“Mara, I think you are one of the best singers of your generation. Every songwriter worth their salt should be sending you their tunes. You have such a beautiful, timeless quality to your voice and you make beautiful recordings. I just LOVE what you do.”
— Christine Lavin, singer-songwriter
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Mara Levine is available for bookings with the following combinations. Scroll down for individual bios of these combinations: Mara Levine with Gathering Time, Mara Levine with Caroline Cutroneo, and Terry Kitchen with Mara Levine.
Mara Levine: Brief Bio
Called one of the best singers of her generation by Christine Lavin, folksinger and jewelry designer Mara Levine has been creating beautiful interpretations of fine traditional and contemporary folk songs for many years. Mara was nominated by Ron Olesko in 2009 for the Suzi Wollenberg Folk DJ Showcase at the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) Conference. She was selected for a Quad showcase at NERFA for 2014. Mara tours nationally, often sharing shows with Gathering Time.
Recently, her single "You Reap What You Sow" (Susan Shann) recorded with Bluegrass Luminaries Mollie O'Brien, Mark Schatz, Greg Blake, Scott Vestal, Rob Ickes, Bob Harris and Andy Leftwich, was the #1 song on the November 2017 Folk DJ Chart and #16 for the year, and it spent 19 consecutive weeks on the Bluegrass Today "Grassicana" Chart as of May 22, 2018. By My Silence(Bukstel/Annis) recorded with Gathering Time, was the #1 song on the September 2017 Folk DJ chart, and #19 overall for 2017. Both songs are previews from her upcoming CD FACETS OF FOLK, due for release January 2019.
Her second album, Jewels and Harmony, is received stellar reviews and was the #1 album on the folk chart for January 2013. The CD also had the two top songs and Mara was named the most played artist for the month. The record was subsequently #3 on the folk Chart for 2013, and was named #4 Cover Album of 2013 by Cover Lay Down. Jewels and Harmony features 15 tracks produced with a 60's folk sensibility, with fresh interpretations, beautiful multi-part harmonies and collaborations with notable artists including Si Kahn, Brother Sun, Pat Wictor, Gathering Time, Joe Jencks, Loretta Hagen, Terry Kitchen and Caroline Cutroneo.
Mara's debut CD, Mara's Gems, ranked #52 on the Folk DJ chart for 2009. Since then, Mara has had two #1 songs on the monthly chart -- her version of Bob Franke's 'Straw Against the Chill,' with Joe Jencks, and her arrangement of Paul Simon's 'Leaves That Are Green,' with Gathering Time.
Mara also performs in duos with Caroline Cutroneo, Terry Kitchen shares bills with Gathering Time. She has appeared on numerous radio programs and performed at various venues and festivals in Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, Paris, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Toronto, Utah, Washington DC and Washington State.
Mara Levine: Full Length Bio
Called one of the best singers of her generation by Christine Lavin, folksinger and jewelry designer Mara Levine has been creating beautiful interpretations of fine traditional and contemporary folk songs for many years and singing professionally as a member of various ensembles and as a hired harmony vocalist since 2002. Folk DJ Jim Marino has referred to her as "golden-voiced," while Michael Stock calls her voice "full, rich and soothing." Mara was nominated by Ron Olesko in 2009 for the Suzi Wollenberg Folk DJ Showcase at the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) Conference. She was selected for a Quad showcase at NERFA for 2014. Mara tours nationally, often sharing shows with Gathering Time. They have done many tri-state performances together and have toured Chicago, Florida, Colorado,Toronto, Washington D.C. and Maryland together and in April 2018, Ireland and Germany.
Recently, her single "You Reap What You Sow" (Susan Shann) recorded with Bluegrass Luminaries Mollie O'Brien, Mark Schatz, Greg Blake, Scott Vestal, Rob Ickes, Bob Harris and Andy Leftwich, was the #1 song on the November 2017 Folk DJ Chart and #16 for the year, and it spent 19 consecutive weeks on the Bluegrass Today "Grassicana" Chart as of May 22, 2018. By My Silence(Bukstel/Annis) recorded with Gathering Time, was the #1 song on the September 2017 Folk DJ chart, and #19 overall for 2017. Both songs are previews from her upcoming CD FACETS OF FOLK, due for release January 2019.
Her second album, Jewels and Harmony, is receiving stellar reviews and was the #1 album on the folk chart for January 2013 as well as reaching #3 overall for 2013. The CD also had the two top songs and Mara was named the most played artist for the month. In addition, Cover Lay Down named it the #4 cover album of 2013. Jewels and Harmony features 15 tracks produced with a 60's folk sensibility, with fresh interpretations, beautiful multi-part harmonies and collaborations with notable artists including Si Kahn, Brother Sun, Pat Wictor, Gathering Time, Joe Jencks, Loretta Hagen, Terry Kitchen and Bob Harris and Caroline Cutroneo.
Her debut CD, Mara's Gems, did well on the folk charts (reaching #52 for 2009) and earned some lovely reviews. Mara has had two #1 songs on the Folk -DJ chart, her version of Bob Franke's "Straw Against the Chill," with Joe Jencks and her original and intricate arrangement of Paul Simon's "Leaves That Are Green," also featuring folk harmony trio Gathering Time, both found on Jewels and Harmony.
Mara performs solo, shares shows with "Gathering Time", as a duo with Terry Kitchen, as a duo with Caroline Cutroneo, as a group with Celestial Harmonies, and she sings harmony with a number of groups and musicians. She toured Europe in 2018, performing in Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands and Paris, and has performed at venues including “On Your Radar” hosted by John Platt, Borderline Folk Music Club, First Acoustics, The Good Coffeehouse, Coffee with Conscience, Hurdy Gurdy Folk Club, Minstrel Coffeehouse, People's Voice Cafe, Swallow Hill, The Black Rose Acoustic Music Society, The Gunnison Arts Center, the KAFM Radio Room,The Carroll Cafe', The Deer Creek Coffeehouse series, the Belknap Mill, The Buttonwood Tree Performing Arts Center, Cafe' Vivaldi, Auer House Concerts,(Toronto) PF8 Concerts(Toronto)Arts at the Armory Café, Franklin House Concerts, Barnes and Noble, PASA House Concerts, Pete and Toshi Seeger Wetlands Preservation Series, Cumberland County College, Historic Richmondtown, Old Lynn Concerts,The Hard Luck Café, the Garden Stage, The Song Box, The Two Way Street Coffeehouse, the Perkasie Patchwork Coffeehouse, Mt. Toby Concert series, The Sundance Film Festival, Beacon Strawberry and Corn Festivals, Great South Bay Music Festival, South Florida Folk Festival, the Folk Project Festival, Huntington Folk Festival, Crossroads Folk Festival, Westerleigh Folk Festival, Highlands Bluegrass Festival, Wilmington Wintergrass festival, NJ Clearwater Festival, Park Slope Bluegrass and Old Time Jamboree, the Turtle Hill Folk Festival and Muses in the Vinyard festival. Mara has appeared on programs including "WFMT Folkstage" hosted by Rich Warren, "The Folk Show "with Gene Shay (WXPN Philadelphia, PA), "Woody's Children" with Bob Sherman on WFUV, "Sunday Supper" with John Platt on WFUV, "Folk and Acoustic Music" with Michael Stock on WLRN (Miami, FL), "Saturday Folk Show" with Jeannie Holton on WMNF (Tampa, FL), "Traditions" with Bill Hahn and Ron Olesko on WFDU (Teaneck, NJ), WVBR "Bound For Glory" with Phil Shapiro and "Horses Sing Nine Of It" via the Folk Project.
Mara also has provided vocals for recordings by Spook Handy, Bob Wright, Terry Rivel, Dan Schatz, Terry Kitchen and Jim Indell.
Mara also performs in duos with Caroline Cutroneo,and Terry Kitchen shares bills with Gathering Time and has a group called Celestial Harmonies with Caroline, Barbara Novick and Frank and Nancy Moccaldi. She has appeared on numerous radio programs and performed at various venues and festivals in Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, Paris, France, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Toronto, Utah, Washington DC and Washington State.
"While Mara Levine doesn’t sing original songs, it truly doesn’t matter. She chooses songs or has songwriters create to suit her voice, and what a voice! With Gathering Time backing her up, it’s magical. Mara and Gathering Time performed at my series a few days ago and the audience loved it, and her. And the harmonies they created – spectacular. Mara was known by more people than Gathering Time, and they love her. Don’t hesitate to bring them in and she’ll do what she does best. Sing beautifully.” Jill Padua, RiverFolk Concerts 10/17
“I first met Mara Levine at Folk Alliance in Kansas City. She was singing with a Bluegrass band. I tracked her down so I could hear her beautiful voice again. I have been listening to and playing Mara’s music ever since. I had the pleasure of booking Mara and Gathering Time into KAFM's Radio Room in Grand Junction, Colorado in August 2016.. The audience loved her! Mara selects songs with great care and her singing evokes emotions that you and I can feel in each one. Her voice is clear and deliberate as she takes you on a journey in each song.”Veta Gumber, DJ Bluegrass and Beyond KAFM Radio 10/17
“The audience of The Old Lynn Concerts are a seasoned group with high expectations. Some might even say that they are spoiled, as over the past 13 years, many top-flight performers have been presented in the small, rural church tucked away in the northeastern corner of Pennsylvania. Last night, Mara Levine and her musical friends raised the bar yet again. Levine's gift for harmony and her powerful stage presence breathed new life into old songs and made instant favorites of the new. Engaging the audience from the outset, Mara Levine literally left her audience on a high note as she subtly converted them all to members of her own 120 person choir. Levine's concert was a highlight of the season." - Lorne Clarke – Producer, Old Lynn Concert Series
Mara Levine - Bio - Co-Bill with Gathering Time
Pictured - Mara Levine with Gathering Time at South Florida Folk Festival. Photo by Elyse Brunt
Mara shares shows on a regular basis with the Long Island, NY based Folk- Harmony trio Gathering Time. When they split the bill, Gathering time supports Mara on her sets- faithfully reproducing the intricate harmony arrangements of her recordings in stunning detail.
Voted best band runner-up (and top folk band) in the 2011 Long Island Press readers' poll, Gathering Time is like a high-energy Peter, Paul & Mary or a co-ed Crosby, Stills & Nash, with various parts of The Byrds, Joni Mitchell, the Eagles and America; a head-turning folk-rock harmony trio described recently as "getting a whole beehive-full of buzz" on the northeast regional folk scene. Founded in 2006, Gathering Time quickly became a fan favorite. The trio has strong roots in traditional folk as well as '60s and '70s folk-rock, and they've been known to sprinkle in some of those classics among their original sets. The current band members are Stuart Markus, Hillary Foxsong and Gerry McKeveney.
Bob McKillop of MaineFolkMusic.com writes, "Gathering Time ... has perfected two separate but related art forms: three part harmony and having a ball on stage! When they harmonize, some sort of fundamental, cosmic concordance occurs that makes you very happy that you have ears.”
The trio's fourth and newly released CD, "Keepsake," was the #1 Album, had the #1 song, and Gathering Time was named the top artist overall for March of 2016 on the Folk DJ Chart.!
WFUV's John Platt has written that they are "among the finest performers in the New York metropolitan area, whatever the size of the venue, from a house concert to an outdoor festival," with "harmonies that can charm the birds out of the trees, strong original songs, and a savvy repertoire of cover songs, ranging from traditional folk to classic rock. They appeal to audiences of all ages."
In addition to its concerts of original music, Gathering Time performs specialty tribute shows such as the "Great Folk-Rock Festival," featuring the acoustic classics of the '60s & '70s, "Jews Who Rock," showcasing the work of famous Jewish songwriters and musicians, and "Songs of Conscience," focused on songs of social justice.
www.gathering-time.com