BioBio

MARY COPPIN

 "Mary Coppin's music is an elixir for the soul.  With her smart lyrics about love and loss, and a never ending eye for irony, Coppin's music moves you to tears and reflection.  Buy her CD!!!!", Helen Slater, actress/singer/songwriter.

"Mary Coppin's voice has a magical quality, somewhere between Natalie Merchant and The Kinleys that cuts through the ordinary and can literally hush a noisy club. Her Pop/rock/folk songs take you on a journey from evocative questions to joyful answers", Chris Boardman, film composer, Mel Gibson's "Payback".

As a writer, Mary has won numerous prestigious awards, including the top prizes in both The John Lennon Songwriting Contest and The Telluride Troubadour Competition. She has had songs signed with publishers in both Los Angeles and Nashville and has three cuts on Australian artist, Max Merritt's upcoming CD. Her debut CD, "A Room Up For Rent" was produced by Grammy nominated Jay Donnellan and received rave reviews in Billboard Magazine.
SOME AWARDS
  • 2006 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival Emerging Artist Showcase Hillsdale, NY
  • 2006 Winner Wildflower Music Festival Singer Songwriter Contest Richardson, TX
  • 2006 People's Choice Award - Audience Voted at The Wildflower Music Festival Richarson, TX
  • Orange County Music Awards Winner "Best Out Of County" Orange County, CA
  • Maxell Song Of The Year
  • John Lennon Songwriting Contest!! (Top Winner out of over 30,000 entries for "Would You Could You")
  • 1st Place Winner Telluride Troubadour Competition Telluride, CO
  • UK Songwriting Contest Grand Prize Winner Folk/Country for "A Room Up For Rent"
  • USA Songwriting Contest Third Place Overall Winner (For "A Room Up For Rent" out of over 31,000 entries)
  • Rocky Mountain Folks Festival 2nd Place Winner Lyons, CO
  • Sierra Songwriters Festival Grand Prize Winner
SOME OF THE PLACES SHE'S PLAYED
  • Main Stage at The Kerrville Folk Festival - Kerrville, TX
  • The Rocky Mountain Folks Festival - Lyons, CO
  • Winterfest Stage at The Winter Olympics - Salt Lake City, UT
  • The Bluebird Cafe - Nashville, TN
  • Opening for Natalie Merchant in front of 10,000 people - Telluride, CO
  • Headlining at the Lancaster Performing Arts Center - Lancaster, CA
  • Opening for Willie Nelson - Maui, HI
  • EAT’M Music Conference Showcase - Las Vegas, NV
  • SXSW Showcase - Austin, TX
  • NAMM - Anaheim, CA & Nashville, TN
  • SWRFA Official Showcase Folk Alliance Austin, TX
  • NERFA TriCentric Showcase Folk Alliance Monticello, NY
WHO LOVES HER MUSIC
  • Chris Boardman -  film composer, Mel Gibson's "Payback"
  • Hugh Prestwood - hit songwriter, Trisha Yearwood's "The Song Remembers When"
  • Kristy Jackson - hit songwriter, Reba McEntire's "Take It Back"
  • Rod Kennedy - the founder of The Kerrville Folk Festival
  • Lowen and Navarro - Acoustic duo and hit songwriters, Pat Benatar's "We Belong"
More About Mary

Download "Insatiable"

Mary just always wrote songs. Starting from at least age 3 when she wrote new words over the songs on the radio and age 4 when she wrote a song to the music she heard coming out of the washing machine. Did we mention she was the odd-ball of her family? "I was a curly-haired girl in a long straight hair world." While growing up in Arizona she didn't plan on being a performer (BAD stage fright!) but always dreamed of others recording her songs. Then one day her mentor, songwriter Phil Swan said, "You should go to Kerrville." Mary said "What's Kerrville?" In 1998 Mary did enter Kerrville's songwriting competition. Stage fright was alive and well, "I was a deer in the headlights," but founder Rod Kennedy liked what he heard and even though Mary didn't win (although it is often reported that she did), Rod booked her as a Main Stage performer for the following year. So since Mary had had a terrible time just being able to play two songs in a row for the contest, she thought to herself, "I guess I better get an act together." And while she was at it, she recorded a CD too. Now Mary has gone on to perform across the country and is the winningest unsigned songwriter out there. She's garnered too many awards to list, but some highlights include the top prize (out of over 30,000 entries) in The John Lennon Songwriting Contest, 1st place in The Telluride Troubadour Competition and Winner of the "Best Out Of County" category in The Orange County Music Awards. But Mary isn't just about winning prestigious songwriting awards, her music is about how a heart moves through the world. Leading a listener on a journey where they can feel how the air feels on the character of a song's skin. How a lover's breath feels on the back of Mary's neck. Some songs are exactly about Mary's life and others are her feeling other people's feelings. So deeply that you'd swear it was her. "When I write I can just feel this spirit of a song coming through, wanting life and I try to tell it's story." About performing she says, "I always just pray to simply move people. Make them laugh, help them cry. Move people. It's an honor." Mary did finally work through the stage fright by performing consistantly and acupressure. And live, Mary does move people, making strangers cry with the poignant "A Room Up For Rent" and then emoting endearing insecurity with "Would You Could You", both very big winners in the songwriting contest arena. But her favorite song right now is the very funny-sexy newer song not on the CD (but a big hit live), "Insatiable". "It's a little embarrassing to sing sometimes but sex IS a gift from God and it's a very honest song."