The Defining Moment
My mother tells me that when she was pregnant with me she prayed the baby would sing. If you want to know when I REALISED I was a singer, I will tell you that it was the Christmas of 1950 when I turned 4 years old.
WHO KNEW MARY CATHERINE LUNSFORD
The first indication I had that ANYONE stopped by the MARY CATHERINE LUNSFORD website was when someone sent a message asking me if the 1969 MARY CATHERINE LUNSFORD album had ever been made into a CD.
Learning
My father played bass for a short time with the Spade Cooley Band. He learned to play Western Swing as a youth growing up in Texas and New Mexico. My father taught me how to play guitar when I was a senior in HS because a ‘Hootenanny’ was scheduled and I wanted to participate. I…
Ode to Art
My mother bid Art into my life as she prayed over her ‘babe in womb’—“if the child is a girl let her sing”—then sang excerpts of her favorite arias for my lullabies that wove a musical cloth into my bunting. Art made ‘presence’ known to me when I turned three by connecting all the space…
The Whole
Mary McCaslin told me about The Whole in Glendale and picked me up one evening to attend one of her performances. The Whole turned out to be a tiny little place adjacent to a small church. However, The Whole had dedicated attendees with really HUGE hearts and attracted some of the best folk artists in…
Oregon Symphony Pops
Year: 1987 Show: Irving Berlin Centennial Celebration Maestro: Norman Leyden Venue: Schnitzer Hall Artist: MCatherine Lunsford Call Me Up Some Rainy Afternoon I Love A Piano Isn’t This A Lovely Day
THE FOUR MUSES
McCaslin and I often played gigs at THE FOUR MUSES. We would drive together down to San Clemente, spending the night and drive back following the last show of the week-end.
A fellow named Doug Carmichael had some sophisticated recording equipment and offered to record Mary and me.
Doug contacted me last year and sent a copy of one of the recordings he’d produced. It was a real treat to listen to my 19 yr old self. Mary and I never rehearsed our parts before Doug recorded us.
Now those recordings from 1966 are available for everyone to listen to on SoundCloud.
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