Biography
Had Mary Ann Redmond launched her recording career during the 1960s or 1970s rather than the 1990s, she might well have ranked among the foremost soul vocalists of the Baby Boomer generation. A gritty, rugged, big-voiced belter whose chief influences stretch from Ike & Tina Turner to Etta James and Aretha Franklin, Redmond would have fit seamlessly into the gospel-infused soul environment of those earlier decades. A hip-hop-inflected neo-soul style in the manner of Mary J. Blige, Lauryn Hill, Jill Scott, or Jaguar Wright might have granted her access to the urban contemporary audience of the twenty-first century, yet her R&B remains free of the high-tech, hip-hop-driven urban contemporary textures that defined the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. She functions, above all, as a gutsy, hard-edged soul singer in the classic mold, albeit one who typically incorporates a pronounced rock edge, and her admirers cherish the unapologetically retro stance she maintains. Observers occasionally label Redmond a blues performer, a designation that frequently attaches itself to artists who prefer classic soul to urban contemporary fare; contemporary blues sections now overflow with albums whose content leans more toward soul than blues proper. Although Redmond negotiates 12-bar blues with equal facility, as well as rock and jazz, her recorded work centers squarely on soul.
Born and raised in Richmond, Virginia, Redmond absorbed a broad spectrum of R&B, rock, and pop during her formative years. Her mother, an amateur singer, and her two brothers—one of whom instructed her on guitar—nurtured her early musical curiosity. While still a teenager she mastered “House of the Rising Sun” on guitar, yet singing soon eclipsed instrumental performance as her central pursuit. Following high-school graduation she enrolled at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) as a voice major and pursued operatic classical training. Evening hours found her performing with assorted rock and jazz ensembles in the vicinity of the VCU campus. Despite faculty recognition of her classical promise, Redmond rejected a concert-hall trajectory and elected instead to focus on rock, R&B, and jazz. After relocating to the Washington, DC, metropolitan region in the early 1990s, she joined saxman/flutist Al Williams as featured vocalist in his soul/funk ensemble, which played throughout DC and its surrounding suburbs. She eventually departed Williams’s group to establish her own band, mixing covers with original material. As a solo artist Redmond cultivated a modest yet devoted local following and accumulated numerous Wammie awards. Administered by the Washington Area Music Association (WAMA), the Wammies serve as the District’s equivalent of the Grammy Awards; throughout the 1990s and early 2000s Redmond secured fourteen such honors, among them “Best Rock-Pop Vocalist,” “Best Female Jazz Singer,” “Best Roots Rock/Traditional R&B Vocalist,” “Best Urban Contemporary Vocalist,” and “Best Female Blues Vocalist.” Her regional profile grew sufficiently prominent for her to open shows for visiting soul veterans such as the O’Jays, the Pointer Sisters, Smokey Robinson, Ashford & Simpson, and the Neville Brothers.
Within the same metropolitan area, singer/songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter emerged as one of Redmond’s most steadfast advocates, enlisting her in 1999 as a background vocalist on tour. Another DC resident and ardent supporter was Redmond’s friend Eva Cassidy, the eclectic and stylistically elusive singer who succumbed to cancer in 1996 at the age of thirty-three. Redmond’s independent releases on her Spellbound imprint comprise Prisoner of the Heart, 1997’s Live!, and 2000’s Here I Am. In 2002 the independent Q&W Music Group reissued Prisoner of the Heart.
Born and raised in Richmond, Virginia, Redmond absorbed a broad spectrum of R&B, rock, and pop during her formative years. Her mother, an amateur singer, and her two brothers—one of whom instructed her on guitar—nurtured her early musical curiosity. While still a teenager she mastered “House of the Rising Sun” on guitar, yet singing soon eclipsed instrumental performance as her central pursuit. Following high-school graduation she enrolled at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) as a voice major and pursued operatic classical training. Evening hours found her performing with assorted rock and jazz ensembles in the vicinity of the VCU campus. Despite faculty recognition of her classical promise, Redmond rejected a concert-hall trajectory and elected instead to focus on rock, R&B, and jazz. After relocating to the Washington, DC, metropolitan region in the early 1990s, she joined saxman/flutist Al Williams as featured vocalist in his soul/funk ensemble, which played throughout DC and its surrounding suburbs. She eventually departed Williams’s group to establish her own band, mixing covers with original material. As a solo artist Redmond cultivated a modest yet devoted local following and accumulated numerous Wammie awards. Administered by the Washington Area Music Association (WAMA), the Wammies serve as the District’s equivalent of the Grammy Awards; throughout the 1990s and early 2000s Redmond secured fourteen such honors, among them “Best Rock-Pop Vocalist,” “Best Female Jazz Singer,” “Best Roots Rock/Traditional R&B Vocalist,” “Best Urban Contemporary Vocalist,” and “Best Female Blues Vocalist.” Her regional profile grew sufficiently prominent for her to open shows for visiting soul veterans such as the O’Jays, the Pointer Sisters, Smokey Robinson, Ashford & Simpson, and the Neville Brothers.
Within the same metropolitan area, singer/songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter emerged as one of Redmond’s most steadfast advocates, enlisting her in 1999 as a background vocalist on tour. Another DC resident and ardent supporter was Redmond’s friend Eva Cassidy, the eclectic and stylistically elusive singer who succumbed to cancer in 1996 at the age of thirty-three. Redmond’s independent releases on her Spellbound imprint comprise Prisoner of the Heart, 1997’s Live!, and 2000’s Here I Am. In 2002 the independent Q&W Music Group reissued Prisoner of the Heart.
Albums
