| Fan Story - Bob Warner | |
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| Author: | Bob Warner |
| Date: | |
| Source: | |
| E-mail: | wyliekot@99main.com |
| Website: | |
My Wife and I consider ourselves extremely fortunate to have met Mary, her sister Frances and her brothers Michael, Shay and Martin. A few years ago, one of my wife's friends married Michael Black. Up until that time we had never heard of the Black Family. At a wedding in Maine of a mutual friend Sandy, Michael gave us a tape of himself and the rest of his family performing, we loved it! We bought Mary's "No Frontiers" CD and instantly recognized the title track from hearing it countless times on the radio. Ever since then we have been devoted fans of Mary, Michael, Frances and her brothers Shay and Martin. Three years ago we were invited to a party at Sandy's in Maine where they commonly hold "tunes" in the living room following a dinner. At these tunes, everybody is invited to sing, play, tell stories or what have you. Michael and Mary were there and while Michael sang and accompanied Mary on the guitar, Mary sang while sitting on the couch. I can still see it in my mind's eye; Mary, my mother-in-law and my wife holding our infant daugter sitting with Mary on a couch on an island in Maine! It was just an incredible experience and Mary's voice, for lack of a better expression just soared! I stood there and wondered how this incredible sound could come out of one's body! I was getting goosebumps! With no warming up or backup band, mixing boards or amps, it was just the most breathtaking performance I have ever seen. Michael is wonderful on the guitar and vocals and deserves to be as famous as Mary and Frances. My dream gig would be to see just Michael and Mary alone on stage with nothing more than their voices and Michael's guitar. Mary doesn't need anything to compliment her voice! Two nights ago at the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton, Mass, Michael introduced us and we finally got to meet Frances, Shay and Martin. They are wonderful, talented, warm and sincere people. They make an awkward fan feel immediately very comfortable. Their live performances sound as good if not better that their recordings. One of our fondest moments with Mary is when we were at the tune at Sandy's in Maine, she held our newborn daughter so that we could eat our dinner and gave us parenting tips. Her technique for distracting a crying baby (that would just not stop) was to crinkle an empty potato chip bag. It worked so well we practiced it all the way home in the car to Connecticut (8 hours!). Mary is an incredibly warm, approachable and lovely person. Unlike a lot of other celebrities that are aloof an arrogant. On the contrary, she recognizes when you feel awkward, star struck and she helps to make you not feel like a babbling fool. I'd like to share another Mary/Sandy story... We went to see Mary at the Newport Folk festival last year. After her set we went back stage to see her and she introduced us to James Taylor. (He by the way was as eager to meet Mary as she was to meet him. I think that they should collaborate on a CD). We were all talking to Mary and James Taylor. Michael Black's father-in-law, Butch was video taping Mary, James Taylor and the rest of us talking. We noticed Sandy (from Maine) talking with some guy off in a corner. After we all returned to our seats (blanket)on the lawn, we were looking at Butch's tape of us backstage. We asked Sandy why she didn't come over and talk to James Taylor. She said she was talking to James Taylor. We all said no you weren't we were and we were wondering just who that was that she was talking with. After looking at the tape, Sandy was convinced that we were talking to the real James Taylor. We have never been able to figure out just who Sandy was talking to, but he must be real flattered because Sandy told him that she has been a fan of his for years, got a picture with him and invited him over for a lobster dinner the next time he found himself in Maine. He probably should have figured that something amiss when Sandy mentioned that it was too bad about him and Carly. After the Newport concert, back at Mary's hotel we were all in the bar having a beer. Fans would come up to her and she would go off and sit with them at their tables to meet their families, sign autographs and pose for pictures! How many celebrities would do that! Mary has been described as the "Barbara Sreisand" of Ireland. Personally, I think that Barbara Streisand is the "Mary Black" of America. I just don't think that we would ever see the day when Barbara mingles with us "commoners" in a pub! And now a Michael story... As I mentioned we all met for the first time at Sandy and Tim's wedding in Maine. It was a small island off the coast. We all were gathered the day before to help set up the reception tent, arrange chairs, and just relax with our old and new found friends before the wedding. This small island has no electricity and has but a few year round residents. We all stayed that night at the "inn" on the island. It was the classic Maine turn of the century massive wooden structure, built as a boarding school for boys with a sprawling wood cookstove in the kitchen, claw foot bath tubs (gravity fed with collected rain water), white washed wainscotted walls, oil lamps, a few chickens and sheep. That evening it was just the most spectacular sky. A deep indigo sky broken only by a blizzard of stars and a brilliant full moon. We lay on our beds in our own rooms, while the moon glowed translucent in our white lace curtains that flapped silently in the sea breeze thru the open windows. All was quiet except for the sea breeze outside in the Maine fir trees and Michael in the room across the hall quietly playing his guitar and singing "Love Is Just Around the Corner". It was the first time that we had ever heard that song and it was beautiful. He gave no indication that he was planning to record that song. Fortunately he did. Everyone should have the opportunity just once in their lives to have a night like that. The next time you have an opportunity to see Michael in concert, go, and request that song! That's the other nice thing about the Black's, they will play requests.