Here's to 2009...!

Well here we are, one year later, one year older, one year wiser and one year more familiar and most likely more confused with life.

But confusion can be a beautiful thing. After all, how boring would it be to always know where the road is leading you?

2009 started off with a bang in my book, in the most literal way. As I watched the opening of a fresh year with the company of wonderful friends and awesome fireworks (not to mention below freezing temperatures) I found myself staring down at a very sparkly object in a little black box in the hands of my very amazing Nick. (I say my amazing Nick because I never felt like the word "boyfriend" cut it, and now it doesn't have to!)

The next few months were spent planning both our wedding and my spring tour - and what a tour it was (not to mention what a wedding)!

Between touring this spring and playing in my hometown area I had the opportunity to share the bill with some amazing performers including JoAnna Lynne, Wayne Hall, Hannah Bethel, Jacob Mathew, Chris Morse, Shawn Ruyman and many many more.








(Photo courtesy of Chorus Media Group)

(Photo courtesy of Chorus Media Group)

(Photo courtesy of Chorus Media Group)



I toured from New York to Orlando, and back north through Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky (for those pictures just click on "May" in the right column of my blog), played at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey, saw Billy Joel and Elton John rock one stage simultaneously, played at the awesome Katmandu showcases, appeared on the Tim Qualls show as well as multiple radio shows, kick started my online concert series, filmed my first music video, married off a number of my friends, got married off myself and took a nice long relaxing and exhausting tour of Italy...WHAT a year it's been!






The year was not without it's losses and difficulties, but I am so grateful for all of the amazing opportunities I was blessed with!

So what will I be doing to kick off THIS new year? I'll be dancing the night away with my handsome husband while celebrating the wedding of great friends of ours...and it all comes full circle.

Happy Holidays everyone - drive safe (or not at all! DD's are the only way to go)

I'm Back!

Day 4 - Video Shoot!

Day 4 was our final day of filming for the "I Miss You" music video - and it wasn't daytime at all!

Mike and Jon and I met up at 10pm downtown and got set up to do some shots on Broad Street. Unfortunately, the tower of City Hall wasn't lit up - ???

So we decided to do our driving shots first in hopes that the lights would come on eventually.

It was fun driving around town with this huge camera attached to my car - everyone who drove by us was looking to see if there was anyone famous being filmed... :)

By the time we got back to City Hall...nothing had changed. So we filmed anyway! I was standing on the median on south Broad singing the song while being filmed and while cars drove past yelling out the windows...we gathered that the Eagles had not won the game that night (we missed the end to go set up) because they weren't yells of joy...just kind of angry...good thing we dub in music for this kind of filming!

The shot looked great, regardless of the missing tower on City Hall - all the lights of the Avenue of the Arts...my favorite street in town!

After this we headed into Olde City to get shots of me walking past bars (on my way to and from an "out of town" gig). We started filming just around 2am when the bars let out so we attempted to use this to our advantage - but when people weren't looking directly at the camera smiling or shouting across the street "HEY!! ARE YOU MAKING A MOVIE?!?!" they were failing to notice the girl with the guitar who was trying to smoothly walk past the crowd - it was kind of like a jungle. I don't know which of that footage will be used, but probably not the part where I almost fall into the row of trash bags....

We wrapped up shooting at 3am and headed to South Street for a slice of the amazing Lorenzo's Pizza!

All in all a great night - now on to editing!!

That's right, filming is finished...now because of some scheduling conflicts the chances of getting the editing done before the holidays is minimal - but you'll be the first to know :)

A Mid-Series Anthem

You want to know what I did today? This is what I did today. After watching the Phillies come back to win game 5 of the World Series, I felt the need to re-write my song, "Philadelphia Nights," as a mid-series anthem for Phillies phans.

Enjoy!! (The lyrics are below) The song is available as a FREE DOWNLOAD at www.reverbnation.com/maryscholz !!

Philadelphia Nights - Phillies Version - a Mid-Series Anthem by Mary Scholz

Keeping track and keeping tabs
Of all the pitches and all the bats
Rolling past the city lights
That light up my city nights
CB Park 12 stories high
Light that bell up in the sky
Noises never beat the sound
The sound of the crowd

On these Philadelphia Nights

And there we were a week ago
Watching the Dodgers fly back home
Once again the NLCS
The Phils are the best!
And 2009 we know will be
A rePeat Victory!
On these Philadelphia Nights
Then all of a sudden you hear the sound
Of Home Run after Home Run and the Yanks goin down!
And looking up in the sky Watch those fireworks fly!
And all together the Phils will fight
To bring home that trophy on Thursday night
And we will wait and stand and cheer
When our Phillies appear

On that Philadelphia Night
It's Philadelphia's Night
So bring on the fight!!!



-Original Philadelphia Nights Lyrics-

Keeping track and keeping tabs
Of all the bridges and all the cabs
Rolling past the city lights
That light up my city nights

Heart to hearts 8 stories high
Just two good friends and all that sky
Noises never reach the sound
Of singing out loud

Philadelphia Nights

And there we were a week ago
Up on the roof and looking down low
Just two guitars and a drumming hand
We had no need for plans
And all the music that we make
Is nothing else but a sweet escape
And looking out over city lights
The moment was right

On that Philadelphia nights

And all of a sudden you hear the sound
Of silent singing
Now my world's upside down
And moving on with the plan
With my heart in my hand
And now wherever we go from here
More and more it's all too clear
No matter how your days will fair
They will never compare

To these Philadelphia Nights
These Philadelphia Nights
Goodnight!

Gooooo Phillies!

Thank you for an awesome Game 1!!

(This photo is from the game where the Phillies clinched the NLEast title....)

Day 3!

Monday was day 3 of our video shoot for "I Miss You."

We started out the day at Mugshots Coffee House where we filmed some performance shots as well as some lovely "Mary drinking tea" shots. :) Thanks to everyone at Mugshots and to all of our willing and enthusiastic extras!

(A little inside story on Mugshots - it's actually where I had my first date with my fiancee, Nick...and it's the coffee house I wrote about in the song "Clark Kent"....

"I went for coffee tonight with Clark Kent

He wasn't raised in Smallville, but a small town in Ohio

It wasn't anything romantic like a cafe by the sea

Just a little shop for coffee 'cross from Eastern State Pennitentiary..."

So we were in one of my favorite sections of Philadelphia, Fairmount, but in the video it will appear to be a coffee house far far away... :)

A little later I really got to put my actor hat back on as we filmed the scenes with Tim Weinert, who plays my on-screen boyfriend.

(An inside story on how I know Tim...I met Tim on the set of "The Matter with Clark," the independent film written and directed by Jonathan Rola and filmed by Michael Leary...who are also filming my music video! Tim played Jack and I played Linden - but in that movie my love interest was Jack's best friend, Clark. If you want to check out the trailer or behind-the-scenes clips from that visit www.myspace.com/thematterwithclark)

We ended up filming until midnight - just as the Phillies/Dodgers game came to the bottom of the 9th inning...what an ending! I'm fairly positive that we scared the crap out of some tourists when Jimmy Rollins hit that ground ball to right field - 4 people in a parked car, windows up, radio blaring, CHEERING HYSTERICALLY as the announcer screamed THE PHILLIES HAVE WON THE BALL GAME!!! We jumped out of the car chanting "Let's Go Phillies!!"

Ah, I love this town :)

(I have to note that while I'm not the type to push for a political candidate on my blog, I have no problem voicing my Phillies Pride)

Special thanks to Caitlin and Derick for opening up their home to for filming!

At Mugshots Coffee House (21st and Fairmount Ave, Philadelphia, PA)

On set with Tim


("Relaxing on the couch and laughing all about the day...")


Wrapping up the day's shoot - Jon, Mike, Tim and Mary!
Celebrating the Phillies win...after 14 hours of filming it's no wonder we were punchy...

Day 2!

Day 2 of the "I Miss You" started out rough - all clouds and no sunshine, so no outdoor filming...

Our night shots for the bar scene, however, went swimmingly!

First of all, thank you to 2nd Street Annie's for having us there to film - we had a great time and the footage is looking great! www.2ndstreetannies.com

Secondly, thank you to all of my awesome extras - Mom and Dad, Nick, Zack, Bonnie, Matt, Alec, Chris and Caitlin - you rock!

We wrapped up shooting for the night (well, mostly) just as we were getting into the 8th inning of the Phillies/Rockies game...what an ending!

Here's the Day 2 Behind-the-scenes video - it's a bit longer than the last one. Enjoy!

My lovely extras requested a performance of Susanna - and so they got it!




(plus Laura and George, missing Alec and Chris)

Here's my unplugged performance of "Susanna" -

Day 1 video

Got it! Enjoy our day 1 video!

Day 1 - Video Shoot!

Yesterday was Day 1 of our video shoot for the "I Miss You" music video - and it went great!

First of all, I'm filming with Jonathan Rola and Michael Leary, director and director of photography of "The Matter With Clark," the indie film I did two years ago.

We met up in Newtown, PA to scout out places to shoot. Generally the concept of the video is pretty true to life - me leaving Philadelphia to tour, and missing my man at home!

So we drove around a bit and found this great farm and after poking around a bit found a couple of perfect spots for filming.

Thank you to Carl and Brenda at Slack Road Farm and Milk House Market for letting us film on their beautiful farm! I'm having a hard time getting my videos to cooperate, so here are some photos from the day!

Jonathan and Mike getting the camera ready:


The lovely setup at the Milk House Market and the BEAUTIFUL sky!






The AWESOME road we found - this is pretty much what I originally intended for the cover of "The Beauty of It All..."



Goofing around:

More tomorrow (if I can get my computer to cooperate!)

Music Video!!

Hey y'all! (Yeah, I typed y'all)

Tomorrow is day one of the video shoot for my first music video and I've picked a fan favorite - "I Miss You!"


I have an awesome flip cam now, so stay tuned for behind-the-scenes footage!!

No New News...

I haven't written in a while...so I figured I should correct that.

I have nothing new to add really, minus the fact that I still haven't heard anything about the Taylor Guitar's Competition...I'll post when I do.

Also I'm playing at World Cafe Live next week (Thursday) Downstairs at 7pm which will be a lot of fun - first show of my 25th year! (My birthday is Tuesday and I'll be kissing my first quarter century goodbye)

:)

No I want to say more...

Okay I lied.

I went for a walk tonight along Kelly Drive after watching my brother's ball game in Fairmount Park...it is a BEAUTIFUL night and was just a perfect time to walk around. It was nice to have a night to take a stroll with my Mom and just enjoy our surroundings.
Beautiful weather, family and Philadelphia...it doesn't get much better than that!


I love love love it.

(And that picture was taken a few months ago...but still, you get the point)

:)

I Love Philadelphia!!!

And that's all I have to say about that...

Thank you! Number 2! Keep Going!

First of all, thank you so much to everyone who started voting immediately and launched me so high in the rankings. There are 1,792 artists competing and I am currently ranked #2!!

So please keep voting - we have until August 31st (it's a long time, I know) and I'm pretty sure they're counting on people losing interest, etc, so let's keep it going!

http://testdrive.taylorguitars.com/BandProfile.aspx?c=8419&p=325

Thank you so much for your dedication and help!!

- Mary

PS - Shows this week...
Tuesday evening online radio interview at 7:30 est...
www.voltaradio.com

Wednesday evening in Trenton! (Katmandu, 8pm)

Saturday evening in Philly (just added!) - Fergie's Pub, 9pm

I NEED YOUR VOTES!!

Okay everyone, so here's the story...

I'm up to win Taylor Guitars and Elixir Strings' Artist of the Year for 2009...which comes with a range of prizes and studio time....
AND I NEED YOUR VOTES!!

The voting goes until August 31st and you can vote once a day every day...so if you can put a reminder in your calendar/phone/iPod/iPhone/Blackberry/etc that says "VOTE FOR MARY" every day...you can help me win!!

(By the way, there are 1,792 artists in the competition, and I am currently #12 - help me get to the top 5 to go on to round two!!)

http://TestDrive.TaylorGuitars.com/BandProfile.aspx?c=8419&p=325

Did I mention my eternal gratitude??

Thank you!!

Billy Joel/Elton John!!

So it has officially been way too long since the last time I posted on here - over a month, in fact - shameful!

I don't have too much to catch you up on minus a few great shows I had in New Jersey (one was the Cool Vibes Acoustic Diner show at Katmandu in Trenton, the other the Barrington Coffee House in Barrington...I'm sure I've played others but I'm drawing a blank...)

The 4th of July was awesome because I just love celebrating that holiday - nothing like time with your family, a bbq, ice cream and fireworks!

THIS week is going to be great for the following three reasons.

1. Billy Joel
2. Elton John
3. Six Flags

The first two are the musicians I'LL be seeing in concert this week, and the third is the location of my own show!
I'm TOTALLY psyched to see these two legends in concert (again! I saw them back in 2000, I believe? Whenever the last "Face to Face" tour was) - it is going to be amazing!

And Friday I'm playing at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, NJ (New Jersey has been seeing a lot of Mary Scholz this summer!)

I have three half an hour sets throughout the day - come out and ride coasters with me afterwords!

I'll leave you with these videos....


(Billy Joel - Scenes From An Italian Restaurant)


(Elton John - Philadelphia Freedom)


(Mary Scholz - Philadelphia Nights)

Spring Tour Video Clips!

Okay....finally...here it is!

2nd Street Annie's

Well, Saturday marked the official end of my tour - although I'll still be playing plenty of shows over the summer.

2nd Street Annie's was so much fun to play - thanks largely to those who joined me on stage (Jacob Mathew, Nathan Terry and Ryan Mackin), as well as the awesome audience!


Here are some rehearsal and performance pictures.












After the show was over, I did a couple of songs cabaret-style with the pianist, Scott, who was on after me.


Very fun :)



And here's a video of our super-speedy version of "The Best of Life"
Enjoy!

Home Sweet Home!

Well, it's official - I'm back in the City of Brotherly Love!
I have had an amazing time on my trip, but I'm so excited to be back!




I love love love this city!

Okay so my official end of tour is tomorrow's show at 2nd Street Annie's....I hope to see all of you Phillies there!!

Thanks so much for keeping up with my travels by reading the blog - I'll continue to post about my travels and happenings in the music world of Mary - so keep checking back!

May 30 (Saturday): 5:30pm
2nd Street Annie's
628 N. Front Street (Front and Fairmount Ave)
Philadelphia, PA 19123
with special guest Jacob Mathew and more (plus full band!)!
21+

Onwards through Pennsylvania...

I was up early Wednesday morning and back on the road, this time heading for Harrisburg - it was time to visit my extended family!

Pennsylvania really is a beautiful state to drive through - lots of farms and mountains and overall pretty scenery.

Wednesday was particularly foggy, which made this very cool looking.

I spent the day visiting with my sister, grandfather, goddaughter, aunts and uncles, cousins and this super cute new puppy.