BIOGRAPHY:
Maine native Marianne Pillsbury attended Brown University where she showed her first signs of rock & roll rebellion by writing her senior honors English thesis, "Pop Icon Prince's Dual Obsession with Sexual Ecstasy & Religious Salvation: A Textual & Cultural Analysis." In 2004, after escaping a harrowing career as an advertising copywriter, she released her debut album, The Wrong Marianne, on her own indie label, Average White Girl Records.

Produced by award-winning songwriter Bonnie Hayes (Bonnie Raitt's "Have A Heart"), the album received enthusiastic reviews from The New York Times, Time Out New York, The Boston Herald and The San Francisco Chronicle and elicited comparisons to the best work of Liz Phair, Juliana Hatfield and Jill Sobule.

The Wrong Marianne was named a Top 12 D.I.Y. Pick in Performing Songwriter Magazine. The song "Boo Hoo" from the album won Best Alt/Rock Song in The Great American Song Contest and was selected for inclusion on ROCKRGRL Magazine 's Discoveries compilation CD.

In 2005, Marianne’s Brooklyn-based band, The Marianne Pillsburys, released The Hot EP, produced by Roger Greenawalt, which captures even more of the raw-yet-sweet brattiness that seems to be Marianne’s formula for success. It also pays tribute to her all-time-favorite artist with a cover of the Prince classic "When U Were Mine".

The Marianne Pillsburys played NYC venues like Mercury Lounge, Luna Lounge, Pianos, Arlene's Grocery, Sin-e and Southpaw, other cities including Boston, DC, LA, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, OR, and London, and festivals such as M.E.A.N.Y. Fest (Musicians & Emerging Artists in New York), International Pop Overthrow, the Millenium Music Conference and ROCKRGRL Music Conference.

In 2007, Marianne started teaching songwriting workshops at the Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls, a non-profit music and mentoring program that empowers girls and women by encouraging them to explore self-expression through music. Her work with Willie Mae inspired her to start writing a semi-autobiographical pop-rock musical, "Depression: The Musical," which was selected as a sponsored project of the New York Foundation for the Arts in 2008. She is currently rehearsing with a new band called The Sicks who will serve as the on-stage "orchestra" for the musical. Visit www.depressionthemusical.com for more information.

Marianne recently appeared as the guest speaker at the first ever Girls Write Now songwriting workshop and worked behind-the-scenes at the Jazz Foundation of America's Great Night In Harlem benefit concert at the Apollo. In her spare time, Marianne likes to eat, sleep and breathe.

MEET THE MARIANNE PILLSBURYS:

Recently, Alina Moscovitz & Eric Shaw of the punk-pop trio, THE DOMESTICS, have been backing me up. Check them out. They're fantabulous!

Past Pillsburys:

Sandy Brockwell (bass & backing vox)
Hailing from the grande state of Tejas, Sandy B. Rock-well certainly lives up to her name. Besides rocking well, her interests include surfing, horror movies, economics and tequila.

Mitch Distefano (lead guitar & backing vox)
Mitch enjoys his role as the whipping boy of the band. Being a Brooklyn native, he can of course hold his own. In addition to being a rock star guitarist, he also gives rock star guitar lessons.

Dawn McGrath (drums)
Queens native Dawn (pronounced "dwon") has earned her black belt in drumming by eating, breathing and sleeping drums while surrounded by her 700 bald Cabbage Patch Kids.

Deb Schuster (bass) 2001-2004
Another Bay Ridge rocker, Deb left The MPs to create her own "rhythm section" by marrying a drummer! She ended up joining his garage rock band, The Dark Marbles. Check them out!

Dave Oromaner (drums) 2001-2004
Also known as "The Dough Boy" for reasons unrelated to being a Pillsbury, Dave now plays with art rock band, Changing Modes. He's also a drum teacher. Check out his site.
MARIANNE'S ORIGINAL FAIRY TALE BIO:

Marianne was formed in the 1970s in Portland, Maine. After a near-fatal brush with musical theater, she 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. She then moved to New York City where she worked as an advertising copywriter for several years, perfecting her barbed lyric persona and learning to play guitar in her spare time.

Then one day she decided her life would be 33% new & improved if she moved to San Francisco. There she successfully parlayed her talent for concocting clever advertising concepts into crafting contagiously catchy pop songs. She also met her Fairy Godproducer, Bonnie Hayes, who rescued her from the evil clutches of Corporate America and convinced her to record some of her songs, 5 of which were unleashed on the world via The Wrong Marianne EP. The song "Supersize" received Honorable Mention in the 2001 John Lennon Songwriting Contest.