Marybeth D'Amico

I was so impressed by Marybeth D'Amico's debut album Heaven, Hell, Sin & Redemption (2009) that I named it as one of my albums of the year. No mean feat on a classic rock site for an album rooted in the country crossover genre.

If we're to believe the hype, the American singer songwriter's 'difficult' second album - The Light Inside - signals a move away from the country/folk of her debut to a more rock orientated sound. According to producer Bradley Kopp, even edging toward the sort of accompaniment found on some of Zeppelin's acoustic material.

That may be wishful thinking, but there's no denying the album features another excellent supporting cast in the form of Paul Pearcy (The Dixie Chicks, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Willie Nelson) on drums, Glenn Fukunaga (Bob Dylan, Joe Ely, Alejandro Escovedo) on bass, David Webb (Jerry Jeff Walker, Jimmy La Fave, Eric Taylor) on keyboards, and Mark Hallman (Carole King, Iain Matthews, Dan Fogelberg) on mandolin, mandola and bouzouki with Kopp contributing acoustic and electric guitars.

The strength of Marybeth's debut was her Suzanne Vega storyteller style delivery and a really strong set of songs. And while The Light Inside does indeed stray into the softer rock habitat of the likes of The Eagles, CS&N, and Sheryl Crow, it's the moodier, slower and more stripped back numbers like Beneath The Rubble, Der Grenzer, and Star-Crossed that hone in on the singer and the song that continue to impress the most. In a not dissimilar way to much of fellow singer songwriter Tina Dico's work.

That said, if you're looking for a worldwide radio friendly piece of pop/ rock look no further than the magnificent Don't Look Back. Shawn Colvin would die for a song like that.

Another very fine record from an artist who deserves much wider recognition.

****

Review by Pete Whalley

- Get Ready To Rock.com, UK

We met Marybeth online when we discovered that we had a mutual admiration for certain female singer-songwriters: Patty Griffin, Lori McKenna, and Kathleen Edwards, and more. As we found out later Marybeth, an American living in Germany, is a singer-songwriter herself and has taken her love for the music and lyrical styles of her musical idols and charged headfirst into writing her own songs.
Her debut album, “Heaven, Hell, Sin & Redemption,” is a wonderful collection of character-driven songs – a restless single mother, a minister involved in a sex scandal, and a true story of a Death Row prisoner in Ohio.
Despite some of the tough subjects explored, this is no downer of an album. The music – mostly guitar, bass, keyboards backed with pedal steel and fiddle flourishes – is catchy and emotion-filled. Like Griffin and Edwards, Marybeth fleshes out her characters, allowing the listener to sympathize, if not empathize, with their fate.
“Every Week,” about a guy who visits a prostitute, is honest and nonjudgmental; the dire song “Ohio,” about a Death Row inmate, is based on a letter an Englishman imprisoned for arson and murder in America sent to the BBC: “There was a fire and a young girl died in Ohio/ I said I wasn’t there, but they don’t care in Ohio/ I’ve been sitting here for 20 years in Ohio.”
Marybeth didn’t start writing and performing her own songs until 2002, after losing her full-time job as a journalist. In fact, maybe it’s the journalist’s eye that catches the essence of her subjects’ struggles so clearly.
Marybeth has proven that her stories deserve to be heard.
- Modern Acoustic Magazine, USA

Marybeth D'Amico made quite an impression in 2009 with ten songs on Hell, Heaven, Sin & Redemption. For this second album the American - still living in Germany - travelled back to Texas to work again with producer Bradley Kopp as well as Paul Pearcy (drums), Glen Fukunaga (bass) David Webb (keys) and Mark Halman (mandolin, mandola & bouzouki). In these twelve new songs they accompany D'Amico in country, (country)rock and folky ballads. The songs are more electric compared to the first album, but again there's the distinctive contrast between the despair in D'Amico's lyrics and the emotional conviction she uses to bring her message accross, with her typical nasal southern drawl. Kopp's brilliant production supports love pain, the doubts of a border guard about stopping illegal immigrants or the simple but touching expression of love to her child. D'Amico is ready for a breakthrough.
- Heaven Magazine, NL

They just keep on coming. Marybeth D’Amico is yet another of those singer/songwriters who might never become a household name but who can deliver as fine an experience as many of her better-known peers. Her first album Heaven, Hell, Sin and Redemption, as its title might suggest was an exploration if the seamier and darker side of life. On this second album she tackles weighty subjects such as the Berlin Wall (she lives in Germany) and the aftermath of natural disasters such as earthquakes and storms. When she gets down to relationships she looks on the dismal side, her characters appears to be fixed, unable to change their destinies which on the whole don’t bode well. Recorded in Texas with producer Bradley Kopp (Eliza Gilkyson, Jimmie Dale Gilmore) and featuring a fine band behind her several of the songs surge strongly with soulful organ and crunchy guitars very much in Kathleen Edwards’ style. Chief of these is Don’t Look Back which is a terrific song with a radio friendly sound. Inside Out is more reminiscent of that other Williams, Lucinda, bluesy with some fine slide guitar work from producer Kopp, D’Amico sings of someone trying to salvage some honour following a break up, putting on a brave front but inside failing miserable, retiring to her room to cry. Powerful stuff. The jaunty acoustic picking of Reborn lifts the mood of the album although it appears to be about a woman saved from suicide by the birth of her child. No matter, this brief shard of light is swallowed by the following Der Grenzer, the song about the Wall. Taken at a funereal pace with martial drumming this is a modern folk song that chills. D’Amico remains in folky mode with Star Crossed, another song that sounds as if it was forged many years ago.
Overall then is a very strong album and it’s almost guaranteed that the likes of Bob Harris will be playing it soon.

- Blabber 'N Smoke, UK

"dark but flawless sounding, exquisitely performed, slightly rocky folk songs."
- Real Roots Cafe, Netherlands

November 2006
Rootstime, Belgium

Inspired by Lori McKenna, Iris Dement, Shawn Colvin, Antje Duvekot, Eliza Gilkyson, Neko Case, Anais Mitchell, Kathleen Edwards, Kasey Chambers, Lucinda Williams, Aimee Mann, Julie Miller, but above all, Patty Griffin, Marybeth D'Amico has succeeded in 2006 in developing into a singer songwriter who cannot remain unnoticed on the Americana scene. More and more Americana artists emerge, but this little EP Waiting to Fly is something else!
The American, who lives near Munich, Germany, presents her considerable musical talents in five songs. They are introspective songs with tones and textures that evoke a sense of nature and the landscape, as shown on the cover of the CD. Immerse yourself in this beauty, leave the hassle of Modern Living behind you and let yourself undergo this little "therapy." It won't hurt you! Marybeth creates a directness which makes you feel as if she is next to you, that she is addressing you personally. If an artist manages to make a connection like that, you know you are dealing with an exceptional talent.
The musical accompaniments are fittingly sober, (acoustic guitar, piano, lap steel, minimal percussion and of course Marybeth's vocals) but also tasteful and effective. Producer Markus Rill, well known at Rootstime, assists Marybeth with these songs, which are best described as intensely pure folk music.
To sum up, this debut by the young Marybeth offers exquisite songs that will overwhelm you without forcing themselves onto you. We have the utmost respect for someone who is able to craft something so beautiful and make music and lyrics flow together in such harmony. Highly Recommended. Waiting to Fly: waiting for more. - Freddy Celis

Glitterhouse, Germany
June 2007
Produced by Markus Rill with a fine acoustic sensibility, this is a mature, laidback five-song solo debut by Windach, Germany-based American singer-songwriter Marybeth D'Amico, formerly co-founder of the alternative country band Far From Home. Marybeth wraps her eloquent ballads in a warm fabric of folk and country elements. Her songs follow a quiet flow only occasionally interupted with a rolling, more raucous tempo and are characterized by soft, natural harmonies and catchy melodies that find their way right from the ear into your heart. A small, Roots-oriented band breathes life into these five endearing D'Amico originals: the acoustic guitars are accompanied by piano, upright bass, lap steel, accordion, Fender Rhodes, mandolin and subdued, tasteful percussion. The focus remains, however, on Marybeth's voice, which is sometimes soft and cajoling, other times raw and honest sounding. Marybeth moves deftly and suprisingly maturely within the wide songwriter field between Lucinda Williams and Shawn Colvin. (Christoph Anders)
- Christoph Anders

March 2007
When an artist puts out her debut CD, it is critical that she put her best foot forward. That is precisely what Marybeth D’Amico has done with her CD “Waiting to Fly.” While only five songs, it is a veritable showcase of this artist’s plentiful talent.
D’Amico has a vivid, one-of-a kind voice that can gracefully slide from a lilting whine to a tempered growl when the lyrics dictate. And speaking of lyrics – Wow! Using her considerable songwriting creativity, D’Amico weaves stories that tap a spate of emotions with the dark, heart-wrenching tune “Leaving” at one end of the spectrum and the grab-the-brass-ring “Waiting to Fly” at the other. Somewhere in the middle is the rocking anthem for rebellious, yet striving youth, “Summa Cum Laude.”
A great work that will leave you anxiously awaiting her next production. (Herb Barbee)
- Herb Barbee