SPRUCE VIEW – A Dickson-area singer is making a name for herself.
Mary Anne Message will be performing at two separate functions during the 2019 Canada Winter Games in Red Deer.
“I saw this email (from the Canada Winter Games) come in asking me to do these gigs,” said Message, who will be performing at two different events at the Red Deer Winter Games festival. Message added she hopes the experience will have a positive impact for her budding music career.
“Not only am I representing Alberta but all of Canada’s going to be looking at me.”
The self-described alternative country/pop-rock artist is considered by fans to be a mix of Pat Benatar and Shania Twain or Joan Jet and Carrie Underwood.
She grew up with a love for music and singing but chose to pursue other career prospects.
“I took up motocross and I competed in motocross for more than 25 years,” said Message. “I’m one of the founders of the women’s class.”
She turned to music again after experiencing several life-threatening injuries.
“I quit (motocross) cold turkey. I didn’t know what to do with my time so I went full circle and I went back to singing,” she said, adding she picked up the microphone again in 2006.
In 2018 she produced her first CD, entitled Bucket List. It was released last June and she held a CD release party last fall in Innisfail.
“People like (my CD),” she said, noting several recent appearances.
Today her music and popularity are rising on social apps.
Between December and January her number of listeners on Spotify, a music streaming platform, has jumped from 52 to 3,400.
“I figured there’s got to be a glitch. There’s no way I have that many listeners, it’s crazy,” said Message. “They’ve put me on the top charting country artists on Reverb Nation for three months. That’s not just Canada but the United States too,” she added.
As an artist now enjoying her second career, Message said she welcomes the challenge of pursuing her aspirations at this time in her life.
“I’m doing what I want to do, regardless of age,” said Message.
“My motto is and I’ve said it over and over for years, ‘don’t just dream your dreams, live them’ and that’s what I’m doing,” Message concluded.
For more information or upcoming appearances, visit Mary Anne’s Music on Facebook or her website www.mamessage.com
