Paul's Page

email paul@maryjane.biz

Hello, and welcome to the world of Mary Jane!!

Hello! The band has certainly come a long way since its inception in December 1993, though in a sense we've come full circle as Mary Jane are once again a five-piece outfit featuring flute, fiddle & guitar backed by drums & bass, just as we were on our first album! Since the heady times of our 'Hazy Days' debut, members have come and gone and Jo & I of course remain, but our present line-up with newest arrival Jon is arguably our strongest. We've developed a lot of new material (in fact around 80% of our current live set is as-yet-unrecorded new material), and we will continue going into the studio during this year to continue work on the follow up to 'To the Prettiest One'; tracks which will become Mary Jane's fifth album, tentatively titled 'Tenebrae'. It's a very exciting time for us all, so watch this space!

I've also been asked by various people to write a bit about myself, so shy and retiring as I am, here goes! I was born at an early age in Singapore, on the 17th February 1970, subsequently moving back to my family's home in Cornwall age 1. Ever since, I've had a love of all things Eastern, Celtic, and 1970's. However, I didn't take up the guitar until I was 17 - a very late starter! And I couldn't make it sound like I wanted it to for quite a bit after that! I started Mary Jane age 23, and I'm still here, guess I always will be. Apart from playing and listening to music (my record collection runs from 1964 to 1975 almost exclusively, something of a purist I'm afraid!) I love books. In fact I'm an utter bookworm, and I'm running out of space to put them all! I'm especially proud of my collection of occult and magickal literature, though I make no claim to be an adept. It's simply a fascinating and practical exploration into reality, psychology, spirituality, and the nature of consciousness. I'm also a Doctor of Philosophy. Yep, I ain't as stupid as I look! I love guitars! Particularly the Les Paul and the Telecaster. I love art! Particularly the Pre-Raphaelites and Art Nouveax. I also love the night sky, the British countryside, my friends, history and folklore, chilli peppers, flared trousers, the tarot, bouzoukis, film... to name but a few things! So there you are, you now know all about me. I look forward to meeting you, and learning all about you, 'cos I bet you're worth it!

Big big thanks to those friends of Mary Jane that have enabled it all to happen, and keep it going - you know who you are!! We love ya!!! But..to name just a token few, and in no particular order: Rustic Rod Goodway (Mail Order Hippy Record Seller Extraordinaire), Phil McMullen of the Ptolemaic Terrascope, Crazy Alien genius Pete Jardine, Mark Tuckett (for his Buddhist photography!), Victoria Hammond (friend, model and choreographer to drunken Mary Janers!), Lucy Rutherford & the rest of nearby folk-rockers Arlen for their kindred spirit, Claire Bowden (for manning the merchandise stall in times of great need!), Langdon & Ingrid Shaylor (for their inspirational tales of life in the space rockin' 60's & 70's), Nick Bradford (multi-instrumentalist & Prisoner fanatic), Caroline Roundhill (occasional muse!), Judy Dyble (gentle first lady of folk & valued correspondent), Roy Harper (for his honest feedback & inspiration), John Renbourn for his generous encouragement, life-saving luthiers Vince Hockey and Brian Hayward, friendly engineer Ade Lunn, pedal wizard Saxon Dave, favourite dancer Jenny Delve, our very own tame Taffeta Punk Miss Dawn Laker, the one and only 'Mary Jane Fairy' Maggie Hawkes, ever-faithful gig-attendee John (without whom no MJ gig would be complete!) ... and so on! It's impossible to list all those that have helped & supported us this far, but many, many thanks to you all, named & unnamed, from the bottom of our hearts.

In the words of Aleister Crowley: 'Every man and every woman is a star'. Couldn't have said it better myself! KALLISTI.