Everywhere I Used To Be

“I hope that these songs offer some catharsis. I wish you comfort in your darkest moments; some under a neon sign and the warmth of a three-beer glow; some on a ten hour drive, far away from home.”

Everywhere I Used To Be is my second full-length album, produced by Marcus Paquin. It is intended to be a departure from my traditional country persuasions. I wanted lush, diverse and bright textures without playing into genre tropes, and I wanted relatable, honest songs without pretence. There’s heavy content around struggling with my queer identity, God and judgment, liminal spaces, substance abuse and mental illness. The tracks are a smattering of dreams and heartbreak from the last five years, woven together with dreamy production and hooks galore.

In 2018 I released my first LP, Driving In The Dark, which I’ll always call the “little album that could.” No Depression hailed it as one of the years’ Top 100 albums, we saw tons of campus radio spins across North America, and CBC Radio gave us lots of love on the Top 20 Countdown. In 2 years we played almost 250 shows. Right as the break-neck tour schedule of 2019 came to a close, I was competing in a year-long, commercial radio artist development program (Project WILD 953), and I was ecstatic to be awarded first prize, $100,953.00 for career development. My initial reaction when I received a beefy cash injection was fear. With this newfound career boost, I knew I had to push myself artistically to make the most of my opportunity. Thankfully, the pandemic strangely allowed me more time and space to pursue these ideas in the initial songwriting, and with Marcus at the helm as producer.

I’d scouted Marcus while working my “off-tour-season” job at a local record store, after hearing his work with The National on ‘Trouble Will Find Me.’ My gig at the record store opened my ears and made me want to push myself sonically, and Marcus’s projects were some of the first I devoured during my Sunday shifts. Reviling in the spacey, warm and verb’d up layers, not so coincidentally, my boss from the record store and audio whiz buddy was also the recording engineer on this session.

When it came time to record, Marcus was adamant that sparse but dynamic performances were key in highlighting the vulnerability in the songwriting. Each morning, the band, Marcus and I stripped each song down, and rebuilt intentionally as a group. All of us were itching to put all of ourselves into the tracks, but we knew that the key to landing it would be restraint and space. The band on this record was f*cking incredible.

The pedal steel anchors country music in the back of your mind without stealing focus, and our synth-heavy patches were exactly the contemporary kick I wanted to hear alongside my songs. The rhythm section absolutely slaps and has such weight, and the guitar parts are cinematic and full. All of my vocal takes are live with minimal comping, which is always how I prefer to capture songs. Any opportunity to work on a project with any kind of support is an immense gift. I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge and thank the support of Project WILD and Alberta Music for facilitating this opportunity. We will work tirelessly to tour, sing and play this record wherever we can. I’m so proud of what our recording team achieved together and I’m honoured to introduce this project to you.

Beyond a formal introduction - this album is for anyone who has ever felt strange or on the outside. For anyone who’s ever been the odd one out, the local freak or fuck-up: I hope that these songs offer some catharsis. I wish you comfort in your darkest moments; some under a neon sign and the warmth of a three-beer glow; some on a ten hour drive, far away from home. - MB

Buckley’s songwriting is a precision-guided missile aimed of truth. [Driving in the Dark] vividly paints pictures of the existential questions that dog us. It offers simple songs with complex nuance.

- Rachel Cholst, Wide Open Country

If you're longing for the pensive tearjerkers of classic country music in the modern world, look no further than Mariel Buckley. With the soul of Emmylou and the keen eye of Springsteen, Buckley has been busy making a name for herself.

- Bobbie Jean Sawyer, Wide Open Country