Sky Cries Mary

Sky Cries Mary is an American musical group from Seattle, Washington, that formed in the late 1980s. The husband and wife team of Roderick Wolgamott Romero and Anisa Romero sing dual lead vocals. Other principal band members include Michael Cozzi (formerly of Shriekback), who produces their albums and plays guitar, Ben Ireland on drums, Jon 'Juano' Davison on bass, and William Bernhard on guitar and keyboards. Recently Kent Halvorsen joined the band on keyboards. Gordon Raphael (producer for The Strokes) played keyboards until 1997.

History

The band's first album, from 1989, featured Roderick Wolgamott playing with Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow from The Posies. The second album, released in 1990, featured the same trio, joined by Scott Mercado, Alfred Butler, Stephen Brian-Salit, Mark Ultra, Kevin McCoy and Jeff Guess. The band then became a septet with Roderick Wolgamott and Anisa Romero, DJ Fallout a.k.a. Todd "TR" Robbins, Joseph E. Howard (a.k.a. Joe Skyward), Bennett James, Marc Olsen and Gordon Raphael. It was during this time they recorded A Return to the Inner Experience. Cozzi replaced Olsen on the fifth through seventh albums. In 1994, Davison replaced Joe Howard. Bernhard joined the band in 1998 after Cozzi left to pursue other projects.

Sky Cries Mary had broken up in 1999, shortly after the release of Seeds because band members wanted to work on other projects. They regrouped in various configurations including Hana, which featured Anisa Romero, Jeff Greinke, and Ben Ireland, and No Futuro, an experimental musical project helmed by Roderick Romero, William Bernhard, and Jeremy Moss. In 2004, the band (composed of the Romeros, Ireland, Davison, Cozzi and Bernhard) regrouped after they won the rights to their music back from their old record company and subsequently released their first live album Here and Now. Two years later they followed it up with the release of Small Town.

In 2008, Sky Cries Mary's lead vocalists Roderick and Anisa Romero were featured along with Sting and Russell Simmons on Lokah's debut release, The Ivy Ceiling.

Sky Cries Mary were one of the first ever bands to have an 'internet only' concert, an effort that was directed by former member McCoy.^[1]

In 2012, bassist Jon Davison joined British progressive rock band Yes, performing as their lead vocalist.

Discography

• Until the Grinders Cease (1989) Lively Art/New Rose Records. (1999) World Domination Recordings
• Don't Eat the Dirt... (1990) Lively Art/New Rose Records
• Exit at the Axis (1992) World Domination Recordings/Capitol Records
• A Return to the Inner Experience (1993) World Domination Recordings/Capitol Records
• This Timeless Turning (1993) World Domination Recordings/Capitol Records
• Moonbathing on Sleeping Leaves (1997) Warner Bros. Records
• Fresh Fruits for the Liberation (1998) Warner Bros. Records
• Seeds (1999) Collective Fruit Records
• Here and Now (2005) Hoodooh Music
• Small Town (2007) Hoodooh Music
• Space Between the Drops (2009) Trail Records
• Taking The Stage: 1997-2005 (2011) Trail Records

Their song "The Elephant Song" was featured on the soundtrack for the movie The Harvest. Their song "Shipwrecked" was featured on the soundtrack for the movie Tank Girl. Their song "Cornerman" was featured in the movie Higher Learning, playing from a jukebox.

References

External links

• Sky Cries Mary homepage