Known best for poignant hits like “Fat Funny Friend” and “You Might Not Like Her,” the singer-songwriter spoke to The Knockturnal about releasing her new single “Heaven” and expressing herself through music unabashedly.
Mitch Holson/Atlantic Records
Imagine a scared, young girl posting singing videos to social media, terrified of actually being on stage. Now imagine that same girl embarking on her first national tour.
That is the story of 22 year old singer-songwriter Maryjo. Her music journey started out back in her hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, where she says she had horrible stage fright and was terrified to sing in front of people. But she liked to sing, so she decided to start posting singing videos on social media.
We got to sit down with Maryjo to talk about her journey and the exciting projects she’s created along the way.
“It didn’t really feel like singing in front of people,” she explained about why she started posting videos. She had no idea those videos would lead her to becoming a fan-favorite contestant on season 19 of American Idol. That same support from viewers of the show is what helped her become the performer she is now. “It gave me confidence.”
As a songwriter, she told us that getting the emotion across is the most important thing for her when she’s writing. “Once you get the emotion across, people start to listen.”
And that they do. Not only does Maryjo have 146K monthly listeners on Spotify, she also has 1.3 million followers on TikTok and 27.6 million likes.
Sarah Rodriguez/Atlantic Records
Her newest single “Drunk Tattoo” tells the story about how sometimes you fall for the wrong people and you hit a realization point and start to question why you ever liked them. Many of her songs come from her own personal life experiences. We asked her what it meant to her that so many fans can listen to and resonate with her songs. “It makes me feel like I’m doing my job right,” she told us. “I want to send a message for them to relate to it or connect to it, and that’s exactly what they’re doing.” With a smile on her face and a sparkle in her eyes, she added “And that makes me happy.”
After signing with Atlantic record in the fall of 2022, she released her single “Love Fools”, alongside a music video filmed through her home security camera – an idea her manager Kelly gave her. The ballad features a backing from GRAMMY® Award-nominated, 2x ACM Award-winning blind piano virtuoso Gordon Mote.
Many great producers and musicians have lent a hand in her song-writing and producing. She absolutely lit up when asked her about her experience with these amazing artists. “It’s so fun,” she boasted excitedly. “It’s nice because now I can feel comfy in the {recording studio} – because once you find your people you’re like, ‘Oh. There ya go’.”
Starting January 30th, Maryjo is headed on tour with musical artist Knox. “This is my first {tour} with a band and the road and the sprinter van… and the early morning wake-up calls,” she exclaimed with a bright smile on her face. From Chicago, Illinois to Atlanta, Georgia spanning a little less than two weeks, it’s hard work but nothing about it seems to beat her down. “I’m so excited,” she told us simply.
This is just the beginning for Maryjo and we are so excited to see what she has in store.
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American Idol ended its fifteenth and final season the night of April 7th, crowning Trent Harmon as the last American Idol, so to speak. It was an emotional night for many on the show, from Carrie Underwood, one of the show’s previous winners who made a return to sing one last song, to fellow alum Katharine McPhee. La’Porsha Renae, the other finalist, is said to be another non-winner who will go on to have a fruitful career such as Adam Lambert and Jennifer Hudson, the latter of whom is now on Broadway in The Color Purple. Fifteen seasons on the air and it wasn’t even trending very long on Facebook.
Did it run too long? American Idol in its heyday brought in ample ratings, but these soon began to slide in the wake of newer, more quirky shows like The Voice, where celebrity judges turn their chairs so that they cannot judge the singer based on appearance and choose singers to coach based purely on their voice, and the X Factor, which former American Idol judge Simon Cowell broke off from the show to make. Back when it was hugely popular, it even made it into a bonus scene in Shrek 2, giving Simon Cowell a strange cameo where he judged various Shrek characters. Simon Cowell became famous simply through his blunt, often mean critiques of Idol contestants, and almost a cult favorite. The show itself launched singers like its first winner, Kelly Clarkson, into superstardom with a record contract as its top prize.
Is all that gone now? Similar prizes go out to other shows that don’t quite have the same ring as American Idol. As silly as it got in the end, for a while it was a way people could make their pipe dream of becoming a pop star reality, lining up on long audition lines for a chance to make it to Hollywood. These chances still exist, but to a lesser extent as singing contests grow more and more numerous, with prestige dying down as a result. Like it or not, we will never have another American Idol after Trent. Ratings did soar that night.
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