Mary McBride was in Pakistan recently to perform at the Daniel Pearl World Music Day. “It took me a second to say ‘yes’ when the US Consulate asked me to perform here,” she said. But then she is known for her devil-may-care attitude: not interested in money or the comforts of life, McBride with her ‘usual gritty aplomb’ appears a happy-go-lucky person who loves to do charity shows.

On the last leg of her trip in Karachi, during the performance at the US Consul General’s residence she had a fusion session with Farid Ayaz Qawwal which clicked with the audience. “There was such a great sense of rhythm with Farid Ayaz and his group that it gave us the ability to work with them. But they have more flexibility to improvise than we do.” She says the time signature of East and West is different but what binds them is the connection with the audience. “This trip has made me more interested in fusion as my band and I have met great musicians here. I have toured a lot of countries but it is only here that we have participated in this kind of music.”

She hopes to take it further and, if and when they are able to come next time, she and her band would like to do something with this style of singing. “But there is the other school saying fusion is confusion and I do understand their point but good music always makes an impact however unusual it is.”

McBride’s speciality is country rock and she says that all American music comes from country music, and thus the similarity in all the genres such as folk, pop and rock. Known to sing sad songs, her first album was country folk, followed by rock, the third being holiday songs and the last one incorporated rock and soul. “My band and I are constantly working on change. Now we are focusing on pop. In the US we have many genres, here music is more pop based.” This is the reason the singer says people here were excited to meet her because they hardly got to see a rock band and thus showed a huge interest in the music — which in turn was encouraging for the band.

Her voice sounds like Joan Baez but McBride thinks that is due to the timbre that both the singers have, and perhaps, also due to her training in classical singing. “To survive one has to get singing lessons to be around longer in the music world, which is very competitive. I started singing at the age of nine. My grandfather was a piano player. My whole family sings, 14 cousins included.” They sang all the time and the rule that there was to be no singing at the dinner table, never worked. “I love to sing just as much as I love to travel,” she said.

Having lived in New York for 26 years, the visit to Pakistan didn’t scare McBride. Though they had heard many stories the band knew they would be taken good care of. “I think this is the right time to be here, where things are happening, so I am glad we came as it has opened music opportunities for us as well.” She says there are grave issues here but then issues exist everywhere, and the best thing for her was that she and the band got to see the human side as well.

Their schedule was a busy one, which included playing at an orphanage here as well as at the SOS village in Lahore. “I love to perform for such children and people. You also meet the people who run such institutions and they are angels in my opinion. The band tours a lot in the US, visiting prisons and homeless shelters and people who do not have access to the band otherwise, along with the US State Department tours.

Mary McBride says she and her band are going to miss the cuisine which they found delightful, just as much as the camel rides at a seaside restaurant where they had gone for lunch. “You know what really invigorates me is the constant ‘on the go’ situation with so many tours each year,” she said excitedly. But the real excitement for her and her band, she says, is that the crowds here loved them and that is why they want to come back again.