Mar in Color is a singer/songwriter based in Grand Rapids, MI. Her piano-driven indie pop/rock songs oscillate between raw emotion and playful wit, often at the same time. In live performances, Mar draws listeners in with a mix of creative and unexpected genre-bending covers/mashups and raw, vulnerable originals, performed with an ever-evolving mix of acoustic and electronic/looped elements, all while dazzling them with a dynamic vocal performance that showcases her impressive range and blends her classical training with pop, rock, and jazz influences.
Mar also frequently appears as an official featured vocalist on TechTonic's hybrid live/electronic DJ sets. Performance highlights from 2024 include headlining New Wave Music Art & Mystics festival, playing main stage at Big Fam, as well as the Big Fam Christmas show.
LIVE PERFORMANCES
Only in my Mind is an unreleased fan favorite that will be on Mar's next album, Violets Bloom, in 2026. This video features live looping and saxophone by Mar's partner in crime, Aaron, also known in the EDM world as TechTonic. TechTonic released an EDM remix of this song on our Darkness in Me EP. It's so much fun to perform it two very different ways!
This short 5-song acoustic set was part of a Valentines themed show called "Spoiler Alert: They're All Love Songs" where each artist was tasked with performing two love songs, two heartbreak songs, and one tiebreaker.
Set List: S.M.B. (original from Mar's debut album Jesus Issues) Same God (original from Jesus Issues) Toxic (Britney Spears cover) Technicolor (new unreleased original) All I Wanted (Paramore cover)
Major RELEASES
The Darkness in Me EP (2023), was a departure from her usual indie pop/rock sound, as it was a collaboration with electronic bass music producer TechTonic. The EP's four tracks tell the story of the darkness that lives inside all of us. Haunting vocal melodies, sinister basses, and ethereal soundscapes weave together in a foreboding body of work that highlights both artists’ skillsets and tells the dark side of the human story.
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Mar's debut album, Jesus Issues (2022), pairs piano-driven pop with lush layers of choral harmonies, soaring strings, triumphant brass, and unconventional percussion, all arranged and produced by Mar herself. The album's nine tracks walk you through a coming-of-age chapter of life with raw honesty and quick wit. With her warm, sultry voice, Mar shares stories of heartbreak and unrequited love, grapples with her lack of faith, and tries desperately to hold on to herself as people and things continue to come and go.
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"Jesus Issues is brutally honest and filled with heartbreak yet somehow maintains a positive feel. It’s similar to the way many Motown songs seem happy until you listen to the lyrics and while there is a slight Motown element the album is far more reminiscent of 90’s and early 2000’s piano pop stars like Tori Amos, Sarah Mclachlan, Dido or Adele. Piano, a wonderful string section with occasional French horn, unique and interesting percussion and absolutely gorgeous harmonies along with soaring lead vocals are the foundations of Mar’s emerging sound. Everything is well done. Mar in Color has all the makings to be the next darling of the West Michigan music scene."
- Nicholas James Thomasma
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