THE BLUES LANE
M
ary Lane sings the kind of blues
that personifies the Delta region
where the music was birthed-unadorned but rich in spirit. Her music
overflows with emotional depth; every
note is filled with pain and power. Her
voice aches with the struggles and joys of
living in a place that loves her music but
doesn’t respect her or her culture. At 80years-old, Mary Lane still sings with the
By Rosalind Cummings-Yeates
and West Side juke joints with big talent for
little play, her life has not been boring or
easy. “I grew up singing, I always liked to
sing but I didn’t think I’d grow up singing
the blues,” she recalled. Mary sang in
church and later on street corners for
change. “When I got old enough to be in
clubs, I sang with Robert Nighthawk.”
Young Mary was mentored by the blues
master and later Howlin Wolf, who used to
Mary Lane
passion and fire she felt when she was a
kid growing up in Arkansas. She’s witnessed all the changes and challenges of
the blues industry and through it all, she’s
remained a true blues woman.
“I’ve been to hell and back and I’m still
out there. It feels good,” said Mary during
a phone interview. And as well it should.
Mary has managed to maintain her career
of over 50 years without much touring,
album sales or national visibility. She’s
spent her life singing the blues and her
flawless command of her throaty vocals as
well the stage, show it. "I’m Mary Lane, I’m
just me. I don’t try to outdo or compete
with anybody," she explains about her
style. “I just want to sound like Mary Lane.
A lot of ladies get jealous out here singing.
I don’t get into that. I’m glad for them to
come and sing during my set. I sing down
home blues and that’s what matters.”
It also matters that Mary is working on
a new CD, only the second in her career
after her excellent debut Appointment With
The Blues (Noir) was released in 1997 with
little fanfare. "The new CD is coming out
with a whole new different feel. It’s got
more soul to it. I’m working on the lyrics
for five more tracks, it’s not easy," she said.
Unlike a lot of the performers of her generation, Mary has always believed in creating
original material. Her debut featured eight
original songs out of 12 tracks and she
sings a few jaunty bars of “Wine and
Whiskey,”a tune she’s working on for her
new CD. “I don’t like whiskey/ and I
don’t like wine/the men I hang around
with/stay drunk all the time.” Her songwriting process is as simple and direct as
her music. “I use things that happen to me
in life. I put it together and write a song,”
she said.
Mary Lane’s life resembles a blues
song. From being born in the Arkansas
Delta town of Clarendon, to playing South
16 illinoisentertainer.com october 2016
play at her uncle’s club in Brinkley,
Arkansas. It was in Arkansas with two
larger than life blues men that Ma