BEST SONGWRITER 2020 WINNER IN CITY PAGES

Duluth-based for most of her prolific career, Bue moved to Minneapolis in 2017 and released a near-perfect EP, The Majesty of Beasts. After a three-year wait, a full-length follow-up, The World Is Your Lover, is due out this August, and it expands on everything that Bue does so well. Her lyrics are free-spirited but wary, resolute in the aftermath of failed and sometimes abusive love affairs, and her singer-songwriter’s sense of hooky structure gives her band a solid base to work up some sharp arrangements. How good is Bue? If you didn’t know the Tom Petty song on the new album was a cover, you’d think she wrote it. – City Pages

Minneapolis Star Tribune: Minneapolis rocker Mary Bue is in love with the world (yes, despite everything)

Mary Bue’s journey from Duluth to Minneapolis, New Mexico and India culminated in her best album yet, “The World Is Your Lover.”
Produced by Suburbs bassist Steve Price — with a cast of local all-star backers including Jeremy Ylvisaker, Molly Maher, Richard Medek and Cloud Cult’s Shannon Frid-Rubin — the ambitious 14-song collection veers between fiery ’90s fuzz-rock, bittersweet melodic pop and intimate, Stevie Nicks-ish gypsy musing. Beneath it all is a lyrical and spiritual base that could be expected from a songwriter who’s also a dedicated poet, meditator, yoga instructor, world traveler and all-out mystic.

Album review by LOW’S ALAN SPARHAWK:

“EVERY SCENE HAS ITS BRIGHT FLEETING HIGHLIGHTS, ITS FICKLE WAVE OF EACH GENERATION, AND ITS LONGTIME ANCHORS, BUT THROUGH THE SCENE I’VE KNOWN AND LOVED, IN DULUTH MN, MARY BUE HAS BEEN THE THREAD THAT RUNS SO EFFORTLESSLY THROUGH ITS HEART, HANDS, AND SOUL. SHE ARRIVED BOLDLY AND PROLIFIC. I HAVE HEARD HER PIANO CLIMBING OUT THE WINDOW AND CASCADING DOWN THE CENTRAL HILLSIDE NEIGHBORHOOD IN THE SUMMER AND  THE HOWL OF HER GUITAR MUFFLED IN THE BASEMENT IN WINTER. HER NEW RECORDING IS A TRIUMPH NOT ONLY AS A REFLECTION AND VICTORY OVER ADVERSITY, BUT AS ARCHITECTURE FOR HEALING AND CHANGE. I DON’T LET MYSELF BE LIFTED BY JUST ANYONE, BUT I CAN TRUST MARY. SHE MEANS IT.” – ALAN SPARHAWK

Music in Minnesota: Mary Bue delivers abundant love in “The World is Your Lover” 

It’s an interesting time releasing new music and finding the best path to send it out into the world. For City Pages “Best Songwriter” Mary Bue, that journey has resulted in her strongest album “The World is Your Lover.” … true representation of what our current world is going through and at the same time, how love is always a timeless message. – Tom Smouse

Duluth News Tribune “Best Bests” 

Honorary Duluthian Mary Bue is a few weeks from releasing her latest album, “The World is Your Lover.” There will be a live-streamed concert on Aug. 22 on Sacred Heart Music Center’s YouTube and Facebook page — but until then, you can wrap yourself in her new video, “Sh** Storm.”

This dusty western throwback opens with a crash of guitars and is set in an uncertain present-racing-toward-future. Bue imagines a burned out world where the earth starts cracking, bones start snapping and walls come crashing down. And, because she’s still got some Duluth DNA in there, a local reference: Lake Superior’s new name is the Superior Desert.

Mary Bue’s “Sh** Storm” video is available on YouTube. – Christa Lawler June 29th 2020

Music Video Premiere for “Shit Storm” on Americana UK

 

The haunting, apocalyptic new single from Mary Bue certainly captures the current mood.  ‘Shit Storm’ and the accompanying video will be released on 17th July – you get to see it here first.  It’s taken from the Minneapolis singer-songwriter’s new album, ‘The World is Your Lover’, due to drop on 21st August.  The song descends into a screeching, distorted guitar solo by the end, reflecting the unravelling of the world we know and the shit storm we find ourselves in.Although written back in 2017, the song seems particularly relevant now.  Bue says: “It arrived while hiking along the desolate and beautiful Rio Grande Gorge trails outside of Taos, New Mexico, but it has turned out to be a poignant, somewhat clairvoyant song for these times.”  Old footage of roaming buffalo, cacti and desolate landscapes reinforce the darkening mood.  Mary Bue tells is how it is. – Andrew Frolish – July 10th, 2020

9 O’clock Meltdown Podcast interview – July 13th 2020

The Prize Podcast Interview – June 24th 2020

Desert Islands with Doc on KFAI – mixtape + interview

Desert Islands is a weekly program that airs every Wednesday from 10-NOON (CST) on KFAI. Each week I make a mixtape based on my guests’ top 10, all time favorite, desert island records.

This episode features a virtual conversation with Mary Bue who’s new record had been scheduled to be released on May 21 but amidst a pandemic had to postpone until August 21. The new record features her new band the Monarchy and a video made by her guitarist Jeremy Ylvisaker.

Mixtape: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4WVdCq1z1vcmdKAhWzzpLb?si=JYbM1NtBSpacg-Wl-tjpDQ

Playlist:  https://www.kfai.org/episode/05-13-2020-desert-islands/

Interview on WTIP Community Radio with Will Moore – Grand Marais, MN June 2020

Innervisions: 4 Minnesota musicians on meditation, creativity, and peace of heart-mind – City Pages Minneapolis

For the following Minnesota musicians, meditation has helped balance the chaos of the loud world and the auditory rush of music making with the quiet inner soul so crucial to the creation of original thought, songs, and musical pieces. Here in their own words (edited for length and clarity) are four area songwriters, talking about their meditation practice and providing tips for anyone looking to dive deeper.  – Jim Walsh 9/25/19

Mizuno Artist Ambassador 2020 Interview

Earlier this year, Mizuno Running announced one part of our first Ambassador Program. Today, we proudly announce the second part – our first-ever of its kind, Artist Ambassador Program! These artists were hand-selected by the Mizuno Running team, based on their creative spirit and how it all uniquely coincides with running. Get to know one of the talented members of the team, Mary Bue, below.

Live from KUMD 103.3FM Studio A – 9.12.19

LISTEN HERE

Since our last visit with this Minnesota native, she made the difficult decision to close her Twin Cities yoga studio in order to follow the pull of making music her full-time job. Bue assembled a new band to record her forthcoming album, The World is Your Lover. Her website describes the collection, due to be released early next year, as “power pop, piano dream waves, and layers and layers of shimmery 90’s influenced guitars.” A lifelong seeker, Bue recently traveled to India, which led to her adding a new instrument, the harmonium, to her repertoire. She brought that with her when she joined us in the studio on September 12 to give us a preview of her solo show the same evening at Blush in Duluth and tell us more about what she’s been up to since her last Live from Studio A session. – Christine Dean

Mary Bue returns to play live on the WTIP Scenic Route

Twin Cities songwriter Mary Bue is back from an extended trip to South Asia and back on the North Shore, with a new album not too far behind her. She joins Will Moore on the Scenic Route to talk about her time in Bali, teaching yoga at Naniboujou lodge this fall, and all about her upcoming record The World is Your Lover, of which she plays four new songs live. – Will Moore

Savasana Grunge Nature Gorgeous Music – Northern Spirit Radio Interview

Listen here to an interview with Mark Helpsmeet on Song of the Soul

Mary Bue

Mary Bue’s music has reverberations of all the rich and wonderful things she’s done and places she’s lived. Sure, she’s an Indie musician and yoga studio owner, but she also was a psychology major, a grunge rock devotee, and she’s a sumptuous pianist, plays hot licks on her electric guitar, is a vegan nature-lover, and is a rolling stone gathering little moss.

Duluth Homegrown Music Festival 2019 Day 4 Recap – Duluth News Tribune

Mary Bue returned with a new band of people who’ve maybe never even lived in Duluth. She’s always been a rock ‘n’ roll activist, and this go-round she added an apocalyptic song that references climate change and another about an abusive relationship. But she’s got love songs about all the kissing and she flashed back, Retro Bue, to her once-a-week four-hour solo shows at Sir Benedict’s. She performed new music from her upcoming album, her sequin top blinked under the stage lights and she closed with her ode to D-Town, “The Sh** I Left in Duluth” (potentially the most Go-Go-esque of all songs referencing Duluth). – Christa Lawler

Mary Bue unleashes her fantastic beasts – Minneapolis Star Tribune

Before she left for the desert, Bue also traveled to Nashville to record her new EP, “The Majesty of Beasts,” a stunning collection that covers thicker personal terrain in four quick songs than is found on most full-length albums. … It’s high time Bue’s talent becomes more universally known in her newly adopted hometown.

Mary Bue sings about surviving sexual assault and leaving Duluth on her new EP – City Pages

Her momentum hasn’t slowed since. Bue’s seventh release, The Majesty of Beasts, is a brief but powerful pop-rock EP that veers between fierce jams and wistful ballads

Back from New Mexico,  Mary Bue talks about Residencies and Crowdfunding – 89.3 The Current Blog

Singer-songwriter Mary Bue recently finished up a three-month residency in Taos, New Mexico as an artist-in-residence at the Wurlitzer Foundation. The longtime Duluthian, now based in Minneapolis, talked with Duluth Local Show host Mike Novitzki about her experience with residencies, and the challenges and triumphs they provide.

New EPs from Minnesota acts illustrate that short can be sweet – Review – Duluth News Tribune

…To her great credit, Bue makes her song both steely-eyed direct and metaphorical by turns, and she lets herself and her band whip up a noisy, jagged storm that is quite dramatic and intense.

KFAI 90.3 Interview & performance on Womenfolk Radio Show w/ DJ Ellen Stanley – click to listen

Mary Bue says “See you next year” to Minnesota winters at the Icehouse – Twin Cities Media

Her infectious laugh, bright spirit, and desert sunset hair color (which got her stylist a shout out from the stage) brought great energy to the crowd…I am certain I am not alone in looking forward to the results of her residence and her new EP. 

Mary Bue serves up gut-punch Icehouse set before heading south City Pages 

As Mary Bue and her whip-crack band tuned up, it became clear that for all the smiles and laughs, they weren’t there to mess around. When 2007’s “No Turning Back” kicked the crowd in the gut, the tone became clear: This was no bullshit; it was a winter howl, a big riff riding tight rock ‘n’ roll rhythms.

Mary Bue powers through band split, divorce with desert session, yoga:  City Pages

Go west, Mary Bue! (But please come back.) – 89.3 The Current Blog

Local singer-songwriter Mary Bue has been awarded a residency from the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation to live and work in Taos, N.M. for three months. Before she goes, she’ll play a jubilant sendoff show with Alan Sparhawk (Low, Retribution Gospel Choir) and Molly Maher (of Disbelievers fame) at Icehouse on Saturday, Jan. 14. I caught up with her by phone on Friday to talk about her latest album Holy Bones, her evolving musical inspirations, and her upcoming adventure out west.

Minneapolis Star Tribune:

Mary Bue: After relocating from Duluth to Minneapolis last year, the hauntingly poetic, warmly voiced rocker is headed out on another adventure. She won a grant to become an artist-in-residence through April at the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation in Taos, N.M. A few musical friends, including Molly Maher and Low’s Alan Sparhawk, will join her in this send-off party. (10:30 p.m.Sat., Icehouse, Mpls., $8-$10, IcehouseMpls.com.)

American Wake for Mary Bue with Alan Sparhawk and Molly Maher at the Icehouse – Mostly MN Blog – (Live Review)

Mary Bue Opens Up About Sexual Assault on New EP “The Majesty of Beasts” – Thirty Roses Blog

Never one to fester in negativity, Mary did what Mary does; she turned to music. Her new EP, The Majesty of Beasts, is mostly about the past year. A raw look at her very real life, sharing experiences many people have gone through in a way we can all relate to.

Back to the City Minneapolis Podcast: Interview w/ Simon Calder about The Replacements Tribute & more

Minneapolis Star Tribune – BEST LOCAL ALBUMS OF 2015 (so far) 

Fans of ’90s alt-rock darlings like Belly and Jen Trynin will immediately take to the rocky hooks of songs like “Candy” and “Heart’s Desire.” Bue’s ghost-confronting, demons-wrestling lyrics seep in more slowly but prove similarly alluring. – Chris Riemenschnieder


Star Tribune:

Mary Bue: After relocating from Duluth to Minneapolis last year, the hauntingly poetic, warmly voiced rocker is headed out on another adventure. She won a grant to become an artist-in-residence through April at the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation in Taos, N.M. A few musical friends, including Molly Maher and Low’s Alan Sparhawk, will join her in this send-off party. (10:30 p.m.Sat., Icehouse, Mpls., $8-$10, IcehouseMpls.com.)

Minneapolis Star Tribune – BEST LOCAL ALBUMS OF 2015 (so far) 

Fans of ’90s alt-rock darlings like Belly and Jen Trynin will immediately take to the rocky hooks of songs like “Candy” and “Heart’s Desire.” Bue’s ghost-confronting, demons-wrestling lyrics seep in more slowly but prove similarly alluring. – Chris Riemenschnieder

Dancing About Architecture – UK – Album Review

Holy Bones is an album for the long haul, whilst it is sassy when required, totally accessible and even commercially viable in the bigger scheme of things, it is also an album that gives more upon each play. The lyrical observations and imaginings reveal more each time you contemplate their wider meanings, the musical structures become more embedded within the listener, the songs more memorable, the riffs more infectious, the hooks…well, hookier. There are darker, hidden, depths that take a bit of time to fully appreciate beneath the face value of the songs but once you spend a bit of time exploring the inner secrets of the album it will be one you return to time and time again. – Dave Franklin

The Herbivorous Butcher: Spotlight on Mary Bue – Interview w/ Laura Van Zandt

Occupation: Musician, owner/instructor at Imbue Yoga

What inspired you to switch to a plant-based diet?
I was on and off for many years. Finally, I watched a ton of documentaries and read a few books like The Food Revolution by John Robbins. I immersed myself in tons of information and it became apparent that the only way I could live compassionately was to not eat any animal products. What really tipped me over the edge was the cruelty, the environment, and I’ve always been a health nut. (click text for more of this interview about Mary’s plant-based diet).

Rift Magazine – “Rock n Roll w/ A Namaste Twist” Interview w/ Rebecca Marx

To say that Mary Bue is a mover and a shaker is a very literal statement, since the 2015 release of her grunge punk masterpiece Holy Bones, the musician’s career has been speeding along at a heady pace. This spring the Duluth based Bue pulled up stakes, making the move south to Minneapolis. Rift caught up with her to find out just how the transition is coming along. (click text for more interview)

Da Hip Hop Place – Album Review

Holy Bones has far more invention than we have a right to expect from established performers, but it’s clear that Bue’s interest isn’t in laying fallow and exploiting proven formulas but, instead, expanding her horizons as a human being and serious artist. This ranks among the year’s most interesting indie releases. – Cyrus Rhodes

Music Existence – Album Review

It’s quite brave of her to shift direction so starkly six albums into a career distinguished more for its critical plaudits than any commercial success. However, this possibly foolhardy move pays off artistically and listeners can hear how her clear, free-spirit approach works up a wicked groove throughout that doesn’t stop or fade out as the release moves through its eight tracks. – Montey Zike

Skopemag.com Album Review

It’s often when an artist takes unexpected detours that their voice truly emerges. Minnesota native Mary Bue has carved out a growing reputation as a piano balladeer and songwriter of unquestioned skill, but Bue’s sixth studio album sports a triumphant turn in artistic direction. Bue abandons the piano-driven sound of earlier efforts in favor of guitar-centered pieces with high melodic content and a surprising, appealing dissonance. Bue’s eight song collection touches on personal issues, but her songwriting vision encompasses a sharp sense of social commentary further shaped by her vivid imagination.

Gashouse Radio – Album Review – Philadelphia

 Rootstime.be – Album Review – Belgium 

[Translation]  The album “Holy Bones” is the fifth solo album from indie pop singer and pianist Mary Bue, whose career took off in 2001 with her debut album “Where The Monarchs Circled” followed by the albums “East To The Sea” from 2003 “Boat With No Oars” in 2007 and fully sponsored by her fans “Apple In The Ocean” from 2012. Each went to the plates with her piano playing was central and where her vocal performance was widely believed.

The new record of Mary Bue was also produced by herself and consists of just eight self-composed songs, which she has again taken a seat behind the piano, but for the first time made use of an electric guitar. It has become a richly orchestrated album, thanks to the contribution of guitars, bass and drums, synthesizer and Hammond organ.

Moreover, the numbers tend to “Holy Bones” more to rock than her previous folk-inspired albums. The opening track “Candy” is a melodic guitar rock song and goes short but powerful as punk-pop-sounding song “Cheribum” beforehand. The album title track “Holy Bones” (see video) is presented as a rock ballad, after which they are a lot stronger rocking on the establishment of a heavy beat “Heart’s Desire” and the catchy song “Put Up”.

“Veal” is an indictment of the massive breeding and killing of animals for meat. Mary Bue tells the story in this issue from the perspective of the calf which is waiting for his death at the slaughterhouse. In closing song “A Million Moths” she brings a ballad that could be interpreted by the listener as a simple love song.

Mary Bue lives and works from Duluth, Minnesota. Besides musician she is also active as a yoga instructor and she is actively involved with the Buddhist ideology. In the lyrics of the songs on “Holy Bones” she sings about themes such as materialism, mortality, compassion and say goodbye. She is a committed lady, let that be clear, but also one that clearly knows what direction it wants to take in the future with her music.

Mad Ripple Hoot – Live Review

Duluth chanteuse Mary Bue regaled the audience with her song “Put Up,” a confessional kind of a song about “putting up with someone’s shit.” The song channeled The Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde’s lilting inflections … – Rebecca Marx

Minneapolis Star Tribune

A well-entrenched Duluth singer/songwriter known more for intimate piano-ballad fare that showcases her honeydew voice, Mary Bue really messes things up beautifully on her sixth album, “Holy Bones.” The record evokes early-’90s indie-rock bands like Bettie Serveert and Yo La Tengo with its scrappy, loud guitars and sneeringly poppy hooks. Bue’s dark and sometimes warped batch of songs are themselves quite ugly and unholy, as well. Highly recommended. – Chris Riemenschneider – Minneapolis Star Tribune

89.3 The Current | Local Current Blog | Friday Five

Duluth singer-songwriter Mary Bue takes a somewhat unsettling concept from the tarot deck—the child angels, a.k.a. “cherubs,” who keep a record of your love life history—and turns it into a rom-com in her new video for “Cheribum.” – Andrea Swensson

Review – Holy Bones – Rift Magazine

“Throughout the album, hints of Kathleen Edwards and Jenny Lewis simmer at the surface, but these 8 songs showcase the depth of Bue’s songwriting and ability to marry it to driving hook-laden guitar rock. The album is a personal journey that rings universal, that to forge your own future you must extrapolate the lessons from the highs and lows of the past. A tall task to take on, but Holy Bones pulls it off with a mastery few songwriters attain.” – Brandon Henry,  Rift Magazine

Interview | The VT Blog 

“I just had an enjoyable chat with The Youth From Duluth, Mary Bue, a singer-songwriter who’s latest Kickstarter-funded album, Holy Bones, took her into a new territory of grunge rock. Mary is an incredible songwriter I’ve enjoyed discovering on the vt, and we had a great time catching up about songwriting and yoga and treating ourselves with compassion amidst the ups and downs of the creative life.” – Nick Blake

CBS Minnesota / WCCO Local Music Tap

“Mary Bue is simply a musical workhorse. She’s been playing small coffee shops to big festivals in 38 states for over 16 years – sharing the stage with musicians like Mason Jennings, Haley Bonar, Jack Johnson, Minnesota’s own Jeremy Messersmith and many more.” – Cole Premo

Mary Bue buries her piano and picks up guitar for her new cd 

“…make way for her new life as an electric guitar-ripping rock ’n’ roller …“The core of Mary’s style and her distinctive songwriting voice are still intact,” said Christine Dean, music director at KUMD-FM. “The new, more rockin’ arrangements just enhance them.” ” – Christa Lawler,  Duluth News Tribune

Mary Bue Explores Aggressive Side on Holy Bones

“On her new EP, Holy Bones, Duluth artist Mary Bue’s emotional explorations are everywhere. She moves from death and materialism to giving voice to a baby cow, and her guitar riffs echo the mid-’90s Pixies and Juliana Hatfield. Amid the racket, some sensitivity flows in.” – Youa Vang – City Pages Gimme Noise Blog

Music Review: MARY BUE | A New Freedom Found in Holy Bones – TC Daily Planet

“I was thinking about how to describe Mary Bue and her music on my walk today. She’s cute and the music is light. Some songs are introspective and she seems to have a sense of humor. Then I visited her website and there were the words I needed: Pop Rock Candy. It’s perfect for someone with a sweet voice and rainbow Clydesdale-like boots.” – Ann Treacy

Girl Power at SXSW – Guitar Girl Magazine

“What happens when three artists who have only interacted on social media get together and decide to play an unofficial SXSW showcase?” – Stacey Sherman,  RSP Entertainment / Guitar Girls Magazine

Why Did Mary Bue’s Nightmares About Pianos Make Her Switch Back To Guitar?

“Mary Bue stopped by the 7 in a row Morning Show to sing and talk a little. We talked about her influences, how long she’s been playing, and what inspires her.”  – Chris Allen, KOOL 101.7 FM

Interview with Ennyman’s Territory blog: Five Minutes with Singer Songwriter Mary Bue

“I recently noticed Mary Bue’s Kickstarter campaign on Facebook and was impressed that she this is her sixth CD. As soon as I saw it I thought the cover art was pretty cool. I’ve a had a listen, actually several, and it’s a very strong addition to her previous work.” – Ed Newman

Interview with GentlemanGenius.com

Rhythm and Ruffle Blog: Mary Bue is Cooler Than You 

Mary Bue is cooler than me too! Always so full of life, in every sense of the word – Toni Styles

ThirtyRoses.com –  Artists We Love: Mary Bue 

It’s always a pleasant surprise when you come across an artist who writes their own songs (the kind you swear you’d written yourself…if only you could find the words) – Christine Infanger

WCRX Chicago Underground Radio podcast w/ Erika Kooda (below)

Rhythm & RuffleThe Next Chapter: Checking in with Mary Bue 

Mary is the kind of genuine artist who inspires you to do better and be better. When we introduced Mary on the blog, we were swept away by her catchy single that takes an unconventional look at love. Her music is filled with  piercing lyrics that hit home; her passion is contagious. – Toni Styles

Rhythm & Ruffle: Beeswax: Introducing Mary Bue

There’s something about Mary Bue. Her sound is so rich and penetrating, that it takes up permanent residence in your head and you just want to accommodate its every desire. Mary Bue is an unforgettable Musician based in Duluth, Minnesota – whose songs contain every ingredient that would make a classic. They are catchy, original, genuine and inspired. Mary sits at the front of the class. – Toni Styles

Live on KUMD 103.3 Radio Archive: Interview on The Local

Mary chats with DJ Edgewood & performs old & new songs on guitar during the 16th Duluth Homegrown Music Festival  4/30/14

Interview on Centerstage MN KAXE by Amy Lynn

Local Current Blog: Duluth Does Low concert will pay tribute to one of the city’s best known bands

Fans of Duluth’s Low won’t want to miss a special one-time performance by more than 25 of the band’s friends and neighbors during an event dubbed “Duluth Does Low” this Thursday at the historic Sacred Heart Music Center in Duluth’s central hillside. – Walt Dizzo

City Pages Gimme Noise Blog: Mary Bue on growing up,  pop music and cathedrals

Mary Bue has been out of the game for a few years, but don’t count her out of the running. – Youa Vang

Twin Cities Daily Planet: Mary Bue’s “Apple in the Ocean” is poetic and distinctive

Bottom line, Mary Bue plies her craft with authority and a fresh presence. – Dwight Hobbes

City Pages Calendar: CD Release Preview

…Bue’s distinctive voice, which sounds a bit like a twangier and subdued Ani DiFranco, and her frequently caustic and always well-crafted lyrics. – Rob van Alstyne

Duluth News Tribune Album Review

Album Review- Bue’s words will take listeners for a ride“Apple in the Ocean” isn’t for someone who longs to hear those old-fashioned love songs comin’ down in three-part harmony.  It’s for someone who wants something fresh and uninhibited; something stimulating and candid; and something instinctive and unbridled.  It’s a winner. – John Ziegler

Duluth News Tribune front page story

Duluth News Tribune article – 2012 – Kickstarter connects artists with cash:  Now that Mary Bue’s album is completed, she can attack the to-do list that goes along with releasing “Apple in the Ocean.” Things like: baking homemade pies, hand-signing thank-you postcards and writing personalized songs for strangers. – Christa Lawler

Hippie Feet Blog: Profile 

Mary’s life has no dull moments.  She embraces what is thrown at her, applies a positive perspective and usually comes out of it with a smile and a squeal.  Whenever I have the opportunity to see Mary, I know three things will be true.  One, I’m going to learn to see something differently.  Two, I’m going to experience one hell of a laughter workout.  And three, I’m going to walk away feeling refreshed.  This visit was certainly no different.

mnartists.org: Mary Bue: Art Imitating Life? 

Rich Horton hears Mary Bue; she continues to evolve. Her work has developed more complexity and texture; she’s moving beyond the singer/songwriter niche into music more broadly imagined.

Missoula Independent:  Review of “Boat With No Oars”

Mary Bue knows just when to bend a guitar string and exactly how long to sustain a piano chord so each wavers and fades exquisitely. On Boat With No Oars, Bue’s third album, the Minneapolis artist exhibits this sense of timing with melodies that rise and fall, rock side-to-side and often batter themselves against the shores of recklessly bold lyrics.

City Pages: Bribe your children! How folkie Mary Bue’s mother lured her to music 

Often compared to Sarah McLachlan’s, Bue’s songs have more weight, and more grit mixed in with the ethereal wisps … she lets her voice strain, swelling quickly to an intensity that overwhelms her aggressive piano work. It’s intimate yet intimidating, and Bue makes it work.

 Shades of Solveig Blog: Case Study: Mary Bue and the Studio-Run Kickstarter

I was recently introduced to singer-songwriter Mary Bue from Minnesota. We got along like a house on fire from the start – she’s smart, funny, spunky, and resourceful (and a great songwriter and musician.)In the process of getting to know her, Mary mentioned this “Bands Banding Together” Kickstarter project she was involved in over the past few months with a recording studio called Welcome to 1979 … – Solveig Whittle

Duluth Reader Weekly Album Review

The highlight of this album are the lyrics and Bue’s voice that delivers them. The layers of vocals and vocal harmonies are truly stunning and using the natural reverb of the church as the primary effect used on the vocals creates a unique and consistent feel throughout the album. – Paul Whyte

 Providence Phoenix,  Providence RI

Mary sings in a marvelously sultry and cool voice over a fusion of classical, folk, and ambient piano music. She began turing heads here at home (Providence, RI) and throughout the country. – Bob Gulla

howwastheshow.com

When the show ended and she was leaning against the stage, zipping up her boots, I had the urge to run up, hug her and then immediately beg her to sing the soundtrack of my life. Mary Bue’s an amazing, must-see talent, and by far, one of the sweetest voices I’ve heard live in years. – Zosia Blue