Mary Ramsey - the Anti-Amy

Daily Duck regulars know that I am not an articulate music critic. I like what I like without necessarily knowing why I like it. Knowing why may be an interesting intellectual exercise, but it isn't necessary for enjoying music. But seeing as how Brit and I have considerably conflicting tastes in divas, I thought I'd spend some effort articulating why I like Mary Ramsey so much more than Amy Winehouse.

Mary Ramsey gained some moderate amount of fame as Natalie Merchant's replacement as lead singer for the band "10000 Maniacs". She is a classically trained violinist and violist who teamed up with 10000 Maniacs founding member & lead guitarist John Lombardo to write and produce several albums as the duo "John and Mary".

Having become a fan of the duo from their 10000 Maniacs CD "Love Among the Ruins" I managed to hunt down and purchase two of their John and Mary CD's, which arrived in the mail last week: "The Pinwheel Galaxy" and "The Weedkiller's Daughter".

Their music can best be categorized as folk. But categories aren't always very helpful, as I dislike much music from that category. Their music borrows from classical, rock, and even some country motifs. As to whether it is maudlin or not I cannot say, as I still do not understand how Brit uses the term. This is why I find it hard to describe musical experiences with words.

A less polite way to describe their music is "white". Another unpolite word would be "square". Which describes me perfectly. I am a white square. I give no apologies for that. I find Ramsey's voice beautifully melodic. It is a pre-jazz, pre-blues, pre-soul American voice, clear and clean with none of the vocal affects, the wailing, drawn out, undulating, bee-booping and scatting excess that seems to be de-rigeur for any aspiring diva today. Simon Cowell would no doubt call her an extreme bore.

So if you don't mind being thought of as a square, and don't feel that every female singer has to be in the mold of Aretha Franklin, then you might learn to enjoy the music of John and Mary.