British singer, songwriter, and artist Marry Waterson has upheld the legacy of her famous folksinging family since first appearing alongside her mother, Lal Waterson, and aunt Norma Waterson on their 1977 LP, A True Hearted Girl. Involvement in other family-related projects like the Waterdaughters and Waterson:Carthy preceded her own debut, 2011's The Days That Shaped Me, which she made alongside her brother, Oliver Knight. Despite possessing a singular voice, Marry has most often used her gift in collaboration with others, releasing a succession of duo albums with sympathetic partners including David A. Jaycock and Emily Barker. Her haunting 2019 release with the latter, A Window to Other Ways, caught the attention of Irish singer/songwriter Adrian Crowley, and the two musicians collaborated on 2024's Cuckoo Storm. Born Maria Knight in Hull, Yorkshire, to Lal Waterson and George Knight, she spent a number of years immersed in various Waterson-related ensembles, most notably a family singing quartet called the Waterdaughters, which featured both Lal and Norma Waterson as well as Marry's cousin Eliza Carthy. Musically, she largely played the role of either group member or guest performer, appearing on albums by James Yorkston and Kathryn Williams until a 2011 venture found her singing alongside her brother, guitarist Oliver Knight. On the duo's 2011 debut, The Days That Shaped Me, Marry's earthy, beguiling vocals were featured front and center, with Oliver acting as her instrumental collaborator and foil. Mixing folk, rock, and blues, the duo were critically well-received and returned the following year with a second LP, Hidden. Over the next few years, Marry became involved in a number of other projects, including the production of a book celebrating her mother and the curation of a tour revisiting Lal & Mike Waterson's landmark 1972 folk-rock album, Bright Phoebus. By 2015, her brother Oliver had taken a hiatus from music, depriving Marry of her primary collaborator. She began a new musical partnership with British guitarist David A. Jaycock and, working with producers Neill MacColl and Kate St. John, recorded her third LP, the haunting Two Wolves, which was released in November of that year, again on the One Little Indian label. Her partnership with Jaycock continued on 2017's Death Had Quicker Wings Than Love, another dark and bracing set, this time produced by Adrian Utley (Portishead). After this, Waterson again changed musical partners, recording 2019's A Window to Other Ways with Australian singer/songwriter Emily Barker. Although it bore some of the stark, noirish feel of her previous records, it was also more of a proper duo effort, with Barker joining in on harmonies and singing lead on a number of tracks. After listening to A Window to Other Ways during the global pandemic, Irish singer/songwriter Adrian Crowley was inspired to reach out to Waterson, and the two agreed to collaborate on a new project. It was a complementary pairing of two poetic souls with distinctive voices and yielded the 2024 album Cuckoo Storm. ~ Timothy Monger, Rovi