Maryen Cairns
  • The Red Tent
  • The Face of a Child
  • Red Tent Jive
  • Starflow
  • Twelve Hawks
  • Come Home
  • Homebirth
  • Granny Lum Loy
Biography
Maryen Cairns is a songwriter, composer, musician and singer.... a mother, birth activist, creative director and the driving force behind South East Queensland's Mfest (celebration of motherhood) annual event and wild woman of Queensland's mountains' of Mount Warning's caldera.

Living on the edge of the last fragment of Gondwanaland in SE Queensland, an eco-friendly solar powered off-grid yurt is home to Maryen, and where she recorded her 4th solo album Stories From The Red Tent. The natural surroundings Maryen recorded in are echoed in the music... piano, acoustic guitar, vocals vocals vocals harmonising... bodram, treble recorder, percussion, strings... every note matters... the sonic journey is far reaching & will echo back in your mind long after the CD has played. Maryen then took it to be mixed by the venerable engineer and sonic artisan Rob Feaster (Bachelor Girl, Travis Tritt, Rickey Skaggs, Billy Joel, Whitney Houston et al) at Quad Studios, Nashville.

What is The Red Tent? In recent years there has been a worldwide re-emergence of women's gatherings, often referred to as Red Tents. Largely inspired by the book "The Red Tent" by Anita Diamont - these gatherings have taken on a life of their own around the globe, with a movie in production, and even Red Tent Festivals! Maryen penned the song The Red Tent before discovering Diamont's writings due in part to her own journey of self discovery and awakening as an advocate for woman's issues and natural birthing practices. The song has emerged serendipitously as an anthem for the Red Tent movement both locally and abroad... celebrating the precepts and understandings of a newly empowered generation of women.

Stories From The Red Tent, released May 2012, is a collection of songs firmly at home in the midst of a group of women relaxing, philosophising, telling stories of the rhythms of life & birth & the connection with Mother Earth & the Goddess & ecology & war & of the challenges that face women (& all human beings) in our society today. With an hour of music consisting of 12 songs ranging from 2 ½ minutes (Red Tent Jive) to over 8 ½ minutes (Watch The Dragon Rise) Maryen takes the listener on a journey of acoustic instruments & both earthy and heavenly vocals (Starflow). The Red Tent is the single released with the album though there are many could get airplay... The Face of a Child, Twelve Hawks, Deep In A Women's Memory, Come Home & Red Tent Jive spring to mind.

Maryen spent 10 years in London (releasing 2 solo albums The Pictures Within and For Eternity on a US label – her 1st single Too Young To Die was produced by legendary Rolling Stones producer Chris Kimsey and used by Nickelodeon in their AIDS education program) before returning to her hometown of Sydney for the birth of her 1st child. Having established Sydney's 1st all original songwriter's night "Sydney Songwriters" in 2002, Maryen handed over the reins in 2004, releasing her 3rd solo album Stories From Beneath and heading north to the magical rainforests of SE Queensland for the birth of her 3rd & 4th children.

In September 2009 Maryen sang her song Homebirth on the steps of Parliament House in Canberra at the Mother Of All Rallies – protecting a mothers right to choose her babies birthplace. A montage of birth imagery by photographer Deirdrie Cullen together with the Homebirth song has seen more than 48,000 views on youtube. Homebirth is the final song on Stories From The Red Tent .

So come on girls! Come on down to the Red Tent - young, old, maidens, mothers, grannies, crones. Let’s shake out our hair and take off our shoes, come on down to the Red tent and relax as you choose... there are stories to tell...!
4
  • Members:
    Maryen Cairns
  • Sounds Like:
    Regina Spector, Coldplay, Joni Mitchell, Kate Bush, Enya
  • Influences:
    John Lennon, David Bowie, Bob Dylan,
  • AirPlay Direct Member Since:
    08/22/11
  • Profile Last Updated:
    08/15/23 13:44:50

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