What is a Crankie? Crankies are visual & kinetic narratives. These stories are illustrated on long, rotating scrolls. Learn more from the Crankie Factory and enjoy some of my crankies that are presented here.

Lake Accotink is an environmental song cycle about humanity’s multifaceted relationship with nature. Overwhelmed by ongoing ecological issues, Marian began working on Lake Accotink as a way to to process the effects of progress. Throughout this lyrical journey, she observes humankind’s gradual impact on the environment, acknowledges the ebb and flow of natural cycles, celebrates existence of all life forms, and meditates on impermanence. Even when facing challenging concepts such as land fragmentation, plastic buildup in our oceans, and climate change, she makes sure to continuously set positive intentions for a hopeful future.

Marian's stream-of-consciousness storytelling acts as an anchor for Lake Accotink. The album leans heavily toward a chamber folk genre and features a rotating cast of ensemble members, such as a wind trio and a string quartet. Lake Accotink explores other musical directions, from experimental rock to sampling field recordings. Marian also pushes her own musicianship on this album by playing piano, harp, drums, and synth on top of singing and playing guitar. In a live context, Marian works with musicians that she really admires to creative intimate and innovative performances.

A collection of selected poetry, presented with visual collages.

Selected performance videos and music related video clips

For the past decade, I have organized and curated community art events. I have helped produce a wide range of happenings from music concerts, art exhibits, poetry readings, puppet shows, pop-up theater viewings, facilitated discussions, and most recently, my first lantern parade.

From 2014-2019, I helped run events out of the Holy Underground, an arts collective in the Station North Arts District.

During the pandemic, I launched Hummingbird Theater and hosted a number of community events that followed CDC guidelines. I wanted to use my organizational skills and my curational background to bring live art events to small groups of people to support artists as well as spread collective joy during a challening period. I began by hosting concerts through the Creative Alliance's Sidewalk Serenades, and then I branched out to host my own series called Parkside Concerts. Musicians performed on the top of a slope overlooking Herring Run. Through these two series I hosted Chinese dulcimer player Chao Tian; Rapper and performance artist Jamal "Black Root" Collier; Baltimore Bluesman Quinton Randall; Duo Dyad, a guitar and mandolin outfit; and  accordionist Simone Barron.
I also invited artists with other creative backgrounds to perform, such as Crankie and Shadow Puppet artist Katherine Fahey and poet and visual artist Dan Van Allen.

As we approached the winter season, I organized a small lantern parade for my neighborhood to celebrate the winter solstice. It was a perfect activity for the pandemic as people in the procession were spaced out and observers could view from the comfort and safety of their home. We encouraged neighbors to make their own lanterns and received great feedback full of delight. One woman said it was a great activity to do at home with her four year old, as they could craft a lantern and then waited with anticipation for the parade. Another neighbor said they enjoyed watching the magic pass by as they were unable to do other activities between the pandemic and recovering from surgery. I am currently organizing three more parades in other neighborhoods to help spread the joy through art.

From 2014-2019, I worked as a curator and host for the Holy Undergrounds Arts Collective in Station North. I helped facilitate various events such as music concerts, puppet shows, poetry readings, theatrical plays, performance artists, art exhbits, art residencies, workshops, and more.

I often brought in touring artists and paired them with local talent. Not only did I organize and host events, but I did promotional work of designing fliers and handling adminsitrative tasks leading up to events. I ran the door and collected donations while managing the soundboard to make sure performers were content with sound levels and comfortable with audio gear.

I am including this in my portfolio because running an art space and hosting events is a huge part of who I am as an artist. I enjoy bringing people together to witness the magic that stems from art happenings  while experiencing collective joy.

Spirit House is a continuation of Marian McLaughlin's musical partnership with double bassist and arranger Ethan Foote. Their work together represents an adventurous and original endeavor in the meeting of experimental folk-rock, chamber music, and lyrical vision. Using McLaughlin's classical guitar work and lyrics as a foundation to a song, Foote adds a new dimension, conceiving instrumentation, texture, color, and other possibilities of sound.

A sailor's tie to the sea, the whimsical courtship of bowerbirds, heavier-than-air flight mechanics, a weary traveler's encounter with a will-o-the-wisp, and the downfall of wizards...this is just a glimpse of the rich imagery from Spirit House, a collection of ten lyrically-driven songs.

A statement from the artist on Spirit House:

Though these stories may be abstract and beyond my own narratives, they stem from somewhere within my psyche. They reside within me, I am their vessel, yet I view my songs as sacred spaces that I in turn step into, in the company of other musiicans. With Spirit House, I invite listeners on a journey through these intimate and ornate songs.

A collection of some collaged fliers created to promote music events, spanning from 2014-2020.