On 27 May Irish singer-songwriter Marion Daly or Maz as she is affectionately known, has released her debut single and the title track from her forthcoming EP. Called ‘Amazing’, the track showcases the Cork based artist’s lyrical prowess and her love of melody and vocal harmonies, putting the drama firmly in the foreground of the song. Pre-save
here.
With it’s rich, sugar laced pop, the song blends Marion’s love of ABBA, Paul Simon, maybe a little Beyoncé and Lady Gaga with the rich story-telling of Linda Ronstadt, Emmy Lou Harris and Carol King. We hear of a boy who thinks he is amazing “Cause boy you’re amazing”, but is found wanting, and it is in fact the girl who is the true star “Cause boy I’m amazing.”
Living close to and grounded by the tranquility of the sea, Marion writes and develops her songs at her piano, drawing inspiration from the reality of the everyday, “the good the bad and the ugly”, wearing her heart on her sleeve and celebrating the snapshots of her own life from a very personal and emotional level. “I want to remind people through my songs that it is so very ok just to be whoever you are”, she says. “It is cathartic for me to put down in song what I am feeling at the moment.”
To the backdrop of pop and folk music coming from the family’s radio, Marion’s childhood years were given to playing the piano from age eight and classical violin at age five. Violin paved the way for a thirty year teaching career in both instruments and later in life, having added the MTU degree in Popular Music (BAPM) to her credits, Marion joined the staff at Voiceworksstudio Cork where she continues to coach aspiring vocalists.
A mother of three daughters, Marion followed her youngest daughter to college at the tender age of 50 to complete a Degree in Popular Music and a Masters in Commercial Composition. “It was a very intimate college environment where everyone knew everyone,” she recalls. “My daughter was horrified that I was taking the same degree, and at the same college and she didn’t speak to me in the college for a year and a half!” Things turned out well in the end though and her daughter has now forgiven her, “I stayed as far away from her as I possibly could”, she says, smiling.
Although fiercely independent with a solid desire to learn something new every day, Marion was very guarded and protective of her personal feelings and circumstances prior to her BAPM degree, rarely laying herself open to public opinion but valuing the peace and contentment that comes with middle age. However, her college experience managed to firmly and decidedly change that.
And so, with a newfound confidence, partly gained from playing and performing with a live college band and with the unwavering support and encouragement from the hugely talented voice lecturers at MTU CSM, Marion decided it was time to feel the fear and own it. She set herself a goal to release her own music. “It is one of the toughest decisions I have ever made,” she says, “but I am bearing my soul, releasing my first single, an EP and I have written my own musical which I hope to develop over the next few years. The last five years seem to have musically snowballed…and where it ends, no one knows.”
