Marianne Pillsbury writes punky pop-rock songs with cleverly-crafted, hook-laden melodies and brash, witty, tongue-in-cheek lyrics. Think: Liz Phair fronting The Rolling Stones or Juliana Hatfield fronting The Pixies.

Press Info

"A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down, and so it is with Marianne Pillsbury's debut CD. Catchy, sing-out-loud choruses and bright alterna-pop production deftly wrap around barbed and potent lyrics...Pillsbury calls to mind the best work of Liz Phair and Juliana Hatfield...Fans of Jill Sobule will rejoice that there's now another independent female out there with a sense of humor." --Performing Songwriter Magazine

"On her debut album, The Wrong Marianne, Marianne Pillsbury is as frank as Liz Phair and as tuneful and upbeat as the Go-Go's, dissecting romantic disasters and then bouncing back with lighthearted choruses. She's as tough as she is irrepressible." --Jon Pareles, The New York Times

"...edgy pop perfection in the same vein as indie rock goddess Liz Phair. Pillsbury shares similarly ballsy and frank but cheeky accounts of relationships gone awry, never letting the angst that fuels her to run her right off the road." --San Francisco Examiner

Similar Artists

Liz Phair
Blondie
Juliana Hatfield
Veruca Salt

Influences

Liz Phair
Prince
Blondie
Michael Jackson
The Pixies
Luscious Jackson

Bio

After surviving a near-fatal brush with musical theater, Maine native Marianne Pillsbury attended Brown University where she showed her first signs of rock & roll rebellion by writing her senior honors thesis, “Pop Icon Prince's Dual Obsession with Sexual Ecstasy & Religious Salvation: A Textual & Cultural Analysis.” In 2004, she released her debut album, The Wrong Marianne -- produced by legendary singer-songwriter Bonnie Hayes (“Have A Heart” for Bonnie Raitt, “Shelly’s Boyfriend” from the Valley Girl soundtrack) -- to enthusiastic reviews from major press outlets. The album was named a Top 12 DIY Pick in Performing Songwriter magazine. The song “Boo Hoo” from the album won Best Alt/Rock Song in The Great American Song Contest 2004 and was also selected for inclusion on ROCKRGRL Magazine's Discoveries 2005 compilation CD.

Marianne’s Brooklyn-based band, The Marianne Pillsburys, bring her songs to life with an edgy punk-pop vibe. Think: Liz Phair and Juliana Hatfield take a raucous road trip, picking up hitchhiking members of The Pixies and Elastica along the way. So far the road trip has taken the band to NYC venues like Mercury Lounge, Luna Lounge, Pianos, Arlene's Grocery and Southpaw, other major metropolises including Boston, DC, LA and San Francisco, and festivals such as M.E.A.N.Y. Fest (Musicians & Emerging Artists in New York), International Pop Overthrow and the Millenium Music Conference.

In April 2005, the band released a 3-song demo called The Hot EP produced by the fabulously talented Roger Greenawalt (Ben Kweller, Ben Lee, No Doubt) who elicited from the band even more of the raw-yet-sweet brattiness that seems to be The Marianne Pillsburys’ formula for success.