Marian Call
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Marian Call (born February 24, 1982 in
Gig Harbor, Washington Gig Harbor is the name of both a bay on Puget Sound and a city on its shore in Pierce County, Washington,. The population was 12,029 at the 2020 census. Gig Harbor is one of several cities and towns that claim to be "the gateway to the Olympic ...
) is an American singer-songwriter based in
Juneau, Alaska The City and Borough of Juneau, more commonly known simply as Juneau ( ; tli, Dzánti K'ihéeni ), is the capital city of the state of Alaska. Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle, it is a unified municipality and the se ...
. Call has released three studio albums: ''Vanilla'' (2007), ''Got to Fly'' (2008), and ''Something Fierce'' (2011). In early 2013, she released her first live album, ''Marian Call: Live in Europe''. A fifth album called ''Sketchbook'' was released on December 1, 2013. Call is known for her songs containing themes of geek culture, as well as her rise to popularity through the use of the Internet and social networking.


Career

Call graduated from
Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
in 2004 with a Bachelor's Degree in composition and vocal performance. She relocated to
Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
, where she spent two years waiting tables, learning the craft of songwriting. Inspired by the commentary track for the ''
Firefly The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production ...
'' episode " Objects in Space", she wrote the song "Dark Dark Eyes" and shortly after booked three days in a studio to record what would become her first album, ''Vanilla'', initially a side-project for family, friends, and small Alaskan audiences. However, when fans discovered some of her early tracks on her MySpace page, she realized she was accumulating a fan base. One of the events that led to Call's accumulating fan-base came after she entered and won the ''Sing a Song of Saffron'' contest. The contest was held by a fan blog for the television series ''
Firefly The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production ...
'', and Call won with her song "It Was Good for You, Too". One of the judges of the contest was Christina Hendricks, who portrayed the character of Saffron, and had this to say about her winning entry, "She sounded just like me! It was fantastic, I really thought it was a good song even if you don't know the character." In February 2008, Call announced that she would be going on tour for the first time, playing at venues in California and Texas. Nine months of her tour (June 2008 – March 2009) were spent on bus, which she named the ''Millennium Tortoise'', traveling between the Western US and Canada, before returning home to Anchorage in July 2009 to begin work on her album, ''Something Fierce''. Before starting her tour, Call started the ''Song of the Month Project'', a project that she continued while touring. This project lasted for twelve months and included songs such as the
tongue-in-cheek The idiom tongue-in-cheek refers to a humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a serious manner. History The phrase originally expressed contempt, but by 1842 had acquired its modern meaning. Early users of the phrase include Sir Walter Scott ...
"I Wish I Were a Real Alaskan Girl" and "We're Out for Blood", a song commissioned by the creator of the film ''Zombie Cheerleading Camp''. In November 2008 Call was commissioned again, this time for a full-length album, by the science-fiction prop replica company Quantum Mechanix and Black Market Beagles. The album, titled ''Got to Fly'', was Call's first record deal, as well as the first and only album under the Quantum Mechanix label. The songs on the album reflect several aspects of geek culture, with such songs as "I'll Still Be a Geek After Nobody Thinks It's Chic" as well as songs inspired by the television series ''Firefly'' and ''
Battlestar Galactica ''Battlestar Galactica'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The franchise began with the Battlestar Galactica (1978 TV series), original television series in 1978, and was followed by a short-run sequel se ...
''. In 2017, the TV series Chance (TV series) used her song "Stop What You're Doing" for the closing credits of a second-season episode. While primarily a vocalist, she occasionally uses a
typewriter A typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical machine for typing characters. Typically, a typewriter has an array of keys, and each one causes a different single character to be produced on paper by striking an inked ribbon selectivel ...
for percussion as well the remains of her cat Zippy which are stored in a small tin. She also performs at concerts using a
rainstick A rainstick is a long, hollow tube partially filled with small pebbles, rice or beans that has small pins or thorns arranged helically on its inside surface. When the stick is upended, the pebbles fall to the other end of the tube, bouncing o ...
, which she had autographed by
Nathan Fillion Nathan Fillion (; born March 27, 1971) is a Canadian-American actor. He played the leading roles of Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds on '' Firefly'' and its film continuation '' Serenity'', and Richard Castle on '' Castle''. , he was starring as J ...
and
Alan Tudyk Alan Wray Tudyk ( ;; born March 16, 1971) is an American actor. His film work includes roles in '' 28 Days'' with Sandra Bullock (2000), ''A Knight's Tale'' with Heath Ledger (2001), '' Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story'' with Vince Vaughn (2004) ...
, two actors in the television series ''Firefly''.


Donors' Circle

In March 2009, Call announced the Donors' Circle, a way for fans of her music to invest in her, not for any financial return, but the return being the art itself. Members of the Donors' Circle have access to several raw samples of music from her upcoming album ''Something Fierce'' as well the opportunity to interact with Marian directly, and to give her feedback on the progress of the album.


49>50 Tour

In the spring of 2010, Call announced her 49>50 Tour, a do-it-yourself national tour where Call would drive across the country stopping to play at the cities her fans have requested. The title of the tour, while mathematically incorrect is done so purposely to reflect her Alaskan pride, as
Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
is the 49th state. It also reflects the bringing of her music from the 49th state to all 50 states (49 to 50). The goal of the tour was to play in every state, whether at public venues or at small house concerts. In December 2010, she achieved her goal of playing all the states within the year, and managed to include several Canadian provinces.


Marian Call European Adventure Quest!!!

As a means to visit all her fans in Europe, in June 2012 she created a
Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...
project to fund her tour. It was a great success (being 570% funded). The European Adventure took place in October and November 2012. Marian went to Europe and played more than 25 concerts in seven countries, including the
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, Germany,
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
,
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
, the
Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
, the United Kingdom, and the
Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...
.


Ladies of Ragnarok

Marian has also made several appearances with
Molly Lewis Molly Lewis (aka Sweetafton23) is an American musician who is known for her ukulele playing and who rose to prominence on the Internet. She plays both covers and original songs. Her original music consists of comedic songs that deal with relevan ...
and
The Doubleclicks The Doubleclicks are a nerd-folk musical duo based in Portland, Oregon, consisting of siblings Laser Malena-Webber (on guitar, ukulele, or cat keyboard) and Aubrey Turner. They first became known for performing nerd-friendly comedy music, inclu ...
on their "Ladies of Ragnarok" tour in September 2012.


The Postcard Tour

In 2013 Marian toured parts of the U.S., Canada and Europe during the "Postcard Tour". At each concert, Marian would ask the audience members to take a postcard out of the hand made mail bag she took along and to write or draw something on new postcards which were then taken along to later concerts.


Discography

* ''Vanilla'' (2007) * ''The Song of the Month Project'' (2008) * ''Got to Fly'' (2008) * ''Something Fierce'' (2011) * ''Marian Call: Live in Europe'' (2013) * ''Sketchbook'' (2013) * ''Question Bedtime'' (2014) – supporting vocals by
MC Frontalot Damian Hess (born December 3, 1973), better known by his stage name MC Frontalot, is an American rapper and web designer. Hess began releasing music as MC Frontalot in 1999. His first successes came through Song Fight!, an online songwriting and ...
* ''Marian Call Sings the Classics, vol. I'' (2014) * ''Yippee Ki Yay'' (2014) * ''Marian Call Sings the Classics, vol. II'' (2015) * ''Standing Stones'' (2017) * ''Swears'' (2020)


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Call, Marian 1982 births American women singer-songwriters Living people Musicians from Alaska Singer-songwriters from Washington (state) People from Juneau, Alaska People from Gig Harbor, Washington Stanford University alumni Nerd-folk musicians 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singers Singer-songwriters from Alaska