You know the 24 year-old, two-time Grammy nominee Mary Lambert for her infectious chorus on Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ LGBT anthem, “Same Love.” Anyone that claims they haven’t belted out the words “And I can’t change, even if I tried” on the road with their buddies, or questioned their sexuality after getting a barber to give them Macklemore’s (A.K.A Ben Haggerty’s) iconic hairdo, is not to be trusted.
The chorus, which she wrote on the fly in a two-hour window while working as a bartender in Seattle, put Lambert on the map, got her a deal with Capitol Records, and has seen her flying around the country to perform intimate local gigs while casually recording her first full length album to drop this summer.
If you’re expecting another airhead pop diva to emerge, though, Mary has some words for you.
Via: nytimes.com
“The industry wants to tell me I’m a pop artist. ‘Mary, record all this vapid shit first.’ But I’m going to talk about, and sing, what’s important to me,” the singer told an audience of about 130 during her free concert at The Wooly Tuesday night as a part of UF’s Pride Awareness Month.
As an open lesbian, survivor of sexual and domestic abuse, body positivity icon and woman living with clinical bipolar disorder, Mary has plenty of truth bombs to lay down. Blending a mix of pensive spoken-word and smoky vocals, Mary’s bittersweet talk-rhythm songs cut into deep and dark waters.
“I like to talk about uncomfortable things. And I believe in crying. It clears out the eyes. I think it’s hugging time,” Mary said as she asked a tearful audience to embrace after a particularly piercing poem recounting her battle to escape an abusive relationship.
In-between performances, however, the singer-songwriter was all laughs. From her girlfriend’s douchey cat rebelliously shitting in her bathtub, to stoner ex-boyfriends and holding back burps in the middle of a vocal run, Lambert is chalk-full of quirky anecdotes to ease the building tension in the room—just before hitting you hard with an intimate, soul-crushing ballad.
Mary spoke about her time rehearsing for the Grammys, a controversial performance that saw the televised marriage of 33 same-sex couples by officiator Queen Latifah, and how she literally cried for 10 straight hours leading up to the big day.
Via: ravenfoundation.org
“And I see all these couples walking on-stage, so of course I just lose it. I started flicking off all these poor people, like ‘Fuck you for making me cry.’ Then Madonna comes over—MADONNA—to wipe my tears away,” Lambert said wide eyed wither her arms spread-eagle as if she had just been caressed by the messiah, “Before saying ‘You know if you’re too emotional I can sing your part.’” She straightened her face and pursed her lips, “Um, no. I think I’ve got this.”
Just before singing a cover of the Wheatus hit, “Teenage Dirtbag,” Mary recalled the first time hearing it and thinking it was a lesbian love song before disappointingly realizing, “Oh wait, this is just a super high-pitched man.” As she later came to appreciate, there was no one representing a love like hers in the music business. With her newfound fame and growing admiration among the industry, Mary aims to change that.
Taking her nation-sweeping chorus from “Same Love, ” she adapted a full-length lesbian love song and accompanying video, “She Keeps Me Warm,” which was released in an EP last December, “Welcome to the Age Of My Body.” Also found on the EP is a two-part spoken-word musical poem, “Body Love,” which Mary used as a launching platform for The Body Love campaign yesterday, an Instagram movement aimed at embracing plus-sized beauty in anticipation of the poem’s music video being released next week. The popularity of “Body Love” isn’t surprising—in tandem with her music career, Lambert is also an award winning slam poet and author of the independently published book of poetry, “500 Tips for Fat Girls”.
A sweet, down to Earth, and rambunctiously hilarious personality (even in the midst of her somber real-talk music), Mary Lambert had no problems winning over the crowd at The Wooly. She even stayed an extra hour at the venue just so she could hug each and every audience member before signing an autograph or posing for an ironically duck-faced selfie.
I’m not saying I cried several times in the middle of downtown on a Tuesday night because of her set and beautiful aura of bubbly energy…but thank God for the absorptive power of my cotton t-shirt.
Find Mary online @marylambertsing and marylambertsings.com
Featured photo courtesy of: Billboard
