About
History of Go Round, Mary
History of Go Round, Mary
History of Go Round, Mary
Go Round, Mary (G.R.M.) is a band that I started back in 1998 when I (Stacy) got my first guitar, "Lula Belle." You couldn't even call G.R.M. a "band" in '98, since it was just myself and a Mac. Thankfully I found other collaborators over the years (including my son, Gavin, who plays guitar on several tracks in 'Heavy Anchor'). It was these collaborators who helped me become a well-rounded instrumental music writer, vs. just singing, writing lyrics, and writing vocal melodies only. Shout out to Nick Woodward who helped me out so much on my first few albums. Those tracks have officially been released as a double album representing those first few years. I present to thee; 'Purr Power!' https://open.spotify.com/album/1oV0TS06bRYWDrzzEgn0ra?si=UQ9vYt5eQGe-Hw0on_KTYw
Although I, (Stacy), am the only constant member of this "band", my last, and most recent band mate, was my good friend, Steve Fortin, who was formerly the bassist for the popular Arkansas band, 'Four on the Floor'. Steve relocated to WA several years ago to be closer to family. He works as a long-time electrician in addition to being a great musician. We both shared the hope that maybe all those years we each spent as day-dreaming kids on opposite sides of the country, with our heads in the clouds and a poem always on the pen, might come to fruition someday. We were very prolific together, writing way more songs than we ever had alone. Click on the 'Heavy Anchor' album cover photo to listen to our 2nd collaborative album, on Spotify. (Other collaborators on 'Heavy Anchor' are Gavin Craig (guitarist on several songs), Howard Henson (vocals on several songs), and Julia Guinn who wrote the lyrics for "A Rock and a Girl"). My son Gavin and I design GRM album covers together as well, including this one. In fact, I've been dabbling in art my whole life and if that interests you, click here to go to my artist page, thanks.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/AsphaltMermaid & https://www.facebook.com/StacyToddArtist/
Road Trippin'
History of Go Round, Mary
History of Go Round, Mary
Steve and I wrote many of our songs on the road. In fact, we even wrote a few songs about that! I have released an album containing one such joy-of-travel related songs, (Road Trippin'). That album is called 'Year of the Fledgling' and can be found on soundcloud at https://soundcloud.com/stacyanntodd. This is a "lost tracks" type album, containing songs that were recorded outside of February and therefore didn't qualify for the RPM Challenge. In the meantime, click on the photo of Steve to the right to hear 'Road Trippin'! This photo shows Steve practicing at 'Stace-Land', which is my acre of land that is completely off the grid, in the middle of the Eastern WA desert. I hope to actually record an album there someday, complete with the natural soundtrack of coyotes and chirping insects, and general sounds of the desert... I have purchased a special interface that runs solely on batteries that I will employ on this future album.
RPM Challenge
History of Go Round, Mary
RPM Challenge
Steve and I have entered the RPM Challenge together with 3 of our albums and previously I entered 2 challenges with other collaborators, including Nick Woodward and Marky DiNitto (these initial RMP Challenge songs will be compiled in my a double album, titled 'Purr Power', coming out soon). The RPM Challenge is an on-line, creative challenge offered yearly to musicians. RPM invites musicians to record 35 mins or 10 songs consisting of original music recorded in the month of February. It is not a contest, so there is no winner. You may ask "why would you waste your time entering a challenge with no winner"? Well, one of my best friends introduced me to this annual challenge back in 2008 and it was something that he had entered several times so I wanted to make him proud. Now I do it for the love of the challenge. I've always just been a competitive person, and I have always loved music. I still remember myself sitting on the floor with my kiddie style record player spinning The Beegees and Abba. I also recall spinning the original ABC with all the Jackson siblings. Luckily I dropped my childhood disco faves to find much better genre influences, like The Cure and Led Zeppelin to name a few all-time faves. Click on the albums below to hear how Steve and I progressed as a duo. Left being oldest and right being newest. Steve and I were recording newbs in Whipped Cream & Lies, guys. Go easy.
I also do art if you are interested:
Art is my first love, so it is also featured here on my Go Round, Mary site.