Margaret MacKay and Michael Reese are celebrating the birth of their first child. June Harriet Reese was born on July 16 at 1:14 p.m. in Wolfville, Nova Scotia.
June made her entrance at 6.48 pounds.
Bluegrass fans remember Mike and Maggie from their Boston-based group, Chasing Blue, which they formed while in college in 2008. The band released a pair of full-length projects and an early EP during their tenure. Margaret played banjo and Michael guitar throughout that time. For their first two CDs, mandolinist Suzanne Oleson, a superb songwriter, was also a member of the group, along with Alex Muri on bass.
The pair was married in 2017. These days, MacKay and Reese are working in the real estate business in Nova Scotia, both with Maggie’s family’s firm.
While June was still in utero, they shared the humorous ultrasound photo below.
Congratulations Mike and Maggie, and a big Bluegrass Today welcome to little June!
Michael Reese and Margaret MacKay, guitarist and banjoist respectively with Boston-based Chasing Blue, were married on July 22. The ceremony was held in Margaret’s parents’ backyard in Wolfville, NS where she was raised.
The two met while studying at the Berklee College of Music and formed the band while living in Boston. Mike hails from Cincinnati, where he grew up playing with his parent’s bluegrass band.
Margaret says that they had a beautiful day for the wedding, and all their bandmates were in attendance, along with family and friends. Music for the ceremony was provided by Tony Watt and Laura Orshaw, also a member of Chasing Blue. Of course, the band played a set at the reception, along with Tricky Britches from Portland, ME.
In lieu of a honeymoon, Mike and Maggie will be traveling from their home in Nova Scotia down to New England for a brief tour to coincide with the release of the band’s next album, Blood Ties, which releases August 2.
Congratulations and best wishes to Mr. and Mrs. Reese!
The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) has announced six finalists for their inaugural $10,000 band contest to be held during the FreshGrass festival September 20-22 in North Adams, MA. The bands fall within the festival’s targeted demographic of bluegrass and roots music, with a number who have been previously profiled at Bluegrass Today.
The Grand Prize winner will leave with a $5000 cash prize, plus a one day recording package at the Compass Records studio in Nashville, complete with artist mentoring from Compass President (and FreshGrass performer) Alison Brown. Second place finishers will be awarded a $2000 prize, with $1000 for third. The other three finalists will get $250 each.
These six were selected from among all applications received by a panel of music industry experts, who will judge the finalists’ live performances at the festival on September 22. Judges include Alison Brown, Chris Wadsworth from FreshGrass, Matt Glaser from Berklee College of Music, and Rachel Chanoff, the museum’s Curator of Performing Arts.
In addition to music from top acoustic, roots and bluegrass artists, attendees will have access to a number of exhibits from the museum.
Boston’s Chasing Blue has released a new music video for Come To Me, the opening track from their current EP, Low Valley.
The song is a variation on the theme of, “He may not be Mr. Right, but he’s Mr. Right Now.” It features their mandolinist, Suzanne Oleson, on lead vocals, joined by Michael Reese on guitar, Maggie MacKay on banjo, Trent Freeman on fiddle, and Alex Muri on bass.
The presentation is simple, but the music is strong.
It wasn’t two weeks ago that we offered our review of the new album from Chasing Blue, Low Valley.
The young Boston-based band won high praise from our reviewer (yours truly) for the quality of their songwriting, and the strong lead vocals of Suzy Oleson and Mike Reese. Not to deny the rest of the band their due; it is a very tight unit with interesting arrangements and slick picking.
Shortly after our review was published, the band released a music video for the song Two Broken Wings, written by Oleson – a lovely acoustic ballad that nicely highlights her distinctive vocal style, as well as talents of bass player, Alex Muri.
Talented young bands seem to pop up like weeds these days. Every time I turn around, there is another CD from a group that appears to have come out of nowhere, at least on a national level.
Just such a band is Chasing Blue, a quartet that met during a bluegrass ensemble class at the Berklee College of Music in 2008. At the end of the semester, the four of them played a local bar gig after the ensemble recital. They all had a good time, and people liked the music, so they formed an official group which has endured beyond graduation.
On their latest album, Low Valley, mandolinist Suzanne Oleson shows herself a force to be reckoned with, as both a vocalist and songwriter. And so does her bandmate, guitarist Michael Reese. With the assistance of banjo picker Maggie MacKay, they have written 9 of the 10 songs here, performed brilliantly with Alex Muri on bass.
Reese and Muri shine instrumentally, as does guest fiddler Trent Freeman, but it is the songs that grab your attention. They range from solid bluegrass and mountain music, to acoustic rock, fiddle tune and various folk styles.
As you might imagine, the songs reflect sensibilities of importance to twenty-somethings, but regardless of topic or stylistic focus, the songs are crisp and clever, and sung with passion, artistry, and conviction.
Oleson has a most particular knack for lyrics, and a unique sense of melody. Add to that her endearingly quirky voice and you sense a real star quality in this young lady, who I hope will stay in the bluegrass orbit as she matures and develops as an artist.
Perhaps the album’s strongest track is one she wrote, Two Broken Wings, which has something of a Celtic feel, and reflects the interesting hybrid sound that Boston acoustic bands have pioneered in recent years.
Or maybe the strongest is My Drug, which she wrote with Maggie. It’s a perfectly female look at the realization that a stalled relationship is doomed, with especially inspired lyrics.
I got a hat for every day of the week
And I’ve got a pill that’s gonna make me sleep.
I’m a little user and no one’s gonna tell.
I put a cigarette in your mouth
To keep you quiet as I walked out.
Two years is long enough, don’t you think?
Or maybe Ellen is my favorite, again from Oleson and McKay, one that turns the familiar murder ballad upside down. The cheating lover goes down as per the formula, but this time it’s the woman whose man she stole who does the deed.
Reese’s voice is clear and powerful, and he is equally comfortable with bluegrass and the two more rock-inflected numbers: Queen City Feel, which he wrote with McKay, and Oleson’s Red Wine Rock and Roll. A Cinncinnati native, he renders the party ballad about the Queen City where he was raised with an impressive Lowell George snarl.
Michael also shines on the record’s lone instrumental, a guitar tune he wrote, and as vocalist on the closing track, Let’s Start Tomorrow, written by all four members.
Though not featured on the CD, Danny Musher is now touring with Chasing Blue on fiddle.
There are several radio-friendly tracks here that would be right at home on most any bluegrass, folk or Americana show. Programmers can contact the band to obtain a copy for airplay. It is available for sale at CD Baby and in iTunes.
Low Valley is a superb record, worthy of the attention of anyone interested in where the next generation of acoustic string artists are taking our beloved bluegrass music.
