Country artist Mary “Mean Mary” James will headline Sunday’s Levitt AMP concert in Wiley Park in Galva.
Bandits on the Run will open the concert at 6 p.m., followed by Mean Mary at 7.
Mary James, youngest of six children, was born in Geneva, Ala., though her family lived in Florida, a couple miles below the Alabama line. Her mom (author, Jean James) and dad (WWII veteran, William James) lived a very nomadic lifestyle. On one occasion they packed up the family (Mary was four at the time) and moved from Florida to North Minnesota, near the Canadian border, to rough it in the wilds.
Mary’s oldest brother, Jim, who’d just joined the Navy, sent the family a guitar and a compilation tape of songs he liked. With a battery-powered tape-player, the family listened to the music of Hank Williams, Jr. and Dolly Parton. It wasn’t long before Mary was singing the songs plus vocalizing all the instrumentation. Seeing her talent, Mom and Dad bought guitar books, and Mom started teaching all the children to play the guitar. Mary and her brother Frank were the two who would turn music into a career.
At a early age, Mary was now playing guitar, banjo and fiddle. She recorded her first album at age six, and spent five hours a day on instrumental and vocal practice along with her live performances.
Ultimately, she and her family moved to Los Angeles, and Mary and her brother Frank were involved in almost every TV show and movie produced in the Hollywood area – be it as background actor, stand-in, photo double, stunt double, or day player.
Today she produces music, produces videos (her YouTube videos have received over 15 million visits), tours extensively across the US and overseas, is co-writing a novel trilogy about the music world, and is an endorsing artist for Deering Banjos. The Deerings have named her their Goodtime Ambassador.
Mary plays 11 instruments and has recorded 16 albums, her newest being Cold.
Bandits on the Run is an indie-folk-pop-americana outfit consisting of three lead singers, a guitar, a cello, a suitcase drum, an accordion, and various toy instruments. They hail from Brooklyn, NY and are known for their vivacious performance style, genre-defying sound, soaring harmonies, and ability to make music-magic happen everywhere from subway platforms to concert halls.
Bandits on the Run is a musical trio comprised of Adrian Enscoe, Sydney Shepherd, and Regina Strayhorn. Formed upon a chance encounter while busking in the subways of New York City, the Brooklyn based outfit has gone on to receive accolades from NPR Music’s All Songs Considered, American Songwriter, NPR Weekend Edition, and the Johnny Mercer Songwriters Project.
2020 found them busy writing and recording their EP “Now Is The Time” with producer Ryan Hadlock (Brandi Carlile, The Lumineers) and producing a short musical film “Band At The End Of The World” commissioned by NYC based Prospect Theater Company. 2022 saw them composing music for the Netflix children’s animated series “Storybots,” scoring the newest Peter Hedges movie “The Same Storm” and touring the globe with appearances at the Cambridge Folk Festival, Floydfest, Milwaukee Summerfest, Americanafest, and the Singapore Grand Prix.
All Levitt AMP concerts are free. Food stands will be available in the park.
