The Secret Sisters with Mary Bragg

Mary Bragg (born in Swainsboro, GA) is an American singer-songwriter based in Nashville, TN. Bragg lived in a number of Southern musical capitals—Athens, Atlanta, Nashville—before settling in New York in 2004. Her music is consequently a seamless hybrid of her Southern Americana roots and the downtown New York singer-songwriter community of which she has become a key member. Lee Alexander, one of the pioneers of this scene, produced Bragg’s album, Tattoos and Bruises, and together they recruited a number of their friends and frequent collaborators to contribute. Writing for Tattoos and Bruises began in late 2008, continued during a residency at New York City’s great singer-songwriter launching pad, The Living Room, and was completed just moments before the final tracks were recorded. Writing or co-writing all ten of the album’s songs, Bragg invited Alexander to co-write four of them, while three more of her favorite songwriters, Adam Levy (another longtime collaborator of Norah Jones and Amos Lee), Colin McGrath, and her bassist/husband, Jimmy Sullivan, made additional co-writing contributions. The ten tracks that comprise the final album were recorded and mixed over 14 days at Jones’ East Village studio, The Coop, with Tom Schick (Wilco, Rufus Wainwright) engineering and co-mixing. Backing Bragg on the album is the same accomplished band of players who perform in her live shows, including Rich Hinman, Steve Elliot and Adam Levy (guitars), Jordan Perlson and Brian Wolfe (drums), Jimmy Sullivan (bass), Mike Cassedy (piano, organ) and Marika Hughes (cello). While Bragg has drawn comparisons to Patty Griffin and Shawn Colvin—and does indeed bear some stylistic resemblances to them—Bragg comfortably inhabits her unique fusion of American musical forms on Tattoos and Bruises: folk, rock, pop, and country. Tattoos and Bruises is Bragg’s third studio album. It follows Sugar (2007), which was produced by Darius Jones. Sugar has earned Bragg several industry nods including an Honorable Mention in the International Songwriting Competition and feature placements in the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival (Emerging Artists Showcase) and the Wildflower! Festival, where she was a finalist in the Performing Songwriter Competition. Bragg is especially beloved for her live performances. In addition to a record release residency at The Living Room in June, she will tour the U.S. in support of the album. An itinerary will be announced soon. NEWS: Featured in the 2009 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival Emerging Artists Showcase. Finalist in the 2009 Wildflower Festival Performing Songwriter Competition. Honorable Mention: 2008 International Songwriting Competition in the Americana Category for "Let Me". Top DIY Album - Performing Songwriter Magazine, 2009. Quarter-Finalist in the 2010 Songwriter's Beat Festival. Instrumentation Mary Bragg, Vocals and Acoustic Guitar, songwriting Jimmy Sullivan, Upright and Electric Bass, cowriting Adam Levy, Guitar, cowriting Rich Hinman/Steve Elliot, Electric and Pedal Steel Guitars Brian Wolfe/Jordan Perlson, Percussion Mike Cassedy, Piano/Rhodes Discography Tattoos and Bruises, June 2011 Sugar, November 2007 Certain Simple Things, March 2004