Meet MacDougal Street West
Mary Alberts
Having grown up in the sixties, Mary Alberts finds particular joy in keeping alive the good vibe of one of her musical heroes, Mary Travers. You can hear and see the affinity between them in the contemporary Mary’s contributions to MacDougal Street West performances. A similar warmth of tone and personality with the original Mary helps listeners harken back to the halcyon days of the Peter, Paul, and Mary experience.
In addition to Travers, she counts among her musical influences performers of the folk and folk rock genres, such as Joan Baez, Linda Ronstadt, the Seekers, the Byrds, and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.
Like many of today’s top performers, Mary honed her musical gifts in church. Her long apprenticeship in vocal groups ranging from traditional choirs to contemporary bands and as a soloist helped her forge a soulful sound in keeping with the best of the folk tradition. This current collaboration with fellow folk aficionados is an exciting stage in her evolution as a performer.
Rick Shore
In 1962, Peter, Paul and Mary’s first album was released. After the album , 11-year-old Rick asked if he could learn to play guitar and hasn’t stopped learning and playing.
From Jr. High through college, Rick has been in groups that feature his favorite sounds: PPM, Kingston Trio, Beach Boys, Hollies, Buffalo Springfield and CSNY.
Excited for the opportunity to return to his musical roots, Rick loves to find the seemingly simple, yet deceptively complex harmonies of Peter, Paul and Mary so that their magical sound can be immediately felt and appreciated by audiences of MacDougal Street West.
Paul Auer
Paul Auer’s musical journey began in high school while singing with both the concert and madrigal choirs. His initial ventures with the harmonica and guitar soon followed. It was in a basic folk guitar class that he first learned to play Peter, Paul and Mary’s “Puff the Magic Dragon” and “500 Miles”.
While attending Fullerton College in California, Paul minored in music and studied theory and jazz harmony. Other influences were Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, the Moody Blues, and the Allman Brothers. Soon he was performing with other musicians in duos, trios, and eventually with a San Francisco area rock band.
After moving to Prescott, Arizona in 1999, he joined Rick Shore, a future MacDougal Street West bandmate, to form “Poker Night Out”. This group focused on the close vocal harmonies of the Beatles and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. This ensemble recorded two albums of original music and gained a local following. Paul is excited to build upon those experiences as he joins MacDougal Street West.
Jen grew up in a musical family with a healthy dose of 60’s tunes from her parents’ generation and learned her first Beatles songs on the piano at the age of 9. While trained in classical piano such as Bach and Chopin, she couldn’t help but play folk, rock-n-roll and songs from her favorite musicals, often found by checking out records from the local library. She also honed her skills by playing with church groups and in theatre.