064 René Marie: Starting a Career at 42–How to Follow Our Inner Note & Make Music on Our Own Terms

The Happy Musicians Podcast

René Marie–Grammy nominated singer who didn't start her career until she was 42–on following our inner note, sticking it to the patriarchy, getting hit by buses, getting out of an abusive relationship, recognizing a weed from a plant (not about gardening), accepting dormant periods, performing original material, doing "the shit", and why getting your boss to sing is more important than a Grammy nomination.

In a span of two decades, 11 recordings and countless stage performances, vocalist René Marie has cemented her reputation as not only a singer but also a composer, arranger, theatrical performer and teacher. Guided and tempered by powerful life lessons and rooted in jazz traditions laid down by Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington and other leading ladies of past generations, she borrows various elements of folk, R&B and even classical and country to create a captivating hybrid style. Her body of work is musical, but it’s more than just music. It’s an exploration of the bright and dark corners of the human experience, and an affirmation of the power of the human spirit.