Me (Mary Barclay) on vocals; Doug Carroll on electric and acoustic guitars and backing vocals; Scott Taylor on drums and Kenny Urquhart on bass and backing vocals.
Influences
Mary - my biggest influence - Doug Carroll - followed by my late father, my big brother, all other members of my family, Scott Taylor, Kenny Urquhart, Owen Fielding (who learned me to like jazz...a little), Donald Cowie, my best friend Tracy who introduced me to rock, followed by, in no particular order, Joni Mitchell, Melissa Etheridge, The Eagles, Mary Chapin-Carpenter, Alanis Morisette, Suzi Quatro (when I was a very little girl!), Nancy Griffiths, Maura O'Connel, Karine Polwart, Eddi Reader, Andy Millar & Alan and Sandra Ramage (late nights and early mornings), a guy in Portpatrick who recommended Jeff Buckley, Gretchen Peters, Mrs O'Connor (primary school music teacher who taught me to breathe at the commas and open my mouth WIDE), Lucinda Williams (takes me back to Jersey), Eliza Gilkyson and vodka!
Doug is a huge fan of Rory Gallagher and has been influenced greatly by him as well as all the great guitarists. He's currently into 'Gravity' by John Meyer. Scott is a big Sensational Alex Harvey Band fan - hence the name of our band and Kenny is into U2 amongst others.
Hello. I’m Mary Barclay and I’m a singer-songwriter, front wum’n, booking agent, manager, publicist, web blogger, administrator, tea brewer and absolutely bloody useless marketing officer with the Sensational Mary Barclay Band. Thank you for dropping by – hope you can spend a wee while with us here on this fine day!
My aim is to attract your attention and persuade you to stay and listen to our music by laying clever little descriptive gems down in front of you. My job is to tempt you with rave reviews, sound bites and the promise of chocolate!
However, like I said, I’m useless at marketing for these very simple reasons: I can’t lie, I am unable to pretend that something is what it is not, I say what I see and I’m far too modest for my own good ;0) so all that remains for me to tell you is the truth about the Sensational Mary Barclay Band.
• We’re called Sensational because we are – not because we’re a tribute to the legend that is Alex Harvey!
• We’re from Dumfries and Galloway – NOT to be mistaken for Ayrshire, Scottish Borders or even Cumbria, which is in England! Admittedly not the hippest place in Scotland but definitely one of the most beautiful.
• We’re a 4 piece, guitar-driven band and so you hear vocals (me), drums (Scott Taylor), bass (Kenny Urquhart) and guitar (Doug Carroll) – as yet, no fiddles, pipes, accordions or Gaelic singing. Yes, we are Scottish but, as Andrew the Highland Cow once described us, we’re Lowlanders! You’ll hear no computer-generated whizzes, whirls or bleeps other than ones we don’t know about until it’s too late. When we’re playing live you’ll hear only 1 guitar as the main instrument, because Doug hasn’t quite grasped playing 2 together yet, although he can play one behind his head. On our CD ‘Let It Fly Tonight’, you’ll hear plenty electric and acoustic guitars layered together and even some piano or sound alike Hammond, which is saved only for special occasions!
• We are award-winning songwriters! Doug Carroll and myself, along with our ‘saved only for special occasions’ pianist Owen Fielding were among the winners of Scotland’s prestigious 2007 Burnsong competition with a wee song called ‘Blackbird’. It’s very good and I’d like Alison Kraus, Dolly Parton or both to release a version of it (seriously!).
• Our songs have been played on national radio i.e. BBC Radio Scotland’s Iain Anderson Show. We’ve also done a live radio broadcast from BBC Scotland’s home at Pacific Quay to a worldwide audience, as part of Celtic Connections 2008. Not sure if we’ll ever be asked back but you never can tell ;0) Iain Anderson said we were ‘one of Scotland’s best-kept secrets’ (hope he doesn’t mean to keep it that way) and Ricky Ross of Deacon Blue fame said ‘Blackbird’ was very ‘cuttable’ (don’t think that’s a real word but you know what he means)!
Here’s Blackbird…enjoy!
• I am having great difficulty trying to describe what we sound like. I can’t deny that our material has a commercial feel to it. I’m reluctant to use the word ‘pop’ because ‘pop’ is dismissed by many as short-lived or only for the young and beautiful people (we, by the way, are not young, only beautiful) but, when you think that the Beatles music could only be described as pop, why should I resist using this term to describe ours?
However, our music can’t even be pigeonholed into only the pop genre. Doug Carroll and I write all kinds of songs. I am the initial creator of all our material (wow). I write lots of lyrics and a teensy bit of music then pass them to Doug to be changed, shaped and made into the wonderful little creations they are now. Some of our songs would go down well on the folk scene (Blackbird or Jamie Wright) but, on the other hand, we write rock songs (Slipping Through My Fingers) and songs with a country (Bleeding Heart) or blues feel. Our songs just turn out that way! We’re not trying to keep everyone happy – we’re keeping ourselves happy and, to a true music lover, our songs are simply wonderful, unassuming and well worth a listen!
And here's 'Stepping Stone'
• We’re experienced! The Sensational Mary Barclay has been together for over 12 years and we’ve played all sorts of places and met a few ‘weel-kent’ faces along the way. We’ve done the pubs, the festivals, the concerts, the Formula 1 Grand Prix after-race parties (doesn’t everyone darling?) but we don’t do cheese! Now, we’re trying hard to get everyone on the planet to listen to our tunes! You can see how we perform by viewing a couple of our videos here or at our website www.sensationalmarybarclayband.com or at www.youtube.com where others are available to see.
So that’s it – that’s all I can tell you about us and our music and I can safely say I haven’t lied to you once! Please come back and see us and, in the meantime, if you really like what you hear, tell your friends – all 10,000,000 of them and more! Thank you.
Sensational Mary Barclay Band's Friend Space (Randomized)
Hi Mary how have you been doing? I hope all is well with you,it has been some time.I wanted to stop by and say Hello.And to wish you a wonderful week to come :) tim
Why is it so hard for me to say hello, You’ve hit my heart like an arrow, Give me your endless breath, So I could cheat death, I feel your heart beat in my chest.
I’m walking in your direction, All I feel is pain, Love is a losing game, Feels like I’m falling from the sky, I have no wings to fly, Why can’t you just be mine? Life is a one way mission, So I need your heart to listen,
Get to know me, You might get lonely, I could see through your eyes, Love is not guilty, Forget about going our separate ways, Love is a such crazy thing, You make me burn without the flame, Another unsolved mystery, Love is not guilty.
When I was a wee girl, I was at a session in a pub in Gatehouse of Fleet and remember listening to you sing. It inspired me so much that I became a singer myself!
Thanks for finding me on myspace and for inspiring me many years ago!
It's probably a bit far for you but if you happen to be in Glasgow and are not too busy we're playing King Tuts this Friday with a bunch called 'The Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir' which should be great.
Mary Barclay Band: You have Some Great Music Here On myspace. Thank You For Your Friendship. Bob~~~GAINER PRODUCTIONS.
ADD OUR FRIEND DAVID COOLER CLICK THE BANNER AND MEET THE NEW "COUNTRY MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR" FOR THE STATES OF NORTH CAROLINA AND SOUTH CAROLINA HE IS TRULY A GREAT SINGER AND SONGWRITER AND GUITAR PLAYER IS ONE OF A KIND HIS NEW CD IS TOTALLY AWESOME
YOUR SUPPORT IS GREATLY APPRECIATED THANK YOU ~ DAVID COOLER ~ SANDY~MOUNTAIN MAMA PROMOTIONS~ TAMMY ~ MUDCAT MAMA's PROMOTIONS ~ BOB ~ GAINER PRODUCTIONS ~ And ~DAVID COOLER ~ Sensaational Mary Barclay Band: YOU ROCK!
Thanks for the add Mary. Peter and Chris have quite a heavy summer schedule with other band commitments, but I'll say to Peter to give Doug a call to get something arranged. Cheers, Jim.
The stage is all yours this year for Old McDonald as I gracelessly declined when Tony phoned. Might go along to heckle if I..m around though. Maybe we..ll see you around Gatehouse in June? I believe you..re doing a slot at the Mill?
Hi Mary thanks so much so nice to hear a voice from wonderful gal left after 12yrs and now live in south yorks ps love your music/voice and feel better already much love and kindest regards Hugh
Thank-you for that. Things are good, thanks. How are things with you? Have you guys got any gigs planned in the area as it would be nice to hear you guys live again?
The Boys will be playing an accoustic set tomorrow night in Beenscene in Cresswell Lane (off Byres Road)and on Friday they'll be in Beenscene in Shawlands - maybe see you at one of the venues!
Hope you're well.
Terry Funhouse Management
PS check out UnsungHero.com and search for us there, we're a featured band today, and watch out for next months Scotcampus where we are to be the Featured Band!
Just to let you know that Davie from the Garden Party is doing a solo accoustic gig tomorrow 3 November @ the Rio Cafe Bar, Hyndland Road, Glasgow with special guest Anna Meldrum. Hope to see you anytime from 9pm onwards.
tanks for the welcome! wow, n.100... i have won something? :) eh eh eh... joke! tanks for all, beatiful your music. regards from sardinia, italy. p.s. : even top list.... tanks. blues on.....
Thanks for adding me to your friends.... you're my first 'myspace' friend, and im very honoured!! You were brilliant at the party and everyone commented on how excellent the music was. I'm already thinking about a charity do next summer! Keep up the good work!... lov fin
oh i'm very well thanks, and yourselves? i'm really liking the originals...might have to get my hands on teh album at some point. catch you soon Wullie
Hello
Thank you for the quest
It's a pleasure to discover good such as yours
Good sound and good voice
Our favorite song is The Morning Edited
Whenever you got the time, you're welcome on our page
Cheers
