Photo credit: Patrick Schmetzer
LISTEN: // WATCH: “GARY INDIANA”
Boston-raised, Germany-based singer/songwriter Maryanna Devlin has unveiled her latest single, “Gary Indiana,” a track from her forthcoming debut LP, A Great Many Things, due out on September 30th. “Although many of the songs on the record have a relatively straightforward folk song style, the production layers on a richness that emphasizes Devlin’s lush vocals,” noted Twangville in the song’s premiere. “Taking inspiration from her earlier acting career, literary influences as diverse as Little House On the Prairie and The Slaughterhouse Five, and memorable moments in her own life, this is a very personal record.”
“Gary Indiana” was inspired by a trip Devlin took with her father to see a Boston College versus. Notre Dame football game. "Football was his life, and a huge part of mine growing up," she explains. "This trip was a somewhat healing moment for us, as we tried to mend our relationship after years of him abusing alcohol and drugs. This was the first song we recorded, and it really connected me with the team at the studio."
The single follows the release of “Manchester By The Sea,” inspired by the scenic escape located in her home state of Massachusetts. “Manchester-by-the-Sea is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been, filled with sprawling private estates and private roads,” she says. “I think this song was a way for me to gain access to this idyllic seaside town that is really only reserved for the elite.”
LISTEN: “MANCHESTER BY THE SEA”
Maryanna Devlin is a compelling singer-songwriter whose distinctly narrative, folk-leaning indie rock runs on pure instinct. There’s a supremely natural, vulnerable quality to her music—which resists pop formulas in favor of organic composition—guided by an intuitive understanding of the dynamics of storytelling. For Devlin, music is both an outlet for trauma and an excuse to share our best stories. As a performer, her lush vocals and raw energy have drawn comparisons to both Lana Del Rey and Sharon van Etten, while her unique arrangements and introspective lyrics are informed by a background in theater and a deep love of literature. Now poised to release her debut full-length album, A Great Many Things, in September 2022, Devlin showcases stunning breadth and originality in eight nuanced anthems.
Born in Vermont and raised outside of Boston, Devlin moved to Manhattan after high school to study acting, where she fell in love with the transitive power of art. “When you see a painting or hear a song and become overwhelmed with sudden feeling, that’s the artist’s emotion. I’m fascinated by how art can transcend time and space to connect people, to make them feel less alone,” she says. Devlin didn’t explore the cathartic power of music first-hand until her early twenties when she began songwriting as a way to process childhood grief. The devastating loss of her brother, who passed away when she was fourteen, led her to pursue music nearly a decade later. “He was an excellent musician, and when he died, there were a lot of emotions I needed to process. But I didn’t know how until seven years later when I started writing songs—then it all poured out of me.” Inspired by Brandi Carlile, she borrowed a guitar and taught herself to play using a pamphlet of chords from her mother. She found singer-songwriter Josh Ritter a few years later, whose idiosyncratic style inspired her to continue creating music in her own, unique way.
After college, Devlin shifted from acting to making music, attracted to the creative independence a music career could offer. Over the next several years she wrote, self-produced, and released three solo EPs, honing her vocal tone and unique brand of storytelling through the influence of artists like Simon and Garfunkel, Hiss Golden Messenger, Josh Ritter, and Stevie Nicks. Her early forays into songwriting soon led to performances across the East Coast and Europe, sharing the stage with acts like Darlingside and Becca Mancari. She met her partner in Nashville in 2013, and the pair eventually relocated to Frankfurt, Germany in 2017.
In A Great Many Things, Devlin presents a richly textured, more expansive version of her signature organic, acoustic sound. Many of the tracks on this refined and sharply reflective indie-Americana collection feature a full band backing Devlin’s distinctly smooth vocals. The tracks, all written and composed by Devlin, are steeped in family and personal history, with lyrical themes exploring large temporal concepts like lineage, memory as a means of time travel, and the movement of time itself. Throughout the album, Devlin considers how we are connected and disconnected by its passing. From cover to cover, A Great Many Things contains an authentic variety of deeply human feelings, and spans an equally broad emotional spectrum, with moments of somber introspection in the vein of Elliot Smith and Townes Van Zandt juxtaposed with passages of bright and graceful ease.
