Local Reviews: Mary Tebbs
Local Music Reviews
Mary Tebbs
Fuzzy Halo
Self-Released
Street: 12.01.10
Mary Tebbs = Melissa Etheridge + Carole King + Lucinda Williams
At first glance, Fuzzy Halo appears to be the standard singer/songwriter album you’d find at the merch booth for Lilith Fair, but Tebbs did her best to stray away from the singalong sympathy of “every woman.” Rather than taking the story-telling route, Tebbs hits the lyrical mark using her own personal perspective.
Tracks like “Then Let Go” and “Find My Way” show personal exploration and defiance, and never try to encompass the listener in the experience as if it were their own. Tebbs keeps it unique from the others who try too hard to hook the audience’s emotion into theirs.
What makes the album most interesting is that it doesn’t really have a defined genre. Songs sway between country, folk, jazz and near-disco signatures, sometimes making it hard to tell if Tebbs was showing off her skills at composition, or if she’s still trying to find her sound. For what it’s worth, she was willing to experiment for the audience, and for that alone, it’s worth a listen.