Maria Dunn was born in Scotland and has Celtic music in her blood. She grew up in Ontario and Alberta and has made her home in Edmonton for the past 30+ years. The JUNO-winning singer-songwriter has often been compared to Woody Guthrie for her ability to write beautiful songs that pierce the heart with their spirited social awareness. She has a new album coming out in early November, Hardscrabble Hope, and agreed to answer five CKUA questions to fill us in on all things Maria!
1. You have a new album coming out, Hardscrabble Hope. Congratulations! Tell us about it, what makes this record special?
Well, albums are like children: everyone of them is special. This album continues on the path of previous albums, trying to honour the story and the people that inspired each song, with the musical feel and the resulting instrumentation often influenced by the story.
2. What inspired you as you were writing and then recording these songs?
The songs on the album were mostly written during and following COVID (2020 – 2024) and very much reflect the stories around me at the time. Some of these include the crisis of people experiencing homelessness, the lack of health and safety measures for essential workers during the pandemic, the moments of epiphany/realization of the racism and inequities in the world.
Also the strong desire to act to change ourselves and the world for the better, the need for connection with each other, and finding humour in the urge of some people to “improve” themselves by learning to play the accordion during lockdown.
3. You’ve been in the music biz a few years. How has your approach to creating music changed over the seasons?
I don’t know that it has. In terms of writing songs, the initial spark of an idea often involves a turn of phrase that comes to mind when I’m hearing a story, or thinking about a story. That turn of phrase then leads me to the feel of the song (tempo, rhythm, major/minor key, etc.) as I flesh out the lyrics.
The melody starts to come with the lyrics, but if I’m not entirely happy with it at that point, I just work on getting the lyrics down and then putting the melody under a bit of a microscope later, often working with the piano and writing the notes out so that I can see where I’m going with the melody, to make sure I’m happy with it.
I do a lot of walking when I’m writing a song, turning over the lyrics and melody in my mind, and sometimes aloud, making sure it’s singable (at least to the dogs and the birds!).
4. You have two stellar musicians playing with you for your upcoming album release show. BUT let’s say they were busy one day and you had to pick any two musicians in the entire world – dead or alive – to play in your trio. Who would you pick and why?
I have more than two musicians playing with me for the November 6 album celebration, we’ll also have wonderful harmony singer Dawn Cross, who sang on the album, and steel guitar player Jeff Bradshaw who also graces several songs, and Shannon Johnson and Jeremiah McDade’s brother Solon McDade, who also helped with the song arrangements and recorded upright bass in the studio.
If none of these talented folks were available, what two musicians would I choose to accompany me on my songs?
Jennifer and Hazel Wrigley, from the Orkney Islands, who I used to cross paths with regularly at festivals and folk clubs about 20 years ago. They have the versatility and incredible skill on their respective instruments (fiddle, guitar) and I felt like we always had a good laugh when we met each other, so I think they would be great fun to perform and tour with.
Or if I’m dreaming more of singers/songwriters/musicians whose work has inspired me, then it would be more of a shared show and less about accompanying my songs. In fact, I might just sit at the side of the stage and listen admiringly, but with any number of incredible people that have inspired me over the years: Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard, Jean Ritchie, Karan Casey and John Doyle, Allison Russell, Ferron, Julie Fowlis, Karine Polwart, Dave Gunning and JP Cormier. But of course I would really have to pull up my socks and work hard to keep up with these musicians, as I tend to have to do with Shannon Johnson and Jeremiah McDade!
5. Are there any songs in your personal playlist that might surprise your fans? What are they and why do you love them?
I’m a huge Proclaimers fan, and they are a mainstay on my running iPod, even when I substitute other songs/artists out on rotation. However, I doubt that would surprise anyone.
If I think about songs that I’ve pulled out at campfire jams with friends, or in my time playing as Artist on the Ward at the University of Alberta Hospital 25 years ago, maybe these would surprise:
“One Tin Soldier”: a compact yet huge song in terms of peace and war
Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5”: a great feminist, workers’ rights song
Kenny Rogers’ “The Gambler”: such a great narrative and chorus
Trooper’s “Raise a Little Hell”: I’ve been indoctrinated by this song at every Junior High or High School dance that I ever went to in the late 70s/early 80s. It might have had a subliminal influence on my own protest song, written in 2001, called: Troublemaker.
Thank you, Maria!
Catch Dunn as she chats with host Tom Coxworth on Folk Routes, Sunday, October 12. Folk Routes is every Sunday from 11am to 1pm MT. You can also see her play live at the album release party for Hardscrabble Hope, at Festival Place in Sherwood Park on November 6. More details here.
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