About That Song: Mary Bragg
About That Song #76
In our special series, singer-songwriter Sarah Morris interviews artists about the songs that shaped them.
Hi! I’m Sarah Morris. I’m wildly in love with songs and the people who write them. There have been a few songs in my life that have been total gamechangers—songs that made me want to be a songwriter and songs I’ve written that made me feel like I am a songwriter. About That Song is a space where I can learn more about those pivotal songs in other writers’ lives.
In the 76th edition of our special series, I spoke with Mary Bragg, an amazing Nashville-based singer-songwriter, about formative songs in her musical journey.
Mary Bragg. Photo credit: Ryan Nava.
Sarah: Hi Mary Bragg!! Years ago, we were set up as blind-date show partners at The Warming House (sigh, I miss that place!). Hearing you in that intimate space, I was blown away by your intelligent and playful songwriting and the gorgeous way you sing your songs. Watching your journey as both an artist and record producer has been inspiring. Your recent EP The Quiet One, and your upcoming role co-leading the first Lutsongs Songwriters Retreat in Lutsen, MN, seem like excellent reasons to explore the musical experiences that have shaped your path.
Mary: Thank you for having me! I’m so glad we were introduced all those years ago; I’m a big fan of yours, too, both personally and musically, and I’m so glad we get to reunite soon at the Lutsongs retreat! It’s gonna be a great time.
Sarah: Do you remember the song you heard that made you want to be a songwriter? Tell us about that song.
Mary: I was probably 13 or 14 years old when I heard my first cousin Chris play a song at church that he’d written himself. Sweet young Mary hadn’t registered yet that people could write their own songs. I remember asking him afterwards, “so, you wrote that melody and those lyrics?” It was a very cute a-ha moment for me, though it was another few years before I’d write my first song, and longer still before my musical and life-experience vocabulary arrived at a point where writing songs felt more naturally mandated.
Sarah: Oh, that is a sweet meet-cute of a story—my version of that “a-ha” came via Mariah Carey in an interview that I had on VHS cassette. But “being a songwriter” still felt far off … maybe because she wasn’t my cousin. Ha! Once you began writing, did you feel like a writer immediately? It took me a few years of writing before I believed it—was there a song that gave you that “I AM a songwriter!” moment? Tell us about that song.
Mary: I definitely did not immediately feel like a writer either, because I struggled mightily to write lyrics worth their salt, but I was a teenager, and a pretty sheltered one. It’d be many years into writing before I felt like the moniker fit. Even in my twenties, I’d just be stabbing in the dark and honestly kind of missing the mark over and over. It wasn’t until my early thirties when I felt a real shift in the way I saw and moved through the world; my internal dialogue became a sponge, always listening closely for metaphor, looking out for opportunities in life and language that moved me to pick up a pen.
Sarah: One song I recall hearing from you that night at Warming House is “Comet” off your 2017 album, Lucky Strike. It’s an all-around beauty, standing out to me as having one of the more evocative “oohs” I’ve ever heard. Can you tell us about that song?
Mary: Well, thank you; I love that song so much, and I still love playing it out, especially as the years go by and I feel it taking on new meaning for me again and again. I wrote it with my old friend Becky Warren probably in 2016, in my early Nashville days, when I was working very hard to become a better writer. I learned a lot from writing with Becky about “show me, don’t tell me,” how describing a scenario or feeling with physical imagery can be so much more powerful than with overt statements.
Sarah: The “show, don’t tell” aim is a big one. I feel like there is always more I can do to lean into the showing. You’ve got a new album in the works! YAY! Was there a particular song (or were there multiple songs) that you wrote that gave you that “time to make an album” feeling?
Mary: WOO! I sure am, and I am so pumped about it, seriously. I’m making it in Muscle Shoals with John Paul White and Ben Tanner producing, and it is quite possibly the most joyful record-making experience I have ever had. Deep, patient, exploratory, thorough.
I’d written about thirty songs to bring to the table, but I’d say the one that pulled me into readiness to make this record was a song called “Hi-Fi.” I’d been playing it out for about a year, and people just love it. That thing started happening, probably more than has ever happened to me in my life, where fans want that song in their lives immediately. It gets stuck in their heads. They want to sing along. It’s a great feeling. I wrote it with Brady Stablein a couple of years ago, and every time I play it, it feels really special.
Sarah: How thrilling to have people respond to a song so clearly! I can’t wait to hear this song now, perhaps at Lutsongs!
You have a special way with songs that extend a comforting hand to the outsider, or someone who might feel like an outsider. You do this beautifully in “Fixed” off your 2022 album, Violets as Camouflage. What can you tell us about that song?
Mary: Mmm, thank you. I tend to have a couple of songs on every record about insecurity and self-consciousness, and surprise surprise, there’s one on my new record, too, called “Kid Flamingo.” I’m honestly so grateful for these songs, because speaking about my own experience of being an outsider / not the cool kid / cute one, etc., brings me so much closer to my listeners who’ve had similar experiences in life. I do think vulnerability is so important—for every person—to offer to themselves and to the world around them. I’ve found so much peace and healing in being willing to talk about my pain in the first place.
Mary Bragg. Photo credit: Kaitlyn Raitz.
Sarah: “I’ll never be the one the room revolves around, but I want to be the face you pick out of the crowd”—what a gorgeous lyric (and sentiment) from the title track of your recent EP The Quiet One. Would you tell us about that song?
Mary: Thank you! It’s funny, honestly, because I can totally be the loud verbose one in a room. But I also crave alone time, quiet time, and really, it’s a song about wanting to be seen. Especially by the one. I wrote this one with my friend Annika Bennett probably eight years ago, and I’d always wanted to record it. It felt right for this batch of songs: stripped-down, easy, quiet.
Sarah: Do you have any upcoming Midwest shows where we might hear you sing that song?
Mary: Ahhh, I wish! Apart from the Lutsen retreat, I believe the next time I’ll be playing the Midwest will be for my album release tour, which I’m currently booking for late 2025 into 2026. I look forward to it! I love the Midwest.
Sarah: Now everyone reading can look forward to this album release tour! Thank you so much for sitting down with me, Mary, to talk About That Song!
There are a few spots left for the Lutsongs Songwriter Retreat, if anyone out there wants to join, and if people don’t want to retreat, but DO want to see Mary sing, there’s an open-to-the-public concert on Saturday, April 26, at Surfside on Lake Superior.
Listen to “The Quiet One”
The Quiet One Album Credits
Produced by Mary Bragg and Jon Estes
Recorded and Mixed by Jon Estes, Nashville, TN
Mastered by John McLaggan at Parachute Mastering, Saint John, NB
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sarah Morris. Photo credit: Tom Smouse.
Sarah Morris is a superfan of songs and the people who write them, and a believer that certain songs can change your life. A singer-songwriter / mama / bread maker / coffee drinker who recently released her fifth album of original material, she’s been known to joyfully sing with people in her Big Green Bathroom.
