Mary Stokes has announced a gig in The Grand Social, which is rapidly emerging as one of the capital's liveliest venues. The show has been lined up for the North side rock and roots mecca, on Saturday January 11.

Mary enjoyed a highly productive year in 2019. Having toured in the US early in the year, she headlined the Dublin Blues, Roots and Brass festival in August, before taking the Guinness Jazz Festival – during which she played five packed out shows – by storm in October. A trip to Liverpool to play the legendary Cavern Club in November was followed by the release of a Christmas single – a cover of Bessie Smith’s ‘At The Christmas Ball’. Listen Here!

The Grand Social gig is an opening salvo for 2020 – which promises to be another busy year. Mary has been recording through the latter part of 2019, with a new album scheduled for release in 2020. Her current backing band includes the extraordinary talent of Sarah Michelle on guitar (pictured above with Mary).

“I knew someone who’d said that Mary was looking for a guitar player,” Sarah told Hot Press last year “And I definitely wanted to talk to her, because it’s hard to get a blues gig in Dublin. So we met and jammed together and got a gig under our belt right away.”

They’ve been partners in the blues ever since, with Sarah providing a superb, driving foil to Mary’s powerful blues vocals – making them one of the finest live propositions to be found in Ireland right now.

That makes the early-January Grand Social gig a must-see. 2020 could well prove to be the one that sees Mary Stokes switch to a higher gear. With an album on the way, it is certainly all to play for. Meanwhile, catch Mary Stokes and her band, if you can, on January 11 - Buy tickets here!