One Woman Band, Live at Echotown Studios, Vol 2 is the second instalment of the tracks recorded live in the studio immediately following the last date of Maryen’s 2023 UK tour, with her mentor, the acclaimed Rolling Stones producer Chris Kimsey. Sitting amidst Chris’s array of vintage microphones, Maryen pivots between a guitar and piano, taking up and discarding percussion instruments whilst all the time singing intimately into her headset mic. Opening Vol 2 is the beautiful piano ballad “Every Moment Saved”, a song from Maryen’s third album Stories From Beneath, followed by the spoken word of “This Love” which develop into an upbeat alt folky number, setting the space for these personal story songs to be shared, of which “Second Best” is a standout plucked guitar ballad. “Steam” from her seventh album ANEW is one of the shorter songs on the album, clocking in at three and a half minutes, and dynamically showcases the backdrop of the cajon capabilities sounding like a drummer along with a dramatic internal story conveyed by vocals that go from a whisper to almost a scream. And yet Maryen’s love of historical stories is also included here with “The Wreck of the Georgette”, a tale of a Western Australian steamship going down in 1876. Maryen is again taking this One Woman Band show on the road, with shows in the UK supporting One Woman Band, Live at Echotown Studios, Vol 2 - The Ropemakers, Bridport 27 April; The Lescar, Sheffield 6 May; Mojo’s Music Cafe, Scarborough 7 May; Britannia Panopticon, Glasgow 10 May; Indigo, Merseyside 13 May; The Cumberland Arms, Newcastle 15 May; ending at The Troubadour, London 20 May. This final show, at The Troubadour in London, will be the first show Maryen has played in London for 28 years. In the 90’s she was a Time Out favourite who was headlining The Borderline with her 7 piece band as well as opening for artists such as Fish at Hammersmith Apollo and The Troggs at The Astoria Theatre. The years between were spent mainly in Australia where she not only recorded albums by herself in an off the grid mountain hideaway, but also took her family band on a journey of over 18,000 km playing concerts and running songwriting workshops in remote communities.