Born in Potomac, Maryland, and a graduate of Georgetown Visitation in the District, the Nashville based singer-songwriter Maggie Rose has been making a name for herself in rock-and-roll, soul, folk, funk, and R&B for several years. A gifted vocalist, Rose has worked with a wide variety of some of the top names in the field. With the release of her third solo album, Have a Seat, she has stepped out further into the spotlight.

A friend and regular More to Come reader is a big fan, and he suggested I consider taking a look at Rose’s music through the Saturday Soundtrack.

We’ll begin with What Are We Fighting For which opens her newest album. Heard here in a live performance, there’s a classic sound that spans eras in this song. It speaks to the need for loving solidarity that infuses her recent work.

Saint, as described by Rose’s website bio, “unfolds as a delicate refusal to succumb to the expectations of others.” Rose says, “That song’s about admitting to not being perfect and being okay with that. It’s something we should stop expecting of women—because women are many things, and saintly is not a requirement.”

“I’ve got a cloud over my head when I wake up / I bet I seem perfect on paper / Couldn’t be further away / Feels like there’s a crowd of people that I’ve disappointed / The places that I’ve been avoiding / Full of hearts I left on the way

I’m only human, I’ve made my mistakes / It’s hard to feel high when you’re falling from grace, but I’ll keep falling, I’ll keep falling”

In this live version of Are We There Yet, Rose ventures into pop to speak about the tortures of ambition, while What Makes You Tick is an exploration of funk. Rose pulls it all off with style.

“For Rose, the charmed experience of recording in Muscle Shoals has catalyzed the start of a thrilling new era in her musical evolution. ‘Working with musicians of that caliber and knowing they were giving my music so much attention definitely made me thrive,’ she says. ‘I felt so safe going deep into the emotional places within the songs, and I think you can feel that love and camaraderie when you listen to the record.’ At the same time, Have a Seat is undeniably the sound of an artist fully coming into her own, without concession or compromise. ‘I’ve worked in this industry for over a decade, and I feel like I’ve finally carved out a lane that’s genre-bending and all my own,’ she says. ‘I had to really fight to find that space for myself, and this record is my way of staking my claim.’”

We’ll end with a recent live concert from Paste Studio in Nashville, recorded in September during the Americana festival. Rose kicks it into high gear with Do It and takes off from there. It is followed (after a bit of a conversation) with one of her recent singles, For Your Consideration.

Maggie Rose returns home to play the Birchmere on December 10th.

Enjoy!

More to come…

DJB

Image of Maggie Rose (credit: maggierosemusic.com)