Maisie Bull is about to turn 21. She could be your typical college student, navigating the ups and downs of life as adulthood looms in the near distance. Typical if she wasn't so remarkably talented at expressing that journey through her music..
First, there is that voice. It's an extraordinary voice, the kind that rings pure with perfect pitch and the clarity of youth. It's an undeniable voice, because it's also layered with something else, it's that elusive thing that distinguishes the real deal from the rest of the pack. Yes, lots of girls have pretty voices. Maisie Bull possesses an effortless, rich soulfulness that more often comes with age, experience, and road-worn wisdom than with starting your third year in college.
And then there are her songs- instantly memorable melodies with emotionally honest and universal lyrical themes that harken back to the classic singer songwriters and yet shine with a contemporary sparkle. Couple that with her "weird love of Celtic things which tends to influence (her) music," and you get the feeling that Maisie Bull has been here before, many times, she's an old soul anxious to get to work in this lifetime.
Maisie, the daughter of two moms, has been singing, writing and performing since she was a little girl, so it's not like she isn't practiced. "I basically started singing as soon as I started making noises," she says. She showed such an interest in music as a toddler that her moms enrolled her in piano lessons at age three. Maisie recounts the first time she ever wrote a song, oddly enough in science class at school when she was eleven:
"I was in the forest, we were supposed to sit and look around and reflect... but I wrote a song. I just remember the feeling of power as I sat there with my back against a tree, and a pen and paper in hand, creating this thing that I thought was beautiful. And from there it just kind of snowballed. I would write a line here and there in the margins of my notebook, take a bathroom break to record a melody on my phone, and I spent countless hours building my strength on piano and guitar to create accompaniments- much to the dismay of my mother because I was supposed to be practicing some Bach piece and moving on to math homework. I wasn't feeling it."
Maisie was feeling a lot of other things, though, and she began voraciously channeling those feelings into her music. And people around her began to notice. "Music began as a way for me to express my emotions in a healthy and beautiful way but quickly progressed into a way I could explore the way in which humans react to the world around them. I'm fascinated by people's love of music, even those who are incapable of replicating a simple melody. What is it about music that has such intense power to touch a person's heart? And how do I unlock it?"
At 15, Maisie left to attend private boarding school in Connecticut, 900 miles from her home and family in the Chicago suburbs. At school, she found kindred souls in the writings of Wordsworth, Coleridge and other Romantics. "I started seeing my own traits and beliefs reflected in their writing. I've got a very romantic heart and I try to emphasize that in my writing. I started to spend more and more time outside appreciating nature and the world around me. I've always loved the natural world and the emphasis on emotions over rationality. I'm what one might call a wide-eyed idealist."
At boarding school Maisie also found a singing and writing partner in a classmate, and the two collaborated and released an EP for school credit. These early recordings show how special Maisie's budding talent is, the beauty of her voice joined with her vivid songwriting. Perhaps it was the inspiration of her first time recording in a studio, the reaction she got performing for her fellow students (Maisie and her friend won the school talent contest and the prize included studio time for a second CD) or the incredible growth experience of leaving home at 15 that sparked Maisie's next writing spurt. At the beginning of her junior year she began writing furiously, each song better than the last.
These songs grabbed the attention of GRAMMY Nominated artist Cathy Richardson, a childhood friend of Maisie's mom Mary Ellen. "Mary Ellen had introduced me to Maisie when she was twelve and just starting to display her gift for singing and songwriting. It was a 'maybe you can talk to her about the music business and give her a few pointers' kind of thing. She sent me tunes over the years but then she sent me the latest batch and I was like, 'Whoa, this is really f***ing good.' I knew I had to be involved.'"
Richardson produced Maisie's infectiously hooky track Thinking About You in her home studio. Next, Richardson enlisted her friend Steven Gillis, former drummer for platinum selling rock band Filter and now co-owner and producer at Chicago's Transient Sound. "Steve an amazing producer, we've been wanting to work together in the studio for a long time. I played him some of Maisie's demos and he's just as floored by her talent as I am."
Bringing Maisie into Gillis' studio has proven fortuitous, the results are the stunning, lush and epic No Amazing Grace and One Step Closer, a timeless 3/4 time ballad destined for the slow dance at proms across America. A fourth song, the driving and soulful Repentance, is ready to round out an EP for independent release in 2018.
Meanwhile, Maisie is continuing to hone her musical skills as she begins her third year at Berklee College of Music. With her charm, intelligence and incredible talent, Maisie Bull has a lot to sing about. It's only a matter of time before the world is singing along.
First, there is that voice. It's an extraordinary voice, the kind that rings pure with perfect pitch and the clarity of youth. It's an undeniable voice, because it's also layered with something else, it's that elusive thing that distinguishes the real deal from the rest of the pack. Yes, lots of girls have pretty voices. Maisie Bull possesses an effortless, rich soulfulness that more often comes with age, experience, and road-worn wisdom than with starting your third year in college.
And then there are her songs- instantly memorable melodies with emotionally honest and universal lyrical themes that harken back to the classic singer songwriters and yet shine with a contemporary sparkle. Couple that with her "weird love of Celtic things which tends to influence (her) music," and you get the feeling that Maisie Bull has been here before, many times, she's an old soul anxious to get to work in this lifetime.
Maisie, the daughter of two moms, has been singing, writing and performing since she was a little girl, so it's not like she isn't practiced. "I basically started singing as soon as I started making noises," she says. She showed such an interest in music as a toddler that her moms enrolled her in piano lessons at age three. Maisie recounts the first time she ever wrote a song, oddly enough in science class at school when she was eleven:
"I was in the forest, we were supposed to sit and look around and reflect... but I wrote a song. I just remember the feeling of power as I sat there with my back against a tree, and a pen and paper in hand, creating this thing that I thought was beautiful. And from there it just kind of snowballed. I would write a line here and there in the margins of my notebook, take a bathroom break to record a melody on my phone, and I spent countless hours building my strength on piano and guitar to create accompaniments- much to the dismay of my mother because I was supposed to be practicing some Bach piece and moving on to math homework. I wasn't feeling it."
Maisie was feeling a lot of other things, though, and she began voraciously channeling those feelings into her music. And people around her began to notice. "Music began as a way for me to express my emotions in a healthy and beautiful way but quickly progressed into a way I could explore the way in which humans react to the world around them. I'm fascinated by people's love of music, even those who are incapable of replicating a simple melody. What is it about music that has such intense power to touch a person's heart? And how do I unlock it?"
At 15, Maisie left to attend private boarding school in Connecticut, 900 miles from her home and family in the Chicago suburbs. At school, she found kindred souls in the writings of Wordsworth, Coleridge and other Romantics. "I started seeing my own traits and beliefs reflected in their writing. I've got a very romantic heart and I try to emphasize that in my writing. I started to spend more and more time outside appreciating nature and the world around me. I've always loved the natural world and the emphasis on emotions over rationality. I'm what one might call a wide-eyed idealist."
At boarding school Maisie also found a singing and writing partner in a classmate, and the two collaborated and released an EP for school credit. These early recordings show how special Maisie's budding talent is, the beauty of her voice joined with her vivid songwriting. Perhaps it was the inspiration of her first time recording in a studio, the reaction she got performing for her fellow students (Maisie and her friend won the school talent contest and the prize included studio time for a second CD) or the incredible growth experience of leaving home at 15 that sparked Maisie's next writing spurt. At the beginning of her junior year she began writing furiously, each song better than the last.
These songs grabbed the attention of GRAMMY Nominated artist Cathy Richardson, a childhood friend of Maisie's mom Mary Ellen. "Mary Ellen had introduced me to Maisie when she was twelve and just starting to display her gift for singing and songwriting. It was a 'maybe you can talk to her about the music business and give her a few pointers' kind of thing. She sent me tunes over the years but then she sent me the latest batch and I was like, 'Whoa, this is really f***ing good.' I knew I had to be involved.'"
Richardson produced Maisie's infectiously hooky track Thinking About You in her home studio. Next, Richardson enlisted her friend Steven Gillis, former drummer for platinum selling rock band Filter and now co-owner and producer at Chicago's Transient Sound. "Steve an amazing producer, we've been wanting to work together in the studio for a long time. I played him some of Maisie's demos and he's just as floored by her talent as I am."
Bringing Maisie into Gillis' studio has proven fortuitous, the results are the stunning, lush and epic No Amazing Grace and One Step Closer, a timeless 3/4 time ballad destined for the slow dance at proms across America. A fourth song, the driving and soulful Repentance, is ready to round out an EP for independent release in 2018.
Meanwhile, Maisie is continuing to hone her musical skills as she begins her third year at Berklee College of Music. With her charm, intelligence and incredible talent, Maisie Bull has a lot to sing about. It's only a matter of time before the world is singing along.