Me for Queen comes to Glasgow as part of a UK tour in support of her new album, Loose End, which will be released on Seahorse Music on 7th September.
Last year’s single ‘Jessica’ cemented Mary as one of the UK’s most exciting new singer-songwriters. The track picked up traction after landing on one of Spotify UK's biggest playlists “The Most Beautiful Songs in The World” and along with her most recent single, Loose End, Mary has enjoyed radio play on BBC6Music, BBC Radio Scotland and BBC Radio Wales, including "Single of the Week" on the Janice Forsyth BBC Scotland Culture Show.
The past year has seen her play 3 sold-out London shows as well as a tour of Germany. Mary is delighted to be joined by First Tiger for a special run of shows, finishing up at London’s 1000 Island on the 3rd October.
First Tiger's music is smart, playful and surprising - full of syncopated rhythms, lively basslines, off-kilter hooks, and melodies that stay with you.
They released their first album, Dedicated, in 2016. Airplay and appearances on BBC 6 Music and BBC Radio Scotland soon followed including Single of the Week on the Janice Forsyth BBC Scotland Culture Show.
They are currently working on their follow up album and are thrilled to be supporting Me for Queen.
Line Up
First Tiger's music is smart, playful and surprising. The album, Dedicated, is full of syncopated rhythms, lively basslines, off-kilter hooks, and tunes that'll stay with you.
Shorts and Stevie started playing guitar together as teenagers in Glasgow, but took to playing gigs a while later. In between times they studied, traveled, worked and lived in different countries. When they both ended up back in Glasgow, they started playing as an acoustic duo around the city.
Not wanting their set to be stuck in one gear, limited to one mood, tempo or rhythm, they set about trying to put as much into a 3-minute tune as they could.
They recorded their first album with a Glasgow producer, Stuart McCredie, who has worked with some great names in Scottish music (Texas, The Blue Nile, The Fratellis). His lean, direct production has brought out the strength and originality of the songs. It shows Stevie’s intuitive knack for an earworm, and Shorts' distinctive, warm and honest vocal at its best.
The tracks are all different, inspired by a variety of experiences and influences. For Pete's Sake gives a nod to Jacques Brel's Vesoul in its contemporary take on escape from a stultifying relationship. Walking On Air takes the opening lines of Fats Waller's Crazy 'Bout My Baby as a starting point, and uses them to get at a completely different set of ideas. Other People's Taste plays with ideas of identity and originality - and the vanity of small differences - with a tongue-in-cheek reference to meeting your doppleganger. (Stevie met his evil twin once. If you ever meet yours, you should be nice to them. It's your only hope.)
Identity, personal flaws, doomed and failed relationships are addressed with a shrug and a wry smile.
Like a lot of bands, they find it hard to describe their own music. "We've had comparisons to a surprising range of bands and singers - some we’d never heard of, most we wouldn't have thought of, and many we're flattered to be compared to."
"We want this album to feel like a fun, catchy piece of work. Stick it on while you brew the coffee."
With a voice often likened to Carole King and Regina Spektor, a classical piano training, and influences ranging from Björk to Chopin, Me for Queen – the creative alias of Mary Erskine – is rapidly winning acclaim for her beguiling ‘soul-folk’ songcraft.
Of her latest single, Jessica, released in August on Seahorse Music, Folk Radio UK wrote, “The combination of rich poetic lines and one of most beautiful, emotive voices I’ve heard in a long time make Me for Queen stand out in any crowd.”
She has enjoyed support from BBC 6 Music, BBC Scotland (single of the week on Janice Forsyth’s Culture show for Slow Train) and BBC Wales. Jessica was also included in one of Spotify UK’s most-listened to playlists, “The Most Beautiful Songs in the World”.
"Erskine is blessed with a profound skill in the art of songwriting (not to mention a compelling voice) but also with a deft sense of storytelling..." Edinburgh Metro
“Beautiful, soaring vocals” The Guardian
