Ben (left), Josh (centre), Sharon (right)
Ben (left), Josh (centre), Sharon (right)
First formed in April, 2002, the trio became regulars at Santa Fe's Cowgirl Hall of Fame Restaurant, and quickly built up a reputation locally, performing 100 shows in their first 200 days! They were originally known as "The Backsliders", a name which turned out to be in use elsewhere. It is, therefore, under the more distinctive name, Mary and Mars, that the trio reached out to audiences beyond their New Mexico base. In the Spring and Summer of 2004 they were involved in an extensive tour, mainly in the Western states, and included appearences at the South by South West Festival in Austin, Texas, and the "Big Wu" Festival, at Clarks Grove, Minnesota. After the enthusiastic following they built up in the area around Santa Fe, this led to favourable reviews in several papers and on-line.
Sharon Gilchrist singing her own composition "Cold Dark Ground", during a Mary and Mars performance at Stella Blue in Albuquerque.
Mary and Mars' self-titled debut CD was a well-produced compilation that reflected their high musical standards. Each member of the trio took the lead on some of the songs, which were often their own compositions (with two or three Bluegrass standards, including Bill Monroe and Tim O'Brien numbers, also included). Two numbers were instrumentals (and there is some fine playing throughout the album), while most of the songs contained some memorable harmony singing.
While Bluegrass is the prevailing theme of the album, other influences, from Hispanic to Swing can also be heard. "Cold, Dark Ground", for example is a striking new song, rooted in the Appalachian and Transatlantic tradition of love tragedies; "One Less Fiesta in New Mexico" is a pointed reflection on a threatened culture; "Somehow, Someday", an upbeat number recalling Western Swing; "Will You Fall in Love With Me", another spirited love song with echoes of older Atlantic roots.
The complete track listing for the "MARY AND MARS" album is:
Note: Sharon and Josh swap mandolin and bass on tracks 3 and 8. The trio are joined by guest musicians Michael McLain (banjo) on track 8, Stephan Dudash (5 string violin) on track 10, and Shad Cobb (fiddle) on track 12.
The CD is sold through CD Baby, who also have some sample tracks and a review. They handle international mail orders.
A second album, a live recording of a performance at Taos, New Mexico, was also released, to coincide with the later stages of the group's 2004 tour.
This was a wide-ranging collection of thirteen generously-timed tracks, in which familiar Bluegrass names like Ralph Stanley and Jim and Jesse mingled with less expected figures, not only from folk-rock but also from the wider pop scene. The choice ranged from Bob Dylan and Tom Petty to Bob Marley and Burt Bacharach, and this showed a confidence in their style that was justified by the thoughtful arrangements and the commitment they brought to the mood of each song. While this collection, unlike their first studio album, did not contain very many of their own interesting compositions, a distinctive "Mary and Mars" sound still stamped the varied material they presented. This reflected the command the Trio had of their instruments, with often intricate individual passages blending skillfully into a memorable stage sound which some artists might only be able to match with ample help from backing musicians. As before, the alternation of voices in the lead vocals was well used to match the themes of the songs. The treatment remained true to the group's strong accoustic traditions, while the material also reached out to audiences perhaps not regularly drawn to modern Bluegrass.
"Deck of Cards", performed at the Old Blinking Light, won the "Best Recording of a Live Performance" category at the 2004 New Mexico Music Industry Awards
Track listing for "LIVE AT THE OLD BLINKING LIGHT"
CD Baby have provided a full set of sound samples for these tracks.
From a photograph by Zoë Zimmerman
Sharon from the Mary and Mars Farewell site
The Oyster Ridge Music Festival (where Mary and Mars appeared in 2003) have a series of photos of the trio onstage.
A selection of reviews of Mary and Mars:
ABQ
Journal
Roots 66
Music (A review of the CD).
Orion
Online (a review from California of a concert on the 2004 tour)
An interesting article by Tricia Seeberg, in Crested Butte Weekly gives details on Mary and Mars, including a comment from Sharon on how the name of the trio came to her in a dream, and how the CD came to be made.
The Wright Family have a website that includes a biography of Ben, and
details of his innovative solo CD, entitled "Mi".
Ben has also recently joined "Bing", a group discussed here
Details of an earlier recording by Josh Martin are available at CD Baby.
Josh is listed on this musicians' register
The Mary and Mars website contained, until recently, biography pages for the three members, band news, and contact information, but in August 2004 it became a "farewell site", set up to thank fans, and now appears to have lapsed. Some pages from the original site have been included in the Internet Archive. Here is the link to Sharon's biography page.
Material on the original Mary and Mars website was published by Root 5 Music. The self-titled album cover was photographed by Darius Himes and designed by David O.Dabney of www.redroostercreative.com. The live album cover was photographed by Zoë Zimmerman and designed by www.digerati-design.com. It was issued by Big Headed Kid Music. The venue was The Old Blinking Light restaurant in Taos, New Mexico (www.oldblinkinglight.com). Mary and Mars' first regular appearences were at the Cowgirl Hall of Fame in Santa Fe, NM (www.santafenow.com/rest/cowgirl). The venue for the "Cold, Dark Ground" picture was Stella Blue in Albuquerque, NM (www.stellablueabq.com)
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