Maria is also a fine singer and songwriter herself, steeped in folk-roots, bluegrass and old time Americana and known for her powerful, bluesy voice. Many of her songs focus on the eternal themes of love, loss and the search for 
home, and she also draws inspiration from the stark beauty of the Yorkshire countryside. Maria released her EP of original songs, The Merryville Sessions, last year and regularly performs at local open mics and sessions. She started learning banjo back in 2008 and became involved with the vibrant UK bluegrass scene. In 2012 Maria started to write songs and sing out in public. She formed the folk band True North and performed with them for a couple of years, including gigs at Holmfirth Festival of Folk and Hepworth Live. In 2015 Maria gathered together some of the best UK bluegrass musicians to form The Reckless Abandoners. The band performed an entertaining blend of bluegrass, Americana, acoustic country, folk and blues, and went on to perform at numerous bluegrass festivals across the UK over the next four years.
It became increasingly difficult to bring together a six piece band with members scattered around the UK, especially as everyone got busier with different projects. Maria formed the duo Phrase & Fable with Phil Stott (mandolin, guitar) in 2019 and they have performed occasional gigs together since then, featuring a mix of mellow Americana and lively bluegrass, with guitar, clawhammer banjo, mandolin, fiddle and some fine harmony singing.
Maria has been performing her original songs live on stage for many years with all these collaborations, and in 2020 she finally started to record them, working remotely (and later on, in the studio) with exceptional musician pals from both sides of the Atlantic. Five years on, the project finally came to fruition, with The Merryville Sessions EP released on Bandcamp in September 2025. Mixing and mastering was done by the highly respected Josh Clark at Get Real Audio in Wiltshire, and Maria ran a successful Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign in spring 2025 to help cover the significant cost of the project. Check out the player below to listen, and you can buy a download of the EP here. You can also buy a CD version of the EP direct from Maria at our True North Music events!
