Watching husband and wife duo The Imaginaries’ Maggie McClure (piano, keyboard, vocals) and Shane Henry (guitar, vocals) perform the lead track “Thinking ‘Bout You” off their upcoming self-titled release, you instantly see the chemistry, the love in their eyes, and the deep commitment they share with each other and to their music.
Formed in the open plains of their home state of Oklahoma, their love of performing, writing music, and their faith all make up the glue that keeps them grounded and focused on the dream of turning what they’ve imagined for themselves into the reality of The Imaginaries.
Produced by the duo, the album will be out in the Fall 2019. It serves as both an introduction to The Imaginaries and the beginning of their journey as a band after both singer songwriters have enjoyed their own successes as solo artists. Maggie, with her subtly sweet vocals and piano style fuses seamlessly with Shane’s blues-rock grit to form their own unique blend of Americana music.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with Shane and Maggie about their new album, challenges, technology and more.
The duo will be landing in Nashville for performances and press (their first visit) later this month. You can catch them performing at these two venues:
Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)
Shane – We’re both from Oklahoma. I’m from a small town called Verden and Maggie’s from Norman. The music that we create together is very song-driven and is a mixture of blues, singer/songwriter, rock and folk. My roots come from the blues/guitar-driven styles and Maggie’s come from the singer/songwriter piano-driven styles.
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?
Maggie – We both have been performing our entire lives. It’s safe to say that the music chose us instead of us choosing music. It’s truly a calling on both of our lives. We motivate each other to keep going and also seeing friends pursuing music and their successes are very inspiring and help keep us going. When you know you were meant to do something, you just have to do it.
How is this new release different than your solo ones? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?
Shane -This new release is completely different from our past solo releases. We wrote these songs together specifically for The Imaginaries, whereas other songs we write are catered towards either myself or Maggie and our respective solo projects. These songs were meant to be sung/performed together. They are our story and journey as musicians, as people, and as a couple.
Name one or two challenges you face as an indie musician in this oversaturated, digital music age? How has technology helped you (since we know it does help)?
Maggie – Well, every day is a challenge. It’s up to us to figure out or create solutions on a daily basis. I’d say one of the most frustrating challenges is not having a clear and concrete roadmap for success. We just have to try things and see what works for us. One example of how technology has helped us is by making it so much easier for us to record in our home studio and work remotely with other musicians across the globe.
What was the last song you listened to?
Shane – Technically the last song we listened to is a new song of ours on the upcoming project called “One Life”. We were sending in mix notes to our engineer in LA.
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
Maggie – Personally I love CDs. I love being able to read all the liner notes, look at the artwork, etc. Vinyl is also awesome. Being on the go all the time, mp3s are also great. But overall I prefer to have physical CDs.
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
Shane -I prefer Apple Music for streaming.
Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?
Maggie – Our website is www.imaginariesband.com. Folks can sign up for our email list there as well. You can find/follow us on all social media platforms (instagram, twitter, facebook, etc.) under @imaginariesband.
Anything else before we sign off?
Shane – We are so excited about the upcoming release. This is the best thing Maggie or I have done yet in our careers and we can’t wait for the world to hear it!
