Singer-songwriter Marie McGilvray believes in that which cannot be seen. She believes in following her muse, a creative force which led her back to music and the crafting of songs. She recognizes signs over coincidences. She gives words to the exhilaration, inspiration and grief of others. Idealistically, she believes that music should be first about the art, the intangible gift, with less emphasis on the business.
Marie picked up the guitar as a child and began writing and performing in her teens. She played in bands, achieved moderate success, and left music for a career in occupational therapy. Her job took her to Nashville, where she soon felt herself drawn back to music.
"I’m just so grateful to have rediscovered myself as an artist and have the opportunity to share that," she reveals warmly. "I do know now that it’s really who I am and why I’m here."
Marie believes in the power of intention, in asking the universe for what you need and being receptive to its response. When she began the process of recording her debut EP, Big Love, she soon realized she needed help. Days later, she met musical director/producer Ron Gomez—in her very own home, as the plumber working on her tub. The two discovered they’d grown up a town apart in California and were both musically inclined; they were soon to learn their deeper roles in each others’ stories.
"He really challenged me to know who I was as an artist and make every word count," Marie says of Ron’s involvement. "The recording process was a lot of work but very magical. He has helped me immensely with song arrangements and instrumentation. And he adds so much to the live show!"
Big Love begins with "Bicksford Station," a classic story song which tells of the determination to wait for a lover’s return. Similarly themed yet wholly different in tone and arrangement is the Latin-tinged "Unavoidable Fire." "Calm," "Breathe" and "Lily" are united in theme and optimism, offering comfort and reprieve in the midst of the harsher times of life. The title track is a classic rock-pop sing-along, while the EP’s closer "We Are One (Mockingbird)" ends things on a compelling note of declaration.
"I wrote this song after the last election," Marie says of "We Are One." "I was very saddened by the division in our country and felt very hopeless. Around the same time, the theme of the mockingbird was popping up everywhere." Visits by birds to her back porch and front yard, a vintage painting at a garage sale, and references to Harper Lee’s classic novel led Marie to research the bird, which gave her hope. "While the mockingbird has a beautiful song of its own, it most often sings the songs of other birds." That image, she says, inspired the song, "the idea that, if we were able to listen to each other—sing their songs, so to speak—it may do wonders for the state of our world."
And so it is humbly offered that, if we were to listen to the songs of Marie McGilvray, it may do wonders for the state of our being. Marie’s songs unite, pacify, elate, inspire. Marie gives voice to the hearts and souls of all of us; she sings our songs oh, so beautifully.
