Sky Cries Mary

Sky Cries Mary originated as a platform for creating soundtracks tied to vocalist Roderick Wolgamott's theatrical productions. With assistance from Posies members Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer, initial recordings took place on Wolgamott's 23rd birthday, just prior to his departure from Seattle for graduate studies in Paris. There he secured a contract with the New Rose label, and after returning to Seattle the group wrapped up their first album within eight days. The abrasive industrial textures of Until the Grinders Cease surfaced across Europe in 1989, though American listeners waited ten years for its domestic release.

The band performed three concerts, one of which supported Pere Ubu, before Wolgamott headed back to Paris for another EP, Don't Eat the Dirt, involving local musicians. A final track was cut in Seattle alongside Stringfellow and Auer, resulting in material issued solely in Europe once more. Stringfellow and Auer departed as Wolgamott's perspective evolved. Connection to the emerging local rave scene linked him to electronic specialist DJ Fallout, and the nearly simultaneous arrival of operatically trained Anisa Romero aligned with Wolgamott's recognition that his music could convey more than "a simple outpouring of 'this is shit, you are shit, I am shit....'"

Completing the lineup with bassist Joe Howard, drummer Ben Ireland, keyboardist Gordon Raphael, and former Patti Smith Group guitarist Ivan Kral, the increasingly theatrical and ambitious ensemble found a home at the World Domination label in 1991. Their introduction came via the Exit at the Axis EP, tracked shortly before Kral's exit for a solo career in late 1992. Marc Olsen of Sage stepped in, and the outfit embarked on its first national tour opening for Shriekback. Return to the Inner Experience arrived in 1993, seamlessly placing Sky Cries Mary amid the resurgent space rock scene that followed Ozric Tentacles' breakthrough in the American underground.

Howard quit to form Pretty Mary Sunshine before joining the Posies (he also released his own Skyward solo album). Juano Davison took over on bass, and with Michael Cozzi (ex-Shriekback) in for Olsen, Sky Cries Mary produced their pinnacle work, This Timeless Turning. Network television appearances preceded what became known as the first rock concert broadcast over the Internet, and in 1996 Sky Cries Mary signed with Warners and began work on what should have been their breakthrough album, Moonbathing on Sleeping Leaves. A complete breakdown of communication with the record company instead left the members stranded in limbo. They appeared on the 1997 HORDE tour, yet the album went unnoticed and Warners dropped the group soon after.

Both Raphael and Cozzi quit the band altogether (the former for a career in production—White Stripes number among his triumphs), while Wolgamott joined ex-Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic and former Ministry drummer Bill Rieflin in Sunshine Cake to record the soundtrack to the first of a projected trilogy of Novoselic's art movies. Briefly back on World Domination, Sky Cries Mary oversaw the well-received compilation Fresh Fruits for the Liberation -- Ten Years of Musical Compost, but despite regular local gigs (with William Bernhard replacing Cozzi) their attention appeared elsewhere. Wolgamott recorded a second Sunshine Cake soundtrack with Ireland replacing Rieflin, and Romero made an album with electronic composer Jeff Greinke, before Sky Cries Mary finally returned to full-time action in 1999. A fresh set of demos brought the band to the attention of Collective Fruit, which released the Seeds EP in September 1999. The group disbanded four months later, however. Sky Cries Mary regrouped in 2004, with keyboard player Kent Halvorsen joining returning members Davison, Bernhard, Ireland, and Cozzi alongside Wolgamott and Romero. Their first release was the two-CD live package Here and Now, featuring recent (2004-2005) interpretations of earlier material. This was followed in 2008 by the acclaimed Small Town album. ~ Dave Thompson