MARIANNE GIRARD: In This Town

Marianne Girard

In This Town

© 2002 Marianne Girard/Socan/MyPaint Music (776127185721)

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Roots/alternative country, compelling voice,solid songwriting, consistently stellar performance. Making sense of life's poignant mysteries with fine melodies and soaring vocals.

tracks

1 Maverick Boy
2 In This Town
3 Where You Go
4 Know You Rider
5 If I Had Wings/Si J'avais Des Ailes
6 War Song
7 Fare Thee Well
8 Constantinople
9 Casablanca Bound
10 Sun Through The Bamboo

notes

In a small town north of Toronto Canada, a gentle storm hovers on the horizon. With her new CD, IN THIS TOWN,a groundswell has begun.

Marianne Girard has been turning heads with haunting vocals and compelling songwriting since the late 1970s. A regular on the folk circuit, Marianne started her musical journey in Nashville and New York before relocating to Toronto and eventually settling into Keswick, Ontario. Over the last decade Marianne has been building a quiet profile as a songwriter with appearances at festivals and showcases. As a music therapist for the past decade, Marianne understands the power of song and has created a magnificent collection directed by producer John Switzer and highlighted by Canada's finest musicians.

IN THIS TOWN captures the latest evolution of a lifetime's passion for music. For this album Marianne employs a full band, drawing on her traditional roots to weave her elegant lyrics into engaging arrangements. As a writer, Marianne embrances a graceful simplicity in making sense of life's poignant mysteries. With patient compassion and restless urgency she reveals both fool's gold and diamonds. There is an ache, a joy and a longing that are bone and sinew deep. She carries with her younger days of apple trees, tobacco fields, bad boys and tough small town girls, and singing in the church choir.

Radio, early folk records, and the Ed Sullivan Show brought the promise of a bigger world beyond the farmlands, and by 16 she had left home. By 18 she ws playing guitar, and by 21 she was in Nashville, where her voyage as a writer began in earnest. But, as she herself will tell you, she preferred the Smokey Mountains to the smokey songwriters' offices and bars, 'cause just like they say, 'You can't take the country out of the girl.'

Marianne Girard is an astonishingly gifted artist of great integrity, and clarity, and defiant faith in the human spirit. Her journey is one of discovery. And it is one she has steadfastly been willing to share with her audience, despite the vagaries of the show biz spotlight.

And then there is that voice; It resonates a purity of soul and a passion of conviction. Its sound can transform denim into angels'wings. It is described as 'compelling','riveting','haunting', and 'so close to perfect it's scary' by reviewers and audiences alike.

Electricity is afoot, just beneath the skin. It is the gentle storm of Marianne Girard.

reviews

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  • A lovely and solid album
    author: Eli Marcus

    I think that one measure of a good album is if you go around for days after listening to it with a couple of the songs constantly playing in your head. Marianne Girard's album "In This Town" is such an album. The clean and delicate production on this album lends a timeless quality to the fine lyrics and melodies. Songs like "If I Had Wings" and "In This Town" really stuck in my mind for the past week since the CD arrived. Her unusual arrangement of the traditional "Know You Rider" is also quite haunting due to the drone style guitar accompaniment. If you like the song samples, the rest of the album will not disappoint you at all, you have my solemn word...

  • Excellent! Enjoyed every track.
    author: Paul Goldberg

    This is an excellent cd. There is not a bad or even mediocre track. Marianne has a beautiful voice and is backed by a fine group of musicians. I hope that another album is not too far off in the future.

  • Marianne's work is wonderful folk music
    author: Warren Schmidt

    I heard Marianne on XM's "The Village" one evening as I was returning from visiting friends. Her wonderful voice and lyrics instantly appealed to me. This CD, "In This Town" shows Marianne's great talent, and has given me many hours of listening pleasure.

  • Simlpy one of Canada's finest singer songwriters
    author: Garry Jackson

    Marianne Girard is simply one of Canada's finest singer songwriters. She will strike a certain chord with any listener with her honest passionate stories of life. Her music comes from that special place, and is voiced with a haunting beauty.

  • Those songs, that voice ... as good as it gets
    author: Malcolm O'Brien

    This is a 'desert island' album for me. In fact, I just leave it on repeat play at the office. In this role it has supplanted... Marianne's previous album. It may be that there are other singers who can finesse a vocal as well as she, but I don't know who they are. :) And though the instrumentation is very, very good, it's that voice that rivets me. I swear my vital signs rise and fall in sync with her voice. Marianne Girard's voice is the magic carpet that transports me to a heavenly planet. And if that wasn't enough, the songs are excellent. In fact, I think Sun Through The Bamboo is about as good as any track I've ever heard. If it was the only track on the CD, I'd still have it on repeat play. But wait! You get seven other Marianne songs, plus two covers. Yes, the Know You Rider is the same traditional song that was covered by the Grateful Dead; but Marianne has a dramatically different styling of it. Casablanca Bound is by veteran Toronto singer/songwriter, Norm Hacking, and very well rendered here. In short, if you like this album half as much as I do, you'll really like it a lot. But don't take my word for it -- stream them! Listen. See if you don't agree.

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