Mary Stokes Band Launch Alan Lomax Inspired Single

The Mary Stokes Band have announced the release of a single, which will be available from November 16. The band are fresh from their hugely successful weekend residency at Counihan’s in Cork, as part of the Guinness Jazz festival.

Entitled 'Mattie Won’t Write’, the single was produced by Stano. The track, an experimental, funky, take on the blues, was inspired by a fragment from Alan Lomax’s field recordings, collected in The Library of Congress’ Blues in the Mississippi Night (1948).

The song works a single phrase from an old Mississippi chain gang work chant into an evocative piece of contemporary blues music. In the hands of producer and sound artist Stano, the song receives a sonic treatment far outside the standard blues idiom – with remarkable results.

“The sentiment expressed in the song speaks of a condition common to many people," Mary Stokes says of 'Mattie Won’t Write’. “We all know the feeling of longing to hear from a loved one, but not receiving any word from them.”

‘Mattie Won’t Write’ is coupled with ‘Fire and Ice’ – another original song written by Mary it is an impressive, minor key-based blues cut, also produced by Stano.

While the band have released a number of albums in the interim, this is their first single in 25 years. Their first single, a vinyl 45 r.p.m. disc on Danceline Records, was released in the Autumn of 1990.

The single are available for purchase on iTunes and for streaming on Spotify, through CD Baby at [link]cdbaby.com/cd/marystokes[/link].