Finally! After two years of lockdown and non-musical events, it is great to have something to celebrate. 2022 is like a minor key waiting for a resolution. As with all things musical, it is always a hit or miss. There are very few artists that can jolt me out of the stupor. Yes, you read that. I’ve been blogging about music since 2009. It seems like everything is in cycles when you have stayed that long. As in Hermeticism, you have to ride the law of rhythm. Even when it is not working in your favor. Once you remain on the path of your true calling, then good things happen.

This is what I have noticed in the long career of Mary Fahl. She did not start in the music industry as “the next girl” but rather as a serious artist who has discovered her authentic voice. She did not enter the business as someone who is a sponge waiting for the industry to shape her. She already knew what she wanted because of her firm foundation. One can say that she did her work, building knowledge and skills to survive the volatile and fickle world of the recording industry. 

Sure, I’ve also been monitoring her former band October Project. After decades, I can say that she made the right choice to be a solo artist. While her former band focuses more on the classical albeit conservative influences, Mary’s taste has always been edgy. In fact, that eclecticism has taken her to places. Even now, listening to The Other Side of Time which is her debut album furthered my opinion that is it an album that is worth discovering again and again. The styles are timeless and don’t adhere to trite musical pastiche, but instead continue to challenge the listener repeatedly. 

Can’t Get It Out Of My Head is the upcoming album’s title. Although Ms. Fahl hasn’t shared details about the album, I am sure it will blow your mind. The people she chooses to work with are always spot on. Here’s a snippet of her bio mentioning the upcoming album:

 Over the past few years she’s been touring and recording on her own label, Rimar Records and her recent releases are garnering awards including an Indie Acoustic Award for Best Live Album for “Live at the Mauch Chunk Opera House” (filmed for PBS) and a 2020 Independent Music Award for her recent holiday album, “Winter Songs and Carols”. Her latest release, a Blu-ray 5.1 surround DVD, “From the Dark Side of the Moon“, brilliantly mixed by Bob Clearmountain, won the 2021 Immersive Album Audio Listener’s Choice award and was named “Immersive Album of the Year” by Life in Surround. Now she returns with “Can’t Get It Out of My Head”, a collection of songs that she calls “essential” to her development as an artist. “The challenge was to make each of these songs my own or why bother…”, and her interpretations of Neil Young, George Harrison, Richard Thompson and Pink Floyd among others, all recorded in stereo and 5.1 surround, do just that.