Mary Dolan - Singer/Songwriter
February 2010
San Diego Reader
In Bloom
By Jay Allen Sanford | Published Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2009
Singer-songwriter Mary Dolan — a fixture in the San Diego music scene in the ’90s — was off the local radar for several years.
“Our son Jack was born in November 2004, the day before my Little Flowers CD release,” says Dolan, “and I continued to play out during his first year or so. I was also working at a library and taking classes part time at City College, and I was just burning out on everything, really. Something had to give. I really lost inspiration and drive and, for the most part, gave up the music.”
After receiving a promotion at the library in 2007, Dolan became ill and was in and out of hospitals through early 2008. “While recovering, I rediscovered the necessity of music in my life and in the lives of others, and I became reacquainted with creativity as a part of my spiritual path. During this period of recovery, I wrote the songs for the In Bloom CD [released September 2008]. It’s a homegrown and deeply personal collection of tunes, and musically…it’s a pretty big departure from my past recordings.”
WHAT’S IN YOUR CD PLAYER?
1. Living Now, Dying Later by Destructo Bunny. “This stuff is amazing and fresh and always gives me a lift. You might not figure me for a fan of rap, but this guy is genius and brilliant when freestyling live.”
2. Gloria by Antonio Vivaldi. “It’s getting to be the time of year for choral music, and I love this particularly bold, brave, bombastic approach to glorifying the good in life. Yeah, I’m the dork with headphones walking down the street while conducting an imaginary choir.”
3. Heaven Tonight by Cheap Trick. “I’m digging this trip down memory lane right now. This was the first record I ever bought with my own money — yard-work earnings. I got it at the Tower Records on Sports Arena Boulevard, which was heaven to a 13-year-old. By re-listening I get to relive the memories and enjoy the creativity of a classic pop-rock band.”
MUST-HAVE DVDs?
1. Amadeus. “It’s so well acted, the score is unapproachable, and I love how it depicted the one and only Mozart in a very human light.”
2. Jackass: The Movie. “For anyone who ever thought that boys do the dumbest things, this is proof.”
FAVORITE BAND?
“The Beatles. Some of my best childhood memories are related directly to the Beatles, so that’s kind of a natural for me. My older siblings were listening to them, and I can remember completely tripping out and getting shivers over the harmonies on ‘Drive My Car.’ When I started playing music myself, I began to recognize their genius, versatility, and impact on all popular music. No one has ever come close, as far as I can tell.”
LENNON OR McCARTNEY?
“I think Paul had more in the way of natural musical talent — where would some of those songs be even without those bass lines? However, John was the more gifted intellectually. He was the visionary.… If I had to choose an album from their solo careers, it would be McCartney’s Band on the Run. Go figure.”
MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTIONS?
“I don’t subscribe to any magazines but do occasionally pick up What Is Enlightenment, Shambhala Sun, and O for inspiration.”
MOST-VISITED WEBSITES?
1. Facebook. “I’ve been having fun catching up with old friends and meeting new ones. I got hooked on the game Scramble there, too, when someone challenged me to a match. Facebook is like MySpace simplified. It loads quickly and gets right to my friend updates, which is really what I want.”
2. RoadsideAmerica.com. “I used to visit this site a lot when I was on the road. I still check it out when I’m going on a road trip with the family. It touts itself as ‘Your online guide to offbeat tourist attractions,’ and it really is. I’ve been to the center of the earth, seen the world’s largest building shaped like a teapot, and visited a glass tree farm. You just never know what treasure may be hidden on some side road when you’re on your way from point A to point B.”
GUILTY PLEASURES?
1. “Facebook, when I should be doing something else.”
2. “True Blood on HBO.”
3. “Cheese sandwiches in the middle of the night.”
BEST THING YOU’VE EVER WON?
“My little sister entered me in a contest to go for a limo ride, meet Alan Hunter of MTV, and see a Pretenders concert. I won and brought some friends who were mega Pretenders fans, and of course I brought my little sister.”
DRINK OF CHOICE?
“Diet Coke.”
Press
"Armed
with a voice that is equal parts grit and grace, this San Diegan
embraces the intricacies of life in her lyrics and holds them together
with infectious melodies."
"Mary
makes you feel like there is no stage - you become something more
personal than just an audience. That is the key to Mary Dolan, the
closeness."
READER BLURT
Strange Stage Moments
James Brady/New Day Mile: “During my teens in New Jersey, I attended a Sunday Bible study every week. The woman running it asked if my band would like to play at the youth-group meeting at her church. We were a metal band, so we were a little shocked at the request, but we were happy to get our first gig. It turns out we were opening for a slide show that depicted our kind of music as the type that leads to violence and suicide.”
Mary Dolan: “I was booked for a performance at an AA convention in Las Vegas. I got there with about a half hour to spare. I had a raging headache from the desert drive, the air conditioning, and the tension of bad traffic, so I asked a friend for some aspirin. She didn’t have any, but she asked her sister and she had a bottle of Advil in her purse. So I took two.
“I’m on stage and I’m starting to feel weird, like maybe I had more than just a headache. I was having a hard time feeling my fingers on the fret board, and the audience was getting blurry. No one was saying anything. Maybe it sounded okay and looked okay, even though I felt a kind of lousy I’ve never experienced before. For my last tune, I gave ‘Piece of My Heart’ whatever I had left. I cut it short, and then I started to dry-heave as I was getting off stage.
“My friend and her sister came running up to me as I was telling them that I was really very sick. My friend’s sister had tears streaming down her face, and she was saying, ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry.’ What? Huh? I thought. Then my friend told me that her sister had accidentally given me her disguised muscle relaxants. I was loaded at the AA convention.”
Ed Been/ Y3K: “One night at the Blue Haven in Chula Vista, there was a heavyset woman in a dress that insisted on doing handstands. Much to our horror, she was not wearing underwear at the time.”
– Bart Mendoza
BEACON NEWS, Bart Mendoza
of burned out on music at that time."
After a serious illness in 2007, which landed her in the hos-
pital, she began to reassess her musical career.
"After that, I realized how important music was for me,
and writing and performing became necessary," Dolan said.
It was an open-mic night at Portugalia that lured her back on
stage.
"I was nervous singing just two songs each Tuesday night for
that first month.," she recalled. "I was shaking and I'd forget
words and chords. But with the encouragement of the fellow
musicians at the event and that of other important people in my
life I've been performing again for about five months."
A native San Diegan, Dolan always considered herself
a performer.
"I toyed with other career ideas like nurse, personal therapist,
nun." she said. "I always sensed that I was supposed to be of
service somehow. With music I've been lucky enough to do
something I love and touch a few lives at the same time."
To date, Dolan has released seven albums, notching up several
siginificant co-writing credits in the process, including songs
penned with Aerosmith guitarist Jimmy Crespo and Elton John
lyricist Bernie Taupin.
Though Dolan ahs toured extensively in the past, she won't be
doing so to promote "In Bloom."
"I loved being on the road, but I have a family and a day job,"
she said.
While some consider life on the road a hardship, Dolan said she
found it invigorating.
"I don't recall any hard parts. Bumps along the way, maybe,"
she said.
She mentions a car breakdown in a snowstorm...a speeding ticket...
and a car accident...as a few of the negatives from her life on the road,
but she maintains it was worth it.
"I really liked playing for different people every night, being in a
different town every day, seeing strange and wonderful things all over
this country. I made some good friends out there," she said.
Now approaching the second decade of her career as a musician,
Dolan is happy with the path that music has led her down.
"The best thing about being a musician is being able to do something
I love and have someone else benefit from it as well," she said. "I mean,
I love eating pizza, too, but who besides me beneifts?" she said.
For more information visit www.marydolan.com or
www.myspace.com/marydolansandiego
TAYLOR GUITARS
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Outtakes:
SOMETHING IMPOSSIBLE TO DO WITHOUT?
“Sleep. I've tried to do without it, but I just end up getting dangerous.”
FIRST BOOK YOU REMEMBER READING?
“One Fish Two Fish, by Dr. Suess.”
SOMETHING ABOUT YOU FEW WOULD KNOW OR GUESS?
“My pinky toes have stubby toenails.”