Green Monkey Records / Artist
Mr. Blackwatch
Good question. They’re both. Mr. Blackwatch was founded by a space alien (long story) in 1996 as an all-original rock band. However, the band’s frontman, Doug Mackey, is card-carrying stage actor, improvisational comedian, and keen mimic. These talents eventually led the band to, years later, create an irony-rich repertoire of bizarre covers. Ranging from Mary Poppins to Black Sabbath, Patsy Cline to “Bad Railroad” (the conflation of two, well-known acts), they put their unique spin on this motley assortment and deliver it with interactive zeal, employing props including an inflatable cow and a “Charlton Heston on-a-stick”. Throw in lasers and wrist-rocketed rubber duckies and they can hardly be taken seriously.
HOWEVER, being taken seriously is exactly what they ask of listeners who they spin their ambitious, years-in-the-making, Rock Opera, “Mary, Me”. In stark contrast to the absurdist mayhem of a typical Mr. Blackwatch performance, the album’s sobering story is that of Mary: one woman, cradle to grave. Seen primarily, but not entirely, through the men she encounters along the way, Mary survives an abusive childhood in a small town, escapes to the big city–where she discovers life is essentially unchanged–and eventually moves back home, transcendent and finally able to love: herself, most importantly. The album features well over a dozen guest musicians, so it’s impossible to recreate live with the core three-piece. Will the full album receive the live treatment with an expanded band? Only time will tell.
Mary, Me
Mr. Blackwatch’s “Mary, Me”, an unapologetic Concept Album/Rock Opera ala The Who’s “Quadrophenia” and “Animals” by Pink Floyd, could well have been released in 1973, though its story is set firmly in the present. This is the story of Mary: one woman, cradle to grave. Spanning 16 songs in 2 acts, the deluxe package includes two CDs, a forward by U of Iowa Writers’ Workshop alum Craig Awmiller, and a 24-page illustrated booklet of lyrics. “Mary, Me” demands your attention and is worthy of your love.
- See the Cow (Part 2)
- The Pieces
- Maybe Love
- Rochelle
- Drown
- Being Used (The Ballad of Mary Dun)
- Honeybee
- Turn Me Out
- Pleased to See You
- Tailspin
- I Hurt Her
- Does It Show
- Hampton’s Freezer
- I Do
- The Reaper’s Gain
- See the Cow (Part 1)
Mr. Blackwatch:
Doug Mackey (singer, guitarist/primary songwriter)
Joe Wood (drums and vocals)
Kevin Fraser (bass)
accompanied by over a dozen guest musicians including
saxophonist Cliff Colon
lead guitarists Evan Purcell and David McKibbin,
Skating Polly vocalists Kelli Mayo and Peyton Bighorse.
Conceived, recorded, mixed and produced by Doug Mackey in his Moon Yard Recording Studio in The City of Destiny – Tacoma
Mastered by Steve Turnidge at Ultraviolet Studios
Cover art by Andrew Dimitt
See The Cow (Part 2)
Mr. Blackwatch’s new single, “See the Cow (Part 2)”, opens their concept album “Mary, Me” with a Country Western stomper and a humorous cowpoke’s lament. Though the song establishes the central allegory of the story–a cow–it remains stylistically singular, as the remainder of the album more closely resembles a classic Rock Opera in concept and execution. Saddle up, then rock on!
- See The Cow (Part 2)
Mr. Blackwatch:
Doug Mackey (singer, guitarist/primary songwriter)
Joe Wood (drums and vocals)
Kevin Fraser (bass)
Conceived, recorded, mixed and produced by Doug Mackey in his Moon Yard Recording Studio in The City of Destiny – Tacoma
Mastered by Steve Turnidge at Ultraviolet Studios
https://www.facebook.com/MrBlackwatch/
