Author Archives: Marian Call

Announcement: Something New.

You haven’t heard much news from me lately.  It’s been a quiet lovely spring at home for a change.  But hibernation is over, and it’s time for something fierce.  Something fiercer.

Next month I am going to start recording a new album.  My ninth album.

A Really Big Serious Studio Album.

It will be my first Really Big Serious Studio Album since Something Fierce.

This album will have my biggest and bravest new songs, the deepest and toughest feelings, and the true sorts of words we all need to hear.  There will be one million drums.*  There will be acres of harmonies.**  There will be holler and stomp, there will be risk and momentum.  There will be clapping of hands and banging on every kitchen implement.  There will be history and fantasy and double-meanings and triple-rhymes and visitations by ghosts past, present, and future.  There will be typewriter and rainstick and Zippy and ocarinas and bells.  My maturing deepening travel-worn voice will be on it, sounding all new.***

And there will be a lot of your voices on it by the end.

The album title:

Standing Stones

I’m spending this June in Austin, TX recording the bones of the project with Scott Barkan on guitar and Bryan Ray at the helm as co-producer — some of you know these guys.  The Austin sessions will kick off a massive/familiar/exhausting/thrilling labor of love that will take a lot of months, I don’t know how many.  You can look forward to super loopy 3am tweets and questionable food choices as I chisel out the meaning in the music.  (Spaghettios cold from the can with cabernet? Really, Marian? We all know malbec would pair better.****)

I am gonna need your help, guys.  To the Donors’ Circle: I’ll start presenting you material at a faster and faster clip, and in June you’ll hear a lot from me. And I’d love to hear a lot back from you, because this is your hour — this is getting to the fun part of being a member.  To the not-yet-Donors’-Circle — if this post makes you super excited, get in the Donors’ Circle!  Or participate in one of the upcoming fundraisers.  And be sure you’re on my email list, that’s really really important and a very small sacrifice.

TEXAS – CALIFORNIA – WASHINGTON – ALASKA.  I am playing *preview shows* in a few cities, and if you’re there, I really need you to come and give me feedback and help me road-test the songs.  Normal shows this year won’t have most of the new material, but these shows will, and they’ll be kind of experimental.  Get on the email list (with your zip code!) to know details like venues & ticket links:

  • AUSTIN on June 12, Blackerby Violin Shop (full band show!)
  • HOUSTON — postponed but just until autumn!
  • DALLAS on June 14 at Poor David’s (full band show!)
  • LOS ANGELES July 8 at Room 5 (with awesome friends)
  • SAN DIEGO July 10 at 98 Bottles (with awesome friends)
  • SEATTLE July 28 at the Jewel Box (tickets!)
  • ANCHORAGE September date TBA

Show details for most of these are already posted over at https://mariancall.com/shows/.

I’ll provide the music if you guys will come and listen.  If you know a big empty concert room we can use, Houston denizens, let me know — in all of these cities I need your ears ever so much, I need your feedback — and I need your butts in seats, next to the butts of your coworkers and your gaming group and your grandparents.

Okay I’m gonna stop announcing now and get back to writing.  Art. Art art art art.

The plane tickets are bought, the studio is booked, the microphones are being selected — and you and me, we are all boarding for a helluva flight.  There may be bumps.  Tray tables up and locked, everyone.

If you’re excited, let me know.  Better yet, let someone else know.  Watch this space.

Yours always, fiercely,

Marian Call

*If you like ‘Temporal Dominoes‘ and ‘ESB‘ and ‘Ina Flew the Coop‘ and my other songs full of drums, then you will be pleased with the direction I’m taking.

**If you like the weird awesome harmonies in ‘Nerd Anthem‘ you’ll be happy to know there are gonna be more of those than ever before.  With actual backup singers.

***New and badass.  I like my voice now more than I ever have.  I discovered bourbon and toured 50 states after Something Fierce was mostly recorded — wish it had been the other way around.

****Really.

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Molly and Marian Together Again

Molly-and-Marian-square
Molly and Marian together in Alaska for the first time!
Ukulele songstress and comedienne Molly Lewis joins Marian for ukulele jams and concerts in Juneau, Alaska. Details here…

  • 5/19 Kindred Post hosts a happy hour ukelele jam at 5pm
  • 5/19 House Concert on Starr Hill, 7pm
  • 5/20 Concert at the Gold Town Nickelodeon 7:30pm, $10, all ages

Spring in the Northwest

Photo by Brian Adams, http://baphotos.com

Spring Tour Dates 2015

Tour time is here again — Marian will be playing concerts in Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia in March!  See the tour dates and details here.  Facebook events are available here — invite your friends!  Fantastic photo above is by Brian Adams from Anchorage Alaska.
A few house concert dates are still available in the Pacific Northwest, and later this year in Texas — write to marian@mariancall.com.
  • Tsawwassen, BC // March 12
  • North Saanich (Victoria), BC // March 13
  • !!!PI DAY PICNIC!!! in Vancouver, BC // 3.14.15
  • Vancouver, BC // March 15
  • Duwamish, WA // March 19
  • Portland, OR // March 20-22
  • Shoreline (Seattle), WA // March 25
  • Redmond, WA // March 26
  • Nerds & Music!!! w/Paul & Storm and friends!!! Seattle, WA // March 27
  • ECCC booth 106 // March 27-29

See more concert details

Got to Fly Again

Artwork by Karen Luke FildesGot to Fly Again

After six long years, Got to Fly has returned on CD!

Got to Fly is my second album from 2008, produced by Quantum Mechanix and inspired by Firefly and Battlestar Galactica.  Although young and raw and eclectic, it remains one of my fans’ favorite records, and I sing songs from it most every night on tour.

The first printing was a limited edition of 1000 signed and numbered discs, and those have been sold out for years.  But this November, by your many many requests, I have released a new CD in a recycled materials CD wallet, with all new artwork by Karen Luke Fildes (yup, my Mom)!  They’re not in fancy jewel cases, it’s a little more reserved packaging than the limited edition, but I am sure you’ll enjoy it.  It costs $12.95 plus S&H, and through Bandcamp we ship to Canada and abroad at or below cost.

Click here to order!

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Soup in Song

  For the annual Worldbuilders fundraiser, Marian Call and Patrick Race filmed “Never Measure,” Marian’s favorite soup recipe in song!  The recipe is for smoked salmon potato corn chowder (ingredients and process in text below).  And keep an eye out for the Biscuit Cheat Code, which unlocks 2-ingredient 10-minute PERFECT biscuits.

Worldbuilders is a fundraiser for Heifer International, created by Kingkiller Chronicles author Patrick Rothfuss.  It is full of amazing, and you should check it out! . . .

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New Music for Christmas!

Artwork by Patrick RaceAnnouncing a NEW Live Holiday EP to get us all through the Christmas season: Yippee Ki Yay by Marian Call.

These eclectic songs span the holiday experience, from liturgical plainsong and heartfelt hymns to an old-fashioned Airing of Grievances.  Listen or download for free at Bandcamp today!

**Note: the title track has grown-up language, because it’s quoting a classic holiday movie that is for grown-ups.  All other tracks are family-friendly as usual.**

Good Old Girl

****Update: woohooo! We did it!  Read more at the bottom!****

Hi friends — this is a blog post just for those of you who know me well and love me still.  If you don’t know my work or my music or my community very well, then you should maybe start somewhere else and don’t worry about this post. This post is for the veteran fans, the enthusiasts.

This Is A Long Drive.Hello all. This is my fall tour.  Portland to Portland and back again.  It is a long way, and I am excited to drive it, but also my car and I are getting a little bit older. Aren’t we all! And my car decided it was time to ask for some help.  And that made me decide that maybe I should ask you guys for some help.

I’m proud of my Subaru Forester. She’s my Good Old Girl.  I’ve driven her 115,000 miles through 49 states and Canada in a very short time — she’s 185,000 miles young.  And I’ve had only a few major repairs. She’s the only piece of property I truly own — I paid her off just this spring.

I gave my trusty car a thorough checkup before setting out, like I always do, and **thankfully** we found a number of things that needed fixing.  I say “thankfully” because Good old girl.I very much hope that we found it all now, in advance, and because the price tag was $1000 or so less than we briefly thought. So I am trying to be thankful.  Thankful in the face of Substantial Subaru Subsidies.  It’s not that hard when I think of how far we’ve come together and what a good car she’s been.

The final repair bill was in the neighborhood of $1500 plus a $150 car rental. We had to do the timing belt and drive belts and some pumps, plus a wheel bearing and a second-opinion inspection that I’m very glad we did.

$1650 is not a lot for some of you, but it’s really a lot for me. Sometimes I can absorb that, but this time around I couldn’t, so it’s all going on the Credit Card of Death. (I considered not doing some of the repairs, but right after this trip I had hoped to sell my Good Old Girl — to my Mom. And failing to repair a car that you’re selling to your Mom is how you get a premium platinum membership to H-E-Doublehockeysticks.)

So I’m asking for a little help.  Not because I’m the best cause out there (I’m not) or because it’s truly critical (it’s not).  If you only have $10 to give to charity this month, you should maybe choose something else more crucial.*** (See note below!)

But a lot of you have already told me that you want to know about this, and that you want to assist. Thank you.

Here’s how to help:

Before I even asked some of you jumped in, and together you’ve contributed over $600, so we’re well on our way!

Subaru loveI don’t have the time or space to create a rewards system or set up a fancy fundraiser website, so this is lo-fi, it’s bootleg, it’s simple.  I don’t want to make a ton of noise about this, because I’ll probably have to do a big fundraiser in spring and I try very hard not to ask too often.  If you opt to help me cover the cost of my car repairs, you won’t get a shiny new toy — your reward is that I will be starting my tour in the same-old-amount of Crushing Debt rather than tons-and-tons-more Crushing Debt.  And that’s something.  If that sounds like a reward to you — if you like my music a lot and hope I can someday make music without all the Crushing Debt — then you should join the effort.

Fundraising is my least favorite part of being an independent musician but it has been part of nearly every artist’s life forever.  So thank you for your support — thank you for your patience — thank you for asking me if you can help, even before I have asked you.  You guys are amazing.  You’re the best.  And I hope I get to visit you on tour or play a concert for you online very very soon.  I’ll drive til I’m numb, I’ll travel all I can, I’ll work my butt off to bring you art because I believe in the power of art. You guys have always met me there, and I thank you. Unceasingly.

Love from the road —

Marian Call

*******Update! You guys are incredible — you funded me all the way in just a few minutes! Thank you!  I’ll be making a contribution from some of the excess to one of these good causes, to show my gratitude: “If you only have $10 to give to charity this month, you should maybe choose something else more crucial.” They range from shark conservation to artists (yes, my Mom, no shame, she needs & deserves it) to ebola to red cross to microlending to net neutrality.  If you got here after the fundraising was completed, do consider one of these causes instead for a tip! Or go tip another artist who could use a lift!  Almost no feeling is as good as the feeling of helping someone else.  Go get that feeling.

If you’re super into helping *me* specifically after this short read, then you should tell all your friends about my fall tour, or sign up for my email list so you don’t miss shows near you, or post a blog or a tumbl or an Amazon review or a whatever about one of my albums, or give some songs to a friend, or just go listen to my music and enjoy it.

Thank you a million times over!******

Photo on 9-17-14 at 6.54 PM #4

Christmas in September

Marian Call photo by Brian Adams baphotos.com Christmas in September

Dear Seattle:  Marian Call is recording a holiday EP (Christmas but also a number of other holidays) and you are invited to come hear it a little bit early! It’s Christmas in September at Empty Sea Studios in Phinney Ridge.  Come be part of the studio audience for an intimate listening room performance — and hear a whole lot of songs that have rarely been performed in public.

Marian will be playing through much of Sketchbook live With Seth Boyer on guitar, Paul Pew on keyboard, and special guest appearances.  But once that’s done, prepare for a lot of surprises: ancient carols, new originals, Ogden Nash art songs, and surprises.

Sept. 19th, 8pm, $16/20, tickets available now at http://www.emptysea.com/category/events/.  Only 40 seats available, so get tickets early!  Empty Sea Studios, 6300 Phinney Ave N Seattle, WA 98103.
All ages welcome — note that this performance will be recorded, so we’ll need silence during all songs.

So why Christmas in September?  From Marian:

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Sharrrrrk hats! There be Sharrrrrk hats!

Shark Hat by Tally Heilke

Note: orders are currently closed, we sold most of the hats! Hooray! If you are interested in getting one, let me know and I’ll decide whether we make them available again sometime.

Need to get outfitted for Shark Week or Halloween? We have just the thing for you! Handmade by Tally Heilke with love, these shark fin hats come in six sizes and stand up tall on your head to show how much you love (and want to protect and conserve) the most awesome animal on the planet. Each hat is dark blue on the outside, and fully lined with a different colorful fabric — they are reversible if you prefer the inside fabric. There’s a bit of elastic at the back to ensure a good fit. From infants to XL, any head size will be comfortable.

**We recommend you choose a size larger rather than your exact hatband size — they look and feel better just a little big!**

Hats ship USPS first class in a padded envelope starting about August 4th, 3-5 business days after ordering. We have sold out of some sizes, and we’re custom making more — custom shark hats will take about 7-10 business days! And you’ll hear from us if you got one of those. Email sharkhat@mariancall.com with any questions.

Add Shark Hats to your Paypal cart, then add shipping, then check out! No Paypal account required.

(Orders currently closed, sorry! Email Marian if you still want one.)

US Shipping for up to 2 hats: $4.95 Add to Cart
US Shipping for up to 4 hats: $7.95 Add to Cart
Int’l Shipping for up to 2 hats: $9.95 Add to Cart
Int’l Shipping for up to 4 hats: $16.95 Add to Cart

Shark hats by Tally Heilke

Shark hats by Tally Heilke