MJ BISHOP: Hometown Address

MJ Bishop

Hometown Address

© 2001 MJ Bishop (634479255823)

CD IN STOCK. ORDER NOW. Will ship immediately.

Straits of Mackinac meets Puget Sound and someone from Nashville crashes the party. Introspective originals in a country and Northwestern vein.

tracks

1 Fire Silk
2 Life's Turnstile
3 The Harvest
4 Hole in My Heart
5 Somethin's Gotta Give
6 Cruel Playground
7 Straits of Mackinac
8 Souls
9 Hiding Place
10 Cowboy
11 Last Ride
12 The Color Blue
13 Hometown Address

notes

MJ Bishop took advantage of a rare August ice thaw to make her break from Michigan's Upper Peninsula and come to Seattle several years ago.

She has entertained Puget Sound fans for over ten years, singing classic rock, jazz/blues and country tunes.

Music was there right from the start for MJ - in third grade, she started piano lessons and moved on to the trumpet through high school.

She also showed her poetic gifts early on, but only a few years ago did she begin putting the two together.

Unable to afford a red sports car for a mid-life crisis (which never took hold anyway), MJ bought an acoustic guitar in 1998 and turned her energies to songwriting.

Many of the tunes on her full-length debut CD, Hometown Address, explore childhood in a small town, a Catholic upbringing, love and broken hearts.

They are by turns lighthearted, poignant, silly, and nostalgic, and they focus on the surroundings of her youth and her ability to appreciate them now.

The toe-tapping "Cowboy" gets fans on their feet, the quiet reflection of "Hometown Address" touches a sympathetic chord for everyone, and you'll be eager to visit the Upper Peninsula after you've heard about the "Straits of Mackinac." With this excellent album now under her belt, MJ will be focusing on new material and performances.

She's one to watch as her singing and songwriting develop.

MJ's found her niche as a songwriter in a Nashville-oriented folk vein, and she's sticking around for the long haul.

Hope you will too!

reviews

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  • Fabbo Album
    author: Ian Lang

    Lovely instrumentation....strong songs and FANTASTIC vocals...Loved it enough to order the new 'un !

  • Great songs!
    author: Eva Tree

    Instrumentation is fantastic. Perfect to lift the vocals where they need to be! Lovely husky voice.

  • Awesome CD!
    author: Duane (from the Driftwood)

    I met MJ in St. Ignace a few weeks ago. I didn't really get to see her perform her music, but I did get to watch her do some Karaoke. She gave me her card, and I bought this CD when I got back to my home in Michigan's lower peninsula. I really like the overall theme of this CD, the lyrics are very powerful. I think many of us have left home. Some of us actually go back, while others just think about it. MJ misses Michigan, but not enough to move back. Her Lyrics reflect what she feels. It's honest. It's powerful. It's a great CD!

  • Wonderful, nostalgic, it hit home!
    author: Laurie Fisher

    Hi MJ. I love your CD. I didn't have a CD player in my car, so I had to go out and buy a new car so I could listen to your CD on the way to work! Outstanding music, lyrics, and voice. Keep it up!

  • author: Iain Holden

    This CD has made the trip across the Atlantic to Scotland and don't let anyone give you the crap about American wines not travelling well. We Scots like our country (ish) music too - half the old C&W songs had their roots in Scots and Irish songs brought in by the migrant workers. The MJ Bishop band have taken some Countryish themes and made something all their own from them, breathing new life into the old wine skins ( always did tend to mix my metaphors ) Anyway the result is a delight to listen to if you're not dead between the ears. Give it a try - you won't regret it.

  • Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!
    author: Sharol

    I've put this CD on often in the past few weeks. What caught my initial attention was the smoothness of MJ Bishop's voice. The title of the first track, "Fire Silk," describes it perfectly. What a gift she has. And, as I continued to listen, I began to appreciate the depth of the beautiful instrumental layers. My favorites tend to be "Fire Silk" and "Straits of Mackinac." It's apparent a lot of sweat and soul went into the making of this CD. I especially enjoy having it playing quietly in the background when friends come over. They invariably ask, 'Who is this?' It should be heard by all, even by those who think they don't like country.

  • The Northwest's first Downhome Diva
    author: Jeff Frank

    MJ is the northwest's first downhome diva. She's as hot as a chilipepper and as sharp as a knife, but has a voice as smooth as silk. You'd better buy this CD before she becomes a star!

  • If This Album Were on Vinyl I'd Be Wearing It Out
    author: Richard Hutter

    The songs are very good: well written and well sung.  It's remarkable how much range of expression is here in this collection.  I like the poignant-and-fun mix in "Cruel Playground" which has become my surprise favorite, with "Souls" a close second.  All the music is listenable and enjoyable enough to demand (and hold up to) repeated playing -- the mark of a great album. Thank God for the compact disc, because if this album were on vinyl, I'd be wearing it out!

  • is just the kind of music i like to listen to
    author: roberta mcphee

    the cd it self is is so great and the band was wonderful.mj has a wonderful voice and how she switches her singing from high octave and then down to a bass.i know as her aunt she waited for this to happen for a lone time. were pasting it around in st.ignace. and given out the new web site. just love it. marshmellow hugs to you all. love aunt berta and uncle buck

  • This CD is MJ, inspiring, intelligent, introspective, and "in"-ticing.
    author: Joe Brigman

    I've heard quite a few Country and Northwestern artists, but I can never remember their names once a day or two comes between me and their music. MJ Bishop's "Home Address" stays with me. Her lyrics embody poetic depth. Her band is tight. Her melodies echo traditional country, but never obstruct the fresh vitality of her voice. MJ has hit a home run. Ms. Bishop has all that it takes to be a Country STAR! She is petite, gorgeous, talented, bright, and ambitious. In the new world of video, she is a natural. Unfortunately, she doesn't live in Nashville, and her music is not shallow enough to appeal to the mass pop audience, and thus the suits that push it upon us. Still, there is reason to hope. Dwight Yoakum reminded us of our twanging roots with his Bakersfield sound, Allison Krause brought back the joy and beauty of Bluegrass, and Junior Brown showed us how much fun you can have with a gruff voice and a guit-steel. These acts are hardly mainstream Nashville, but they have contributed to the depth and breadth of modern Country. Who knows? Should MJ get a break, her talent and other assets could lead a breach of this boundary and introduce a neglected regional style to the nation.

  • More than "just" country.
    author: Peter Stekel

    A friend gave Hometown Address to me as a birthday present and I must admit I was pleased by the quality of songwriting, singing and musicianship on the CD. I'm not a big country fan so Bishop's CD was a pleasent surprise. Most contemporary country music is cliche; songs about pickup trucks, cheating on your spouse, how great it is to be an American or any of a list of rural-middle America myths. It doesn't have to be that way. The best of country music comes from performers who use the genre to explore unique regional experiences. Like other innovators in country music, MJ Bishop has developed a style that is commercial [listen to the Cowboy song and think, "Top Ten"] but personal as well. And by personal, I mean artistic. I think that what makes MJ Bishop stand out so much comes from her wide exposure to different kinds of music. I didn't realize this until reading her biography but it explained [at least to me] why music from Hometown Address doesn't carry that same monotonous country feel you hear on the radio. I'd put Bishop up there with all the other country innovators [Rosanne Cash, Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt, and Dolly Parton] who don't think they must be confined by country music but who use the music to expand their art. And by doing so, they expand our lives and experiences.

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