Mary Moore reveals debut EP "Rooted Heart"
Nashville-based artist Mary Moore introduces her debut EP Rooted Heart.
Produced by Collin Pastore, Jake Finch and Sam Roller, the americana/indie-rock project showcases Moore’s vulnerability and authenticity through 4 well-crafted records.
"Redwoods" tackles the idea of resilience and growth, while pondering what it would be like to be more like a Redwood tree. "Reaching in the Dark" is about insomnia and anxiety over having to decide where to go in life. "Burn" is a song about patience, in the good times and the hard times. "Map My Body" is about sexual liberation and exploration!” expresses Moore.
The singer/songwriter will be going on tour this summer, starting on July 30th at The Basement, in Nashville.
Rooted Heart is now available worldwide.
Photo credit: Brooke Greenberg Photography
Hi Mary, how are you? What have you been up to since our first interview?
Good and busy! I've been working on getting the EP ready and getting together my first tour to visit some more cities and get my music to new ears! I am really excited about the next few months that are coming up!! I've also been playing shows with a full band which has been a really cool opportunity and I am looking forward doing that more!!
You’ve just released your debut EP Rooted Heart, how does it feel like to release your first project?
It's really cool to release a bigger project like Rooted Heart ! Everything I have worked on until now has been singles, so doing something a bit bigger is really exciting! It's cool to tie an entire message behind a whole EP too. Working on promoting, marketing, and writing a song vs. a collection of songs is such a different thing - it makes me really excited to record a full length record and tie a whole story behind even more songs!!
When did you start working on this project? Could you describe us the songwriting process?
The first song I wrote for the EP is "Redwoods", and gosh, I wrote it almost 18 months ago in Jan 2018 with an incredible co-writer Kodey Brims!! The song is a bit more experimental, and has a pretty "epic" sound too it. Next I wrote "Map My Body" in Sept 2018 and I felt like I was beginning to really define my sound and writing style as an artist. With “Map My Body” I was beginning to make the statement that I wasn't just an Americana artist, but I was beginning to dance more in the indie-rock scene.
When I met with Collin and Jake, I was considering recording another song alongside “Redwoods” and “Map My Body”, and we all agreed that it didn't really fit in with the other two. I played all my other songs, and they said I should keep writing to find another song that had more indie-rock elements. We had 5-ish weeks before we went into the studio, so I started on a mad race to write a good song I loved. Using "Redwoods" and "Map My Body" to guide me, I wrote "Reaching in the Dark". It was pretty crazy (and a little nerve-racking) writing a song and recording it a week after finishing the song, quite different from the 12 months it took from finishing Redwoods to recording. But I love "Reaching in the Dark". It is now my go to song when I am feeling exhausted, tired, and scared, and I'm really excited for other people to relate to the song too!
After recording the three songs with Colin and Jake, I realized the songs would make for an awesome EP - and I wanted to add one more song, more of an interlude, into the project. I wrote some lyrics and got together with an incredible producer Sam Roller and we recorded a song called "Burn (Interlude)". We had a ton of fun playing around with vocal layers on vocal layers, and I think "Burn" is the sprinkle on the cake of the EP.
All the songs were labors of loves. They were all puzzles, and I slowly and meticulously put them together. I think each of them took a month to write. I would go on nightly walks and just reshape the lyrics and concepts over and over again until I felt they were perfect. All of the songs lyrics are rooted in the natural world. I am really inspired by the trees, rivers, mountains, and earth, and I wanted to use those images in my writing so I could take people away from their bedrooms, car, offices, etc. to a magical outside land.I really hope the songwriting takes people to a new place!
You worked with producers Collin Pastore and Jake Finch, how was it like to collaborate with them for this project?
Collin and Jake are amazing!! They helped bring in some awesome indie-rock elements that I really wanted to bring into my sound. I also loved working with them because they had pretty strong opinions about the songs, and what direction we should take, while also letting me push for what I wanted as well. I felt like it was a really great collaboration. Also they just have really cool creative ideas, and I like watching how their brains conquered ideas!
I also worked with Sam Roller on one of the songs - and he was awesome to get to work with! "Burn" is only vocals, and he made the song sound really full and really powerful. He just let me go into a recording both for two hours and record a bunch of different random takes, and then he took them and created a really cool sound with all the good stuff.
What are the different topics you are talking about on this EP?
"Redwoods" tackles the idea of resilience and growth, while pondering what it would be like to be more like a Redwood tree. "Reaching in the Dark" is about insomnia and anxiety over having to decide where to go in life. "Burn" is a song about patience, in the good times and the hard times. "Map My Body" is about sexual liberation and exploration!
What made you want to name your EP Rooted Heart ?
Rooted Heart comes from the hook of "Redwoods", "and as the seasons changes, I'd have a rooted heart." The EP is about growing and discovering who you are, and who you want to be. It's about loving yourself, who you really really are. It's about accepting the messy and the dark, and flourishing in it.
Any favorite memories from the making of the EP?
There are so many special memories, it's really hard to choose. I think there was something magical about sitting in Collin's bedroom with Jake and Collin- from the first time I showed them my songs, to recording harmonies, to mixing - there was this bite of energy and excitement that I had in that room with them. It felt like we were working on something really special and exciting. Another really special memory was writing "Redwoods" with Kodey. We had a ton of fun, goofing off, but also writing something special. Each of those writing session to finish the song also had that same strange, silent, energy. There is just something about sitting in bedrooms working on something that feels really huge and special.
You are about to go on tour, what can we expect to hear/see?
I am starting the tour off with a big, huge full band show on 7/30 in Nashville at the Basement! Then I'll be taking off doing a solo-acoustic set at different venues/festivals! It's going to be really fun and all my tour dates are listed on my website here: https://www.marymooremusic.com/tour
What do you like the most about performing?
I love connecting with people. I love getting lost in my music as if it is medicine for other people. I love when my music engages people, hooks them, makes them feel comforted, knowing they're not alone.
What message do you want to give to the readers of this blog?
Life is messy, and that is the best part.
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