$14.00
North Shore favorites Mary Lou Lord and Kate Redgate are working moms who have started, stopped, and restarted their musical careers.
Mary Lou Lord’s interest in music started when she worked as a DJ for Salem State college radio when she was just 13 years old. “It was really a learning experience for me. I wasn’t playing anything trendy, cause I didn’t know what was trendy… listeners were highly entertained that a 13-year-old girl was running the show, would call up and tell me how great they thought my show was.” After a while, Lord decided to concentrate on making her own music. After a stint at Boston’s Berklee School of Music, she moved to London to study audio engineering. There she happened upon the world of busking: playing music on the streets for money.
Mary Lou got herself a guitar and made music in London’s Tube. She moved back to the U.S. and played her way around Los Angeles and San Francisco until she ended up back home in the Boston area, where she made her mark at the Park Street and Harvard Square subway stations. She has even recorded a CD called “City Sounds” at those two “prestigious” busking locations. “I got deeper and deeper into music, always looking for the perfect song to cover that week in the subway. I would play stuff by Sandy Denny, Nick Drake, Richard Thompson, etc.” She recalls it being a time of great discovery and camaraderie among her fellow musician folk. She soon became a well-known face among the coffeehouse crowd and the local folk rock circuit. It was during those days of learning her trade that she met Shawn Colvin, who became one of her biggest supporters and mentors.
Mary Lou also befriended two other stars-to-be during her early coffeehouse years: Kurt Cobain and Elliot Smith. She and Cobain had an intense but relatively short relationship prior to Courtney Love’s appearance on the scene. She observed Kurt’s troubled nature before Nirvana’s groundbreaking “Nevermind” was a Top 10 recording. Lord encountered Elliot Smith and was blown away by his music and they soon went on tour together. She cites Smith as one of the “most intelligent people” she’s ever had occasion to meet. That both songwriters died prematurely and made such a mark on Lord’s emotive style is both eerie and profound in a musical sense.
Perusing reviews of Mary Lou’s recordings clearly shows that all of her fans and admirers really want her to succeed and to become better known than she is. Her latest CD, “Baby Blue,” is an absolute gem of a quiet little record and the title track is a stellar performance of the Badfinger tune. Mary Lou has chosen motherhood and less touring and promotion, and that has been a good thing for her personally. She’s making a rare appearance at the Me&Thee and the coffeehouse is thrilled!
Kate Redgate makes the trek from Newburyport to Marblehead for this gig. Hot on the heels of opening for the legendary Richie Havens, Kate is excited to make her Me&Thee debut. A single mother and full time musician, she is making a name for herself in this area. With over a decade of performing under her belt, she is at the top of her game, combining searing vocals with strong guitar playing. Her songs are deeply personal and passionate and also have an immediate universal appeal. As a young mother, Kate found it difficult to bridge the gap between music and motherhood, so she laid down the guitar while raising the babies for several years. Now, along with her children, music consumes her life once again. She started performing professionally again about five years ago.
Redgate was chosen as one of seven songwriters by singer-songwriter Harvey Reid to be on the inaugural “Seacoast Songwriters Compilation” in 2001 — a disc Reid intended to use as a spotlight for some of the terrific working songwriters north of Boston. Produced by master guitarist Reid, the CD is meant to “celebrate and call attention to this group of artists, and help them be properly appreciated in a star-driven entertainment world that focuses on national and international artists that are controlled by large entertainment corporations.”
Kate was included in a “Boston’s Best” songwriter sampler. She can be heard on more and more regional discs as a back-up vocalist, and has finally released her debut CD, “Rough Tracks,” a disc of ten solo acoustic songs that is getting good reviews from press and listeners alike. One reviewer said of Redgate’s performance on this CD: “She has a fine sense of rhythm and groove. This is no oversensitive waif, this is a songwriter with intelligence, attitude and muscle. Redgate gives a nod to both Reid and his wife, Joyce Andersen, by her wonderful interpretations of their songs: “Missing a Train” and “Dizzy with a View.” These songs and Kate’s most requested tune, “Mississippi Moon,” are the real highlights of this CD.”
