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Born and raised in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula,
MJ Bishop is an acoustic solo artist who, after residing in Seattle for 30 years, moved to Nashville in the Spring of 2010
to further hone her songwriting skills and begin work on her fourth album. Her music is described as open-road longing
folk Americana. She has been compared to Patsy Cline, Emmylou Harris and Gillian Welch. Combining deep roots in
acoustic music with a maturing country sensibility, MJ creates a genre that is, in many ways, her own. Her influences
include Patsy Cline, Hank Williams, k.d. lang, Patty Griffin, Emmylou Harris, Lucinda Williams.
Pull of the Moon, MJ's long-awaited third album (2008), sees her rolling up her sleeves and
plunging into the grittiness that is Americana, through the sweet, familiar melodies of folk. The added trim around the edges
reveals her deep roots in country, jazz, rock and pop.
On these 12 tracks, MJ’s unwavering smoky vocals
start from the dirt in the crawl space, climb the stairs to the kitchen, the bedrooms, the attic, and finally blast through
the roof. She takes you on a journey starting with the evocative opener “Up North” (about her small home town
in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula), weaving a story around the life of a guitar, life’s pushes and pulls, love, loss,
heartache, freedom from the nine-to-five job, and the appeal of the open road. You will be conflicted by the lyrics as they
first lure you with the promise of good times before abruptly dropping you into a chasm of loneliness and heartache.
Producing a pretty big sound armed with only a single
guitar and her vocal chords, MJ’s songs leave you humming well after the last note is sung. Personally connecting with
the audience is important to MJ, and her charm, musicianship and professionalism shine during her performances. Entertaining
runs in the family and she claims to be addicted to the stage.
MJ has performed steadily since 1998 in and around
Seattle, and has also taken her music to Oregon, California, Idaho, Utah, Montana, Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Arizona, Tennessee,
Indiana, Michigan and Florida.
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