maryjane's profile

MARY JANE are a Southampton based band who play a highly original blend of acoustic & electric psychedelic folk-rock. The band are Jo Quinn (vocals, flute, fiddle), Gillie Hotston (fiddle, mandolin, vocals), Paul Taylor (guitar, bouzouki), Jon Hawkes (bass) & Steve Barker (drums, vocals). Their music is a very individualistic & varied combination of self-penned & traditional material, with strong Celtic, Eastern & Medieval influences.

After recording a demo EP She Moved Thro’ the Fair in 1994, the band were quickly signed by the German September Gurls label following a flurry of interest from British & European independent record companies. 1995 saw both the release of the EP & the recording of their first full album Hazy Days, which appeared in 1996 to an enthusiastic response from the European underground music press. It was immediately popular & established Mary Jane’s reputation as “the best thing to happen to British folk-rock in many years”. A further EP, Isle of Wight, followed in 1997.

The second album, The Gates of Silent Memory, appeared in early 1999. Building on the success of the first, it successfully raised the band’s profile & brought the music to a much wider audience. The album was seen as a development & maturing of the band’s sound by the underground music press, who described its “rustic, mystic atmosphere” as markedly superior to its contemporaries in the genre. With a growing reputation for electrifying stage performances, the band went on to release a live sessions album, Tacit, in 2001.

Mary Jane signed to English label Seventh Wave in 2002 for their last studio release To the Prettiest One, which featured richer & more elaborate arrangements than those previously heard from the band. The album has carried the characteristic variety of the band’s music to still further horizons, drawing rave reviews from the American mainstream folk press. Mary Jane have concentrated mainly on live performances since then, and their energetic stage shows have also become an increasingly popular live attraction at various festivals throughout the southern UK during the past few years. The band have been working on new material and returned to the studio to start work on the recording of their fifth album, they hope to have it finished and released by the new year 2009.

Tags:   folk  rock  celtic  acid  psychedelic  pubs  clubs  festivals  and  private  parties  southampton 

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