Biography Wikipedia
Wikipedia:
Mariee Sioux (born February 4, 1985) is an American folk singer-songwriter. Her father Gary Sobonya is a mandolin player of Polish and Hungarian descent, and her mother Felicia is of Spanish, Paiute, and Indigenous Mexican descent.
Biography
She grew up in Nevada City, California, where she wrote verses since she was a young child. At 17 she traveled to Patagonia to volunteer at a school for indigenous children where she taught herself to play the guitar, and in 2006 she debuted her first self-released album A Bundled Bundle of Bundles. A year later in 2007 she released her first studio album Faces in the Rocks which featured her delicate acoustic guitar music alongside the Native American flute by Gentle Thunder, and mandolin played by her father Gary Sobonya. The album had a Native American theme to it, filled with references to nature and the Native American people. Since the debut of her first album, she has drawn comparisons from Joanna Newsom to Joni Mitchell, and she has toured through North America and Europe, often alongside fellow folk singer Alela Diane.
She released a cover version of The Cure's "Lovesong", on the Manimal Vinyl tribute record to The Cure, entitled Perfect As Cats.
Gift for the End
Gift for the End, Mariee Sioux’s new album, draws its benevolent psychedelia from many sources. crisscrossed paths lead through California-folk like Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Kate Wolf, and Joanna Newsom, but also the likes of Linda Perhacs, Nick Drake and other UK psych folk staples.
Gift for the End was recorded between April 2010 and August 2011 in Placerville’s Moonsoon Studios and in the Nevada City’s Sun Dial studios. Mariee Sioux added intricate vocal melodies to her traditional guitar picking, combining classic folk instruments with less conventional ones, allowing a wider personal and emotional exploration. As compared to the consistency and uniformity of her debut album, (Faces in the Rocks), "Gift for the End" offers a large variety of sounds, universes and themes. The exploration of Native themes synonymous with Mariee Sioux (ie: the use of traditional native flute in "Faces in the Rocks") are far more discreet in Gift for the End.
The guest musicians, for the most part, are close friends and family members, and add subtle washes of color and tone over the steady finger-picking and clear, fragile vocals of Mariee Sioux. Gift for the End was produced and arranged by Mariee's partner Sean Kae, who treats the traditional folk instruments with psychedelic effects while blending in analog synths, electric guitar, and layers upon layers of vocal harmonies. With little percussion present on the record, that which is used is sparing and low in the mix. Mariee's finger-picking instead keeps the time steadily throughout the record. Vocal harmonies abound in this record, sometimes many at once.
Electric guitar blends with silver flute and synthesized flute ("Tule"), delicate strokes of Wurlitzer and silver flute create the feeling of live and intimate performance ("Icarus Eye"), warm piano, classic lyrics and layered harmonies mesh ("Old Magic"), new age washes of analog synthesizer and Mellotron unfold in landscapes ("White Fanged Foreverness"), loose, abstract country western percussion with flanged chord organ support toothy electric guitar riffs ("Twin Song"), arpeggiating synths and mandolin create reminders of English psyche-folk landscapes ("Homeopathic") Doubled vocals and male harmonies accompany light piano trills and organs ("Ghost in my Heart") and simple, galloping percussion underpins surreal lyricism and simple, catchy melodies ("Swimming Through Stone").
Released in Europe March 5, 2012 on Almost Musique Released in US April 2012 on Whale Watch Records