Mary Strand releases new single “Annunciation”

Minneapolis-based indie rock artist Mary Strand has always approached art with story-focused perspective and before she picked up a guitar in Minneapolis clubs, Mary was already developing characters on the page and forming the instincts of a storyteller. She spent 16 years crafting merger agreements before turning her attention to novels, where her stories expanded into complete worlds but while she still loves words in their many forms, songwriting offered Mary a new outlet that’s concise and capable of packing an entire emotional journey into just a few minutes.

She began writing songs in 2018, inspired by her original songwriting hero Rodney Crowell and his first songwriting camp but it was in 2020, however, that her creative momentum accelerated. Joining the Singer/Songwriter Songwriting Challenge on Facebook brought her into a community of mostly Minnesota songwriters who would become mentors, co-writers and friends. The experience gave Mary a space to keep developing her voice while transforming the storyteller’s talents she’d forged through years of writing into musical expression.

That output eventually became Mary Strand and the Garage, where Mary records and performs alongside Ryan Smith of Soul Asylum and The Melismatics on guitar and vocals, Mark Wade of The Melismatics on bass and vocals, and her son Jack Strand on drums. The 2022 run of singles introduced an artist capable of pairing hook-heavy rock with the observational detail of a novelist and when her debut album, Golden Girl, landed in 2023, she firmly planted herself on the map of songwriters on the rise.

Her latest single, titled “Annunciation,” takes that knack for storytelling somewhere far more personal; released through Hygh Tension Records/Virgin Music Group, the song is Mary’s response to the 2025 mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis. Blending grief, anger and resolve, it confronts the reality of gun violence, particularly violence directed at children, while calling for meaningful action beyond expressions of sympathy.

The story behind the song makes its emotional context intrinsically links it to Mary’s own connection to the place. She lives approximately two miles from Annunciation and attended Mass there as a child. On the morning of the attack, she’d picked up her guitar intending to write an entirely different song for her songwriting challenge group but the news broke and the direction of her writing changed completely and while she completed “Annunciation” that same morning, performing and recording it would take time.

Jumping straight into a bright and energetic indie rock sound, pattering drums, driving chords and slick lead guitar lines collide before Mary’s expressive voice enters to stitch picture painting lyrics into the musical fabric. Rising to an anthemic chorus that shakes with with distorted guitars and impassioned vocal leads, Mary captures the emotive theme in a buoyant and thoroughly engaging musical setting that puts the appeal of her songwriting and flair of her performance on full display.

The single arrives one day after the first anniversary of the attack at the Church of the Annunciation, offering a heartfelt tribute in sonic form. In the song, Mary’s grief is accompanied by anger and strength, with her message ultimately based in the belief that enough effort can create change and that the world can be made better. “Annunciation” shows the particular force of songwriting when the story is one that needs to be told and as such, Mary Strand takes something profoundly painful and gives it a voice.

Listen to Annunciation below

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