Blonde hair strewn across a penetrating gaze, Tina S. Marie delivers
a powerful vocal line to an audience whose rapt expression demonstrates
the singer's ability to capture their attention.
S. Marie, born Tina Marie Arbassio, clearly shows the crowd at Key
Largo, downtown Portland, what a 105 pound ball of energetic intensity
can do while yielding a Strat. Originally from San Diego, Calif, S.
Marie is a complex individual whose artistic talents cover many fields.
From art teacher for the University of Arizona to director of the
after-school program at Lents Elementary, this experienced songwriter
has spent virtually her whole life involved with the pursuit of music
and art. Alternative-adult contemporary is the description on the
back of her current CD entitled Namaste.
S. Marie states, "The description is debatable that it's contemporary
because my roots are strongly based in folk and ethnic music."
Admittedly, a strong female presence is somewhat dominant in the
music industry these days, S. Marie gives a very opinionated view
of where her music and ideas fit in. "I am more direct than most
female songwriters of today and still maintain enough ambiguity to
keep the mystery alive. Fitting in the Portland music scene is difficult
for me, I guess partly due to a lack of freedom from within myself;
however, I don't do drugs or brown nose either. I'm really opinionated
and don't compromise very well, a big problem to be sure. I am definitely
not a socialite and tend to take things too personally, "that's
a bad thing."
S. Marie's temperament may contain a degree of obstinancy, a necessary
trait for any woman at the helm of her own music career in this day
and age. Listeners of S. Marie's music will not find the typical "angry
chick songs." Getting over it and getting on with it tends to
be the gist of it with an emphasis on a positive look at taking responsibility
for what you create.
Geoff Soentpiet guitar, Chael Emmett bass and Daryl Judge on drums,
make up the nucleus of S. Marie's band, "The band has worked
really hard and sacrificed a lot of their time trying to play my music.
Stylistically, they all have their own genre. Daryl likes physically
challenging music like classic rock. Geoff is into Led Zepplin and
Jimi Hendrix. Chael is great at '80s music and sounds like Steve Perry
from Journey."
Taking a moment out of the interview, S. Marie sighs and tells her
son to pull up his pants as he races past. "Why is it they have
to wear baggy pants, do they plan on being plumbers when they grow
up?"
When asked about her instruments, writing music and whether acoustic
took precedence over electric, S. Marie explains, "Electric guitar
is more forgiving; playing an acoustic you have to be more responsible
and exacting. You can put an effect on an electric and it distorts
even the worst mistakes. If you run your electric clean, you can get
a beautiful tone. I don't use many effects and at this point in my
playing I will not distort. I do love playing acoustically; it's not
as busy and the tone has to be beautiful. Technically, it's sometimes
more challenging. Acoustic tones tend to draw people into listening,
not only to the music, but to themselves. Electric can make you go
outside of yourself or give the feeling of wanting to escape. I feel
acoustic music can be more responsible. I play an American '70s Strat,
a Telecaster, a nameless acoustic my dad gave me and an Ovation acoustic,
because it was the kind Paul McCartney played in one of his concerts.
I used to have more, but who needs it, you can only play one guitar
at a time, unless of course you're Jimmy Page."
Cheap tape recorders are the preferred method of retaining newly
written material for S. Marie. She claims "I am not a great guitar
player, but I'm solid and can carry my own, I don't suck at it."
Far from sucking, as she puts it, her current CD Namaste is
a compilation of some of the best new music this writer has heard
coming from the seriously talented female sector in Portland. Struggling
is synonymous with almost all musicians and S. Marie is certainly
feeling the load. Outspoken, somewhat verbally abrasive and always
ready to stand her ground, S. Marie appears to have not only the talent,
but the stamina to ride the precarious wave of the fickle music industry.
Namaste is available at Locals Only and Music Millennium. For
more information or booking, see ad this issue.
