Lindsay Mac is an American singer, songwriter, and cellist, based in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

Early life and education

Mac was raised in

Iowa City, Iowa Iowa City is the largest city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. At the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the population was 74,828, making it the state's List of cities in Iowa, fifth-most populous c ...

. Mac began playing the cello at the age of nine. Mac attended

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

, and her interest in becoming a classical cellist led her to study abroad at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

in London. Mac briefly left Dartmouth after being accepted to the

San Francisco Conservatory of Music The San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) is a private music conservatory in San Francisco, California, United States. As of 2024, it had more than 440 students. History The San Francisco Conservatory of Music was founded in 1917 by Ada ...

. While there, she had concluded that

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

was not her calling. Returning to receive her bachelor's degree from Dartmouth, and living in a wood-heated

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

cabin, Mac began adapting her cello technique. Though she had decided that her dream was to be a singer/songwriter, she remained committed to the cello as her instrument. “I just wanted to take my love for the cello and put it into a context in which I felt I was really in touch with my muse.” Mac enrolled in the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

in Boston but was anxious to begin performing.

Career

She soon hit the road playing clubs and folk festivals. She performs as a solo act or with a backing band and has sat in with other artists; including

Catie Curtis Catie Curtis (born May 22, 1965) is an American singer-songwriter working primarily in the folk rock idiom. Her most recent album recording, ''The Raft,'' was released in 2020. Career Curtis was raised in Saco, Maine. By the age of fifteen she ...

and

Michelle Shocked Michelle Shocked (born Karen Michelle Johnston; February 24, 1962) is an American singer-songwriter. Her music has entered the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, been nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album, and received an award ...

. She has also opened for Curtis, as well as

k.d. lang Kathryn Dawn Lang (born November 2, 1961), known by her stage name k.d. lang (stylised in all lowercase), is a Canadian pop and country singer-songwriter and occasional actress. Lang has won Juno Awards and Grammy Awards for her musical pe ...

, Glen Phillips,

Vance Gilbert Vance Gilbert (born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States) is an American folk singer-songwriter. He started as a jazz singer, switched to folk music, became a regular on the open mike circuit in Boston and toured with Shawn Colvin. He h ...

, and

Girlyman Girlyman was an American folk-rock band formerly based in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, later based in Atlanta, Georgia. Its 2003 self-released debut album, ''Remember Who I Am'', sold 5,000 copies before it was re-released by Daemon Recor ...

.Sonicbids press kit
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Cello technique

In order to stand while singing on stage, Mac harnesses the cello with a shoulder strap and does not use a bow. She plucks the strings in a manner similar to the traditional

pizzicato Pizzicato (, ; translated as 'pinched', and sometimes roughly as 'plucked') is a playing technique that involves plucking the strings of a string instrument. The exact technique varies somewhat depending on the type of instrument: * On bowe ...

technique, but largely employs a more percussive approach. The strings are alternately strummed like a guitar or slapped like a bass. While rehabilitating from a back injury, Mac was motivated and inspired by the pop music playing over the gym's stereo. Unable to play the cello comfortably, Mac built a stand-up computer workstation and started composing on the Garage Band software platform. The cello is almost absent in Mac's third record, the electro/synth-pop EP album, Animal Again, released in 2015.

Discography

*''Small Revolution'' (2005) *''Stop Thinking'' (2008) *''Animal Again EP'' (2015)

References

External links

Official SiteFacebook PageSonicBids Press Kit
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mac, Lindsay Living people American cellists American women singer-songwriters American folk musicians Writers from Iowa City, Iowa Musicians from Iowa City, Iowa Women cellists Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women musicians Singer-songwriters from Iowa 21st-century American women singers