere. I asked him about this and he admitted that he actually just googled some of the terms (like "Slimeball") and my name came up! Too funny!! Anyway, maybe next time I should title my songs things like "Gorgeous and Talented Folk Singer" or at least something a little more flattering than slimeball?!?! Pretty funny story though.

Here's the review that will forever link my name to the word slimeball in cyber space, from Americana-UK.com. Enjoy!

--

An understated collection of songs waiting to be discovered

The interestingly named Mare Wakefield (Mare is pronounced as a rather less exotic ‘Mary’), originally from SE Texas, is a graduate of Boston’s Berklee College of Music (see also Gillian Welch, Aimee Mann), she is currently based in Nashville.

Musically it’s gritty roots based singer songwriter stuff, somewhere between Gillian and Lucinda, maybe a touch of Mary Chapin Carpenter, and, less predictably, some John Hiatt moments now and then. Songs such as "Slimeball" even have enough uptempo jolly country pop-ness to them to be compared to Carlene Carter. The title track doesn’t do jolly however, it could be a Tom Waits song, the cello and piano nicely weaving around the emotional vocal."Peg and Awl" a traditional song closes the record and is rather Welch and Rawlings in its folky style, built around an acoustic guitar backing with some nifty harmonica (by Josh Fuson) drifting in and out.

The songs are not glossy or overproduced, at times bordering on demo quality, it is however easy to imagine some of this material being pillaged by any number of bigger names and slapped about into something slick, country-radio friendly and mega unit shifting. "Enough Bad Love" has some sharp hooks, that works very nicely, and "Pretty Little Bird" could be a good fit for someone like Bonnie Raitt. Its a record that is better than it first appears from a promising writer and performer.

Date review added: Saturday, October 25, 2008
Reviewer: Patrick Wilkins
Reviewers Rating:
Related web link: Artist website

http://www.americana-uk.com/auk/modules.php?op=modload&name=Reviews&file=index&req=showcontent&id=4141

Y'all come!!  :-)

Mare Wakefield, Kathy Ashworth and Christine Aspen in-the-round
Wednesday, March 4th
Bluebird Cafe
4104 Hillsboro Pike, Nashville 37215
5:30 doors, 6pm show
no cover, $7 food/drink minimum, reservations recommended

We'll be trying out a few new tunes and basically having a blast at Nashville's iconic venue. Hope to see you there!

We just got some great news that our newest record Ironwood got a rave review in Skope Magazine (an online mag visited by over 2 million viewers each month). Here's the link: http://skopemag.com/2009/02/10/mare-wakefield-ironwood

Not sure how long they'll leave it up so I've also copied it here below. They gave us 4 1/2 out of 5 stars. Well, they're not exactly stars. Not really sure what those things are. Scopes?

Anyway, raise a glass for us if you get a sec.

xo
Mare



Mare Wakefield, Ironwood

February 10, 2009

Originally from Texas but currently residing in Nashville, Mare Wakefield has created a gripping album in Ironwood. This singer/songwriter is playing mainly folk music with country influence and with such conviction. Honestly, she has much more to offer than just a simple folk/country sound and this Texan proves this notion to be correct on this new project. And for the record, her first name is pronounced Mar-y; don’t worry I made the mistake too—lol.
Right away from simply the cover, I noticed a nature theme with the tree branches on the front and sketches of flowers and leaves on the back. The nature scene blended right in with Wakefield’s style of singing and playing. She can be heard as a very earthy listen with folk and country being her forte. I have to say that her music is extremely pleasant-sounding while exhibiting a peaceful vibe.

One of the most powerful traits this record offers is Mare’s sincere vocal abilities. She sings with such conviction and emotion that exudes an aura of beauty and excellence to the listener. Wakefield captures feeling on tape through her true-to-herself approach on Ironwood. On “Dreams Come True”, you get an incredible amount of quiet purity in her voice, which literally could put someone in a dream-like state. On the next song, “Together, Alone”, Wakefield performs with such a soulful approach, yet being extensively sensual at the same time. “Whiskey Does it Better” is just a fun, laid-back tune poking fun at drinking it up. I would coin this song as not the “Ballroom Blitz” but the Barroom Blitz. And then Mare Wakefield is able to evoke a reverse reaction out of “Wedding Day”, which displays a sad undertone and not the wedding bliss sound you would expect from the title.

On all facets, simply amazing what Mare Wakefield was able to do on this album. The sound is pure, it is real and it has heart like you can’t imagine. I can tell right away that Mare Wakefield’s heart and soul were put into this new record, it shows. For more on Ironwood and her emotion-captured music, SKOPE out www.marewakefield.com.

Review By Jimmy Rae
Rating: () () () () (

Hooray, we just got another review for Ironwood. This one is from HonestTune.com, an online music mag based in Mississippi. Link and text below.

http://www.honesttune.com/content/view/1401/27/

Mare Wakefield breaks out on the solidly uncompromising recording Ironwood. A distinctive, intrinsically coordinated effort, Ironwood is more than the sum of its parts, and stands powerfully as a cohesive whole.

A bright singer and instrumentalist with a fine-edged insight into life, its folly and its sublime pleasure, Wakefield opens the disc with the sweet sounding arrangement, "Enjoy the View." Drawing parallels to the modern female guitarist/songwriter, Wakefield soars above convention on the alluring track, "Enough Bad Love." Both "Dreams Come True" and "Together Alone" benefit from Wakefield's backing unit of Tommy Perkinson on drums, Nomad Ovunc on bass and keyboards and Joe Rathbone on electric guitar.

Produced by Ovunc at Audio Authorities in Nashville, Ironwood mines Mare Wakefield's thought-provoking and pensive inner direction, and projects it onto an accepting mass of music lovers worldwide.

Ironwood is out now.

Review by Bill Whiting

Howdy, can anyone out there translate this review we just got in a Belgian site? Or at least translate a quote or two we could use? With words like fantastische we're guessing it's good, but would be great to get a little more.

thanks!!

ROOTSVILLE CD REVIEW by SWA
MARE WAKEFIELD (US)
Ironwood

Volgens mijn bescheiden mening is het veel gemakkelijker om een (Leterme) begroting die niet in evenwicht is af te leveren dan een jaarlijstje samen te stellen voor Rootsville. In het eerste geval klos je maar wat aan, de belastingbetaler met andere woorden u en ik draaien er toch wel voor op en in het tweede geval moet je om de haverklap wijzigen, bijsturen, wikken en wegen omdat er op de valreep nog iemand met een album op de proppen komt dat je beslist niet mag vergeten te vermelden. Ondermeer singer - songwriter Mare Wakefield is ditmaal de 'boosdoener' van dienst die er voor zorgt dat bij het beluisten van haar schitterend album "Ironwood" niet alleen mijn laatste haren overeind komen staan, plus een portie kippenvel, maar dat ik ook in die erg beperkte hoeveelheid moet krabben om een oplossing te vinden voor dit netelig probleem : hoe kan je in godsnaam, zonder enige vorm van gewetensvroeging , 45 geselecteerde albums reduceren naar 25 en het americana / alt. country / roots / blues wereldje toch nog steeds even brutaal en lachend in de ogen kan kijken ?

Mare Wakefield kan in ieder geval met "Ironwood", haar vierde album - in - eigen - beheer, op mijn onvoorwaardelijke steun rekenen en dat heeft the girl from Southeast Texas but currently based in Nashville ondermeer te danken aan de sublieme opener "Enjoy the View, every star in the sky will shine for you", het stevig country / rockend uithalend naar all the liars in "Enough Bad Love", het onwaarschijnlijk mooie "Dreams Come True" met 'hubby' Nomad Ovunc in een glansrol op piano, organ, synth, bass, percussie, de fantastische titeltrack "Ironwood" met Sari Reist ..o en afsluiter "Peg & Awl" met Josh Fuson on harmonica.


An understated collection of songs waiting to be discovered en ongetwijfeld de focus tracks op dit schijfje maar eigenlijk is dit Mare Wakefield te kort doen want "This Pretty Little Bird" neemt met het jazzy "Whiskey Does It Better" en het swingende "Slimeball" zoveel eerste klas hooi op haar vork dat deze (voormalige) progressive folk diva met het album "Ironwood" plaats neemt in het rijtje Maria Mc Kee, Natalie Merchant, Shawn Colvin, Gillian Welch, Aimee Mann, Mary Chapin Carpenter ... Welkom ! (SWA)