Mandy Mercier

Mandy Mercier's third album rocks harder than anything she's done before, but it doesn't forget to roll, either; it's as close as she's come to sounding "commercial," if such a term can apply to a DIY effort.

As co-produced by the Austin singer-songwriter with John Harvey, "Wild Dreams of the Shy Boys" is an exemplary disc of rootsy folk-rock that also bears the unmistakable stamp of guitarist-and-more Gurf Morlix. Mercier's husky voice and her boundless energy and emotion propel the mini-dramas in these songs; it's an instrument fit for the blues (such as her reading of John Lee Hooker's "Worry My Life") as much as for country. Her clipped phrasing gives rockers such as the opening "Already Fallin'" real urgency, while ballads such as the bottom-heavy "Anything Less" and "See It Now" simmer with anxiety, sorrow and resolve.

Morlix provides an appropriately spacey solo on "Make It Back to Midnight," while Ian McLagan's burbling, swirling Hammond organ and Mercier's own fiddle color the set. The guitars on "No Foolin' the Cards" alternately ring and rumble, while the moral outrage on topical songs such as "Homeless" is palpable.

Except for the Hooker tune and her version of Lowell George's "Willin'", reprised from a 1998 compilation album, the songs are all Mercier originals. The title track, with its traditional/contemporary imagery, is a fitting closer to an album that is confident and even a little reckless, tuneful and deeply felt. Mercier often gets lost in the shuffle of Austin singer-songwriters, but few of them can match her evocative songwriting and gutsy performances.

--John Morthland, No Depression
- "No Depression"

She had me at hello. Or in this case the title, “Wild Dreams Of The Shy Boys” by Austin, TX chanteuse Mandy Mercier. How could you not love and be intrigued by that title with it’s delicious hint of mystery and eroticism. With a touch of Americana and a whole lot of Texas twang, Mercier has made an amazing record.

With the help of her band the Troubadours and Western New York’s own Gurf Morlix lending his unique talents, she captures your emotions with her singing writing and playing. With a voice like Linda Ronstadt (Stone Pony days that is) and songwriting like Julie Miller, Mercier can belt them out or tenderly tug your heartstrings.

Her coltish charm is evident from the first track “Already Fallin’” as she exuberantly sings to a paramour “It’s too late, I’m already falling”. Her take on John Lee Hooker’s “Worry My Life” is astounding. Her growling, howling vocals and Gurf’s swampy blues licks make this one of the CD best tracks. She turns softly with the Emmylou Harris sounding “See It Now” and dedicates “Anything Less” to the late Blaze Foley.

The piece de resistance however is the title track. The tender bitterness is evident in the lyrics and in Mercier’s voice as she speaks to a forlorn lover or friend,

“I will be with you, in that funky juke-joint noise, and I’ll be there- When that old blues guitar sounds so right Twistin’ through the live oaks under the starry night I will be with you, in that motorcycle noise, And I’ll be there in the wild dreams of the shy boys I’ll be there in the wild dreams of the shy boys”

Simply stunning! The whole CD sounds like a roadhouse show where the girl singer kicks her cowboy boots on the stage as the drummer counts four. I’d love to see Mandy Mercier stomp her cowboy boots on a stage here.
- "Best of WestNY"

Mandy has truly come into her own with this gutsy collection of heartsore songs. A lot of living, loving, and loss are reflected here but always with a sense of hopefulness and willing, resilient spirit. Mandy has long been one of my dearest friends and this record is a landmark piece of work. Many talented Austin musicians contribute to the effort and the result is one rocking CD. Each song is a gem but some of the highlights for me are "Already Fallin,'" "Make it Back to Midnight," "See it Now," and the title tune "Wild Dreams of the Shy Boys." Those of you living in or passing through Austin check out the music listing and catch Mandy and her band live and definitely buy this CD."

-- Dana Cooper


- Dana Cooper's website

"...Wild Dreams Of The Shy Boys...greatly surpassed the pre-release claims of greatness. Mandy, what a voice...wow. Sweet and longing on some of these tunes. Rockin' and wailin on others, plus genuine emotion on the powerful song about the school shooting at Columbine. She was actually there in Colorado when it happened and she brings a much needed lesson to us all."



- Local Flavor

Like her peer, Lucinda Williams, Mandy Mercier's stock in trade is songs of the heart -- broken or strong -- and she can deliver them with the kind of performance that stays with you long after the last note has faded"
-- Margaret Moser
- Austin Chronicle

"Fiery Lone Star chanter -- tightly whipped blues and particularly choice country rock -- she's been called a petite keg of dynamite, Mandy Mercier, an Austin, Texas expatriate who was consistently, positively drooled over in her hometown press"
-- LA Weekly

- LA Weekly

Mercier rocks far harder than Williams . . . connects with a strongly original voice . . . long been raved about as a dynamic live performer and she's successfully transferred that energy to tape"
-- John Conquest, Music City Texas/Third Coast Music
- Third Coast Music, TX

Explodes onstage and delivers the moves, the looks and a voice that seems to need two bodies to handle it . . ."
-- Public News, Houston - Public News, Houston

Dynamo Mandy Mercier . . . Wonderful, nonstop, Mandy Mercier . . . she plays with her entire body, and sings with her whole soul . . . The fans who spent the evening queing up breathlessly for Golden Smog or Liz Phair missed a bet . . . gravel and honey-voiced Mandy Mercier . . . sang sweetly as the lowriders and pickups that constitute South Austin's blue collar rush hour rumbled . . . who knows, maybe next year Mercier will be packin' 'em in and 8,000 people can claim they saw her . . . "
- American-Statesman, Austin, TX

Mandy Mercier, who ignited last year's Second Helpings" CD (Watermelon 1996) with a show-stopping "Turtle Blues," is as regular a fixture . . . an Austinite who recently let Rusty Wier and Ray Wylie Hubbard borrow her skills, and worked with Lucinda Williams . . . Mercier's fiery fiddling is as arresting as her voice, a hair-raising throaty wail custom-built for moanin' the blues."
-- Austin Chronicle, "Recommended," - Austin Chronicle