A pioneer of open tunings, and an artist who raised over $100,000 in three hours.
This is episode 27 of Caffe Lena: 60 Years of Song. Thank you to Sarah for helping to select the songs and artists for this feature.
Mary McCaslin drew influence from a wide range of artists like Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell to the Beatles and The Bee Gees. Regarded as a pioneer in guitar open tunings, Mary’s versions of The Beatles’ “Blackbird” and The Who’s “Pinball Wizard” are noted for her claw hammer banjo accompaniment. As a country-folk singer she worked totally outside of the Nashville sphere, singing of prairies and Old West images. She was less active in the 80’s, perhaps only writing a few songs, and not releasing much music. However, it was in 1986 when she stopped at the Caffe.
Liz Longley needed to raise about $45000 to obtain access to masters of her latest album. Even though she’s not a household name, Liz managed to raise $120,000 by drawing on her personal connection with fans. In doing so, she has proven that the label who turned her down was possibly very wrong about how solid her fan base was.
Caffe Lena: 60 Years of Song, a production of WEXT Radio.