Local rocker Mary Prankster has never been happier, but she could be if she got her one wish for her band. “If I could have one wish for the band’s future it would be to play with esteemed local organica band Lake Trout. If we had that, and a record deal and someone to help us carry the heavy shit and do some of the driving and maybe an equipment endorsement or two and a huge rabidly loyal fanbase and some cash money – that’d be even better.” The first part of that wish is coming true at the Recher Theater. On March 2nd Mary Prankster will be opening for Lake Trout. The rest of her wishes, however, have yet to be granted. 

	Since her teenage years Mary has been playing with punk bands, most she says, that had never gotten out of the basement. Being in the Annapolis punk scene during her teenage years heavily influenced her. “ My teen years were spent surrounded by bands that really wanted to make music that meant something – along with, you know, cranking their guitars ‘til their ears bled ‘cause electric guitars kick ass.” 

From those years of playing basements, local fire halls and the YMCA in Annapolis, Mary Prankster’s music has evolved. Since her first album “Blue Skies Over Dundalk” to their November 1999 release “Roulette Girl” Mary Prankster, Phil Tang(drums), and Jon E. Cakes(bass) have taken on a more eclectic style of music. Mary says, “They [Phil and Jon} are just up for anything. If you listen to “Roulette Girl” you’ll hear elements of punk, glam, ragtime, lounge – you name it, they’re all over it. It’s really freeing to be on a team with guys like that – it lets you take risks and expand your horizons. They rock my world.” Not only being able to expand her horizons with her own music, Mary has also been able to work with esteemed musicians such as Kelly Bell, Jimmie’s Chicken Shack, Dave Hill and Rennie Grant of Colouring Lesson and Jerome Maffeo of Live Alien Broadcast. Speaking of her peers, Mary states, “Every session with professionals of that caliber is a learning experience. These folks leave me in a state of perpetual awe.” 

“Roulette Girl” feeds off of different genres of music, which could quite possibly be traced, back to the type of music Mary grew up on. With her father into The Doors, Michael Franks, and Kenny Rankin and her mother into Steely Dan and Whitesnake, Mary now realizes how much “getting it on” music she listening to as a little kid. Her lyrics are blunt, humorous and at times brutally honest or appalling. Some songs seem to come from real life, however there are a few that seem to come from nowhere. However, when it comes to her inspiration, Mary has no clue where she gets it. “ I don’t know, which is good, because if I knew where it came from I’d probably fuck it up.” 

No matter where she gets her inspiration from, where the band is going with the music, which Mary categorizes as “Triple-X Low Riding Balls Out Rock ‘N’ Roll”, Mary Prankster, Phil Tang and Jon E. Cakes are out to rock the crowd and have one “rollicking good time.”

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