Mary McBride Takes Music ‘Home’
Mary McBride's new album, 'The Way Home,' has launched an entire concept tour of playing shows at alternative "homes," including women's shelters, long-term health care facilities, prisons, and hospitals.
The idea came to Mary -- who was raised in Washington, D.C. in what she calls a 'family of non-profiteers' -- as a way to combine her greatest interests: music and community action. Alongside her musical career, she is well-known for working for a variety of non-profit organizations, ranging from breast cancer awareness groups to senior programs.
Mary's research for her record and tour took her back to D.C., where she worked with community organizers at 'We Are Family' who took her to visit some of the communities she would later play for.
"I went into their homes and visited with them and was really struck by what a meaningful experience it was to go to people and have a dialogue," Mary tells The Boot. "I started to come up with this idea of a tour to places people call home. In the process of talking to people, I started to realize what an array of places that was, so what started as a handful of dates has become the entire tour."
Mary is partnering with non-profit organizations in each location of the tour, which started at Louisiana's notorious Angola Prison, and will take her to a host of places, ranging from senior centers to shelters to health care facilities. By going to these alternative "homes," Mary hopes to open a larger dialogue.
"As I was in the process of putting this together, I found an amazing, amazing quote from Maya Angelou; 'I long as every human being to be home wherever I find myself,'" says Mary. "I hope this tour reminds people they can enjoy and have music and have these experiences wherever they are living and wherever they call home... I want to these concerts to be inspiring and inspire conversations."
'The Way Home' will be released on June 22. Mary is currently on 'The Home Tour,' which continues through Aug. 5 in New Orleans, La. For a full listing of dates, or to order 'The Way Home,' check out Mary's website.
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