The backgrounds of Nancy McCallion and Catherine Zavala have a great influence on the mix of music performed by the group. Both women grew up in the blue collar, primarily Hispanic, South Side of Tucson, Arizona, where Mexican-American mariachi and country western music are part of every day life.
McCallion, the main songwriter for the group, is a first generation
Irish-American
and as a child lived with her Irish grandmother in Scotland. McCallion took
a great
interest in Irish literature and music and sometimes uses stories from her
father and
grandmother in her songwriting, as well as stories about people in the
Southwest where
she now lives.
Zavala grew up in a bilingual Mexican-American family. The Mexican influence can be heard in both her singing and her guitar and mandolin work.
In January, 1990, McCallion and Zavala started The Mollys. In the past five years they have become very popular in Arizona and their independent CDs, Tidings of Comfort & Joy and This Is My Round are receiving national air play and earning them main stage spots at festivals throughout the US The Mollys have played the San Francisco Celtic and North Texas Irish festivals, and the Kerrville and Falcon Ridge New York folk festivals. Most recently appeared at Lincoln Center's Roots of American Music Festival in New York City.
The Mollys are also featured on the new Putamayo Records compilation, Celtic Women of the World. That album includes McCallion's "On We Go'' alongside cuts by Capercaillie, Clannad, Mary Black and others.
Sharing the front line with McCallion and Zavala is Kevin Schramm, a veteran of the East Coast and European club circuits, playing accordion, banjo and guitar. Schramm works as a musician by night and fixes telescopes and whatever else breaks for the Kitt Peak National Observatory in his spare time.
On bass and guitar is Dan Sorenson, with 26 years experience as a professional musician ranging from rock and R&B bands in Washington, DC in the late 1960s to country and rock bands in the Southwest. Sorenson is a newspaper reporter and columnist by day.
On drums, vocals and, occasionally accordion is Gary Mackender. Mackender has played keyboards and drums professionally for 25 years and shared the bill with the likes of Muddy Waters and Junior Walker. Mackender is also a freelance artist, doing public arts projects in the Southwest; his work is displayed in galleries across the country.
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