Calgary-born singer-songwriter Mariel Buckley is feeling grateful.
She’s got a new record, Strange Trip Ahead, out in the world, and is launching on a big tour with Canadian favourite Matt Andersen in January.
In fact, she’s feeling so upbeat she might even write some happy songs!
“I’m ready for some levity,” says the musician, whose known for dark, honest, melancholic work.
“It’s easier to tap into that moody, gloomy thing for me because I’ve spent a lot of my life in that space,” she says. “But as you get older, you find more and more to be grateful for.”
Buckley says loves the songs on her new record, darker as they may be.
“I love how heavy-hitting they are but there’s also a lot of things I’m very grateful for and very happy with that I haven’t written about yet.”
“Although I think often people come to my music for some solace through the difficult stuff, I’d like to offer a space to celebrate as well.”
And there’s a lot to celebrate. Beyond her well-received album still fresh in the world, Buckley is looking forward to touring with Andersen in the new year. They’ll start in Glace Bay, NS in January, ending in Victoria, BC in March.
“I’m stoked,” Buckley says. She toured with Andersen in 2023, hitting 20-some stages in 14 states. “It was pretty nuts and this is kind of the same. But he loves to tour and I love to tour so it’s going to be awesome.”
There will be many, many ears taking in her particular brand of alt-country blended with pop-rock.
“This tour is incredibly special because I think the smallest room is 700 people. For me who can’t move numbers like that, it’s pretty incredible. To play Massey Hall, for instance, that’s a bucket list venue.”
Also buoying Buckley’s spirits is that she is living a double life, in the best of ways. Though she laughs that she once swore she’d never move to Nashville, she has, sort of, moved to Nashville. She now splits her time between Tennessee and Edmonton.
Americanafest brought her to Nashville for the first time in 2015. “That’s when I was really turned on to Americana music. Before I thought, “there’s country and who knows what else,” she laughs. “That was the gateway drug.”
She wanted to challenge herself, she says. “That’s also just a part of what makes me who I am. I really like to be uncomfortable, that’s how I’ve found the most growth in my life.”
It’s been good for her, she says, surrounding herself with an unfamiliar, music-obsessed community.
“These are so many creative people here who have made a life creating, in arguably the most competitive and busy music city in the world. It’s been an interesting process to get to know and learn from a whole new group of people.
Buckley and Andersen will hit stages in Alberta next February. Info and details here.
“Vending Machines” from Strange Trip Ahead:
