White Lightning strikes with the release of Mary Garnett Edwards’ solo debut
White Lightning has struck with the release of Canadian singer-songwriter Mary Garnett Edwards’ new album.
Featuring lyrics seasoned by a life lived in the crooks and crannies of human experience, White Lightning lands with a raw intensity forged by the fire of hard times made manageable with wry wit and gratitude.
“It offers a depth of practical knowledge from beyond the boundaries of the ordinary,” the singer-songwriter said.
Born in 1957, some of Mary’s earliest career moments included performing at Vancouver’s Soft Rock Cafe and Kits House; recording at Psi Chord, Ocean Sound and Trebas Recording throughout the 70s; and being a member of the rock band Breeze.
Then and now, Mary has continued to draw inspiration from those around her; for example, when the founder of Psi Chord, Robin Spurgin, passed away in 2013, she felt called on to keep singing.
“Robin had recorded all of my original songs in one night for future use,” she recalled.
White Lightning is Mary Garnett Edwards’ debut solo release; she’d previously released First Stone with her husband, Doug Edwards, the late, great musician of Skylark, Hometown Band and Chilliwack fame and composer of the pop standard, “Wildflower.
“After Doug passed away from cancer in 2016, I found those old tracks recorded with Robin and believed it was time to sing them again,” Mary said. “In 2019, I asked producer Andreas Schuld to help me make an album.”
The results, recorded at Studio Down Under with engineer Soren Lonnqvis, serve as both an unearthed archive and poignant fresh-read chapter in a near-five-decade career in the making. Featuring a bevy of Mary’s original material — including “Robin’s Song,” “penned for my dear, nurturing friend,” she said — the LP also includes three songs by Vancouver-area songwriter and videographer John Holbrook.
