Spider by Mary Eliza

Mary Eliza, Portland-based singer/songwriter, grew up playing music in a family band in Oakland, CA, and has spent the years since traveling, living in her van, and busking on city sidewalks. She finds community in the mountains she situates between, the streets she steps through, and the communities she opens her heart towards. The catchy hooks of her songs are reminiscent of the bluegrass origins of Mary’s music, while the old-time, indie folk carried through her instrumentation captures the years she spent on the road.

In her debut album “Spider,” Mary reminds us how the softest things are the strongest, and the sweetest things can stop you in your tracks. She pours her soul, unapologetically, into the poetry of her lyrics, and in collaboration with Preston Cochran and Jake Finch at Trace Horse Studios, she breathes an electrifying life and fire into this new record.

Mary’s artistry is that of a garden, where growth and death happen simultaneously, where something bright rises and blooms in dark places, where you can hold the whole experience of heartbreak, chronic illness, and overflowing love all at once.

Mary Eliza grew up building a thick skin busking in the streets of San Francisco with her family band. Through busking, she learned how to overcome a gravitation towards quietness at the age of six. These days she makes her keep teaching music (fiddle, ukulele, guitar, piano, singing, songwriting) to kids aged 5-12, and loves to spend time birding, bike touring, and fostering community.

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