Mary Washington Brooks
A Florida Nurse who really, ROCKS YOUR WORLD.
Fort Lauderdale singer Mary Washington Brooks, a nurse for more than two decades
celebrates the release of her new CD, ROCK YOUR WORLD. The CD is now being played nationally and internationally. The disc is being distributed by cdbaby.com/washingtonbrooks via the internet or you can call 1800-BUY-MY-CD to purchase a copy. Mary was born in a the small town of Sarasota on the West coast of the state. Her family moved to Fort Lauderdale in 1960, where she spent most of her teenage years. Washington-Brooks and her High School sweetheart Eugene got married and had two daughters, both are adults now with their own families, but she is very close too each of them. Both daughters are very supportive of her singing career and when possible you will find them attending her shows and enjoying “ The Blues”.
Fort Lauderdale radio station WHQT Hot 105’ “Chico the Virgo Blues show” is playing the # 4 song “ Man drawing Power and the #6 tune “Meet me with your red drawers on”. The Rock Your World cd is being played on many other national radio stations as well. Radio station CKIA in Canada is playing the # 5 cover tune titled, “Need More Baby” written by the great Willie Dixion, This song is recorded with a totally new sound, it is getting a lot of play and great comments from the listeners in Canada. Washington-Brooks states she penned seven of the ten tunes on the “Rock Your World” cd and is very pleased that several of her original songs are the favorite tunes on the disc according to many stations, these original songs are loosely based on her personal life she states.
Washington-Brooks is no ordinary singer, She is in total control of every note, or breath needed to get across the passion that she radiates to the audience when she performs. In a recent performance at “Cheers” a local nightspot near Fort Lauderdale, she performed with six other singers in a show hosted by the South Florida Blues Society titled “The South Fla’s Blues Diva’s Show”, she was clearly one of the standout among the others but it was not just for her vocal talent, in fact she seems to have everyone mesmerized with her sexy appearance and her on stage personality. Watching her perform, it becomes increasingly apparent that her command of lyrics and the stage is not accidental.
Washington Brooks planted the seed for her career in singing more than forty years ago when she was a little girl in Sarasota,Fl. She states that she lived next to a “Juke Joint” and would mimic all the blues songs she heard day and night. She states that her mother who is very religious, tried to push her toward more religious music but the blues had already drawn her in. More than twenty-five years ago she met Cliff Ayers the president of Emerald Records in Nashville, Tennessee. Mr. Ayers convinced her that she should be on records with her voice and talent. Emerald released the album “Best Seller” which was her first major attempt at recording that brought some local and national acclaim with it, the genre of that Album was “Country Blues”. Then the Album “Wild Women don’t get the Blues” was released in the early nineties, which keep her busy for quite a while performing in local clubs and festivals.
Washington-Brooks states she stepped away from the nightly stage performances to take care for her ailing mother who had Open Heart Surgery. She states that “family is always very important to me”, being a nurse and working with the elderly population made me the perfect sibling of 12 sister and brothers to care for mom”. Washington Brooks also happens to be a Nursing Administrator for a well known assisted living facility near Ft. Lauderdale Florida area, she says she is ready for the change from the love of nursing to passion of Singing.
Mary made her presence known as a model for Florida girls modeling agency and by doing commercials. She made an impact in performing known by doing such shows as; The Riverwalk Blues Festival; The Coral Springs Ourtown Festival; The Delray Beach Roots Festival; The City of Fort Lauderdale Noontime Concerts series, The Fort Lauderdale Museum of Arts show. The City of Fort Lauderdale Sunday Brunch, The Fort Lauderdale Seafood Festival, O’hara’s Blues & Jazz pub, Cheers, she also appeared on several local cable tv /talk shows. Mary can be reached for information at www.marywashingtonbrooks.com, flblues@bellsouth.net or cdbaby.com/washingtonbrooks. Washington-Brooks expects the release of this cd to take her worldwide based on the response she is already getting for performances. As of July 2005 Washington-brooks album “Rock Your World” joined the music giant web site of Towerrecords.com for even more purchase options.
Freddy Celis in Belguim,Holland, the president of ROOTsTime organization and DJ for ROOTSTIME radio show which can reach more than 200,000 listeners wrote in a email, on a scale of 1-5 the “ROCK YOU WORLD” cd is clearly a 4 ½. Przemek Draheim in Poland who host the radio program “The Voice of the Blues” in the heart of Europe and who is also a contributing writer for the charts of “Living Blues” magazine in the USA wrote “ Washington-brooks voice is deep and sexy and her singing is very emotional, I enjoy the “Rock Your World” cd a lot and so does my listeners, this is very good Contemporary blues cd. My listeners request most often, tune #2- Kick the king of the throne,Tune # 6- Meet me with your red drawers on and Tune #10-I can’t be you booty call.
On February 12,2006 Mary Washington Brooks performed at the 19 annual Riverwalk Blues Festival in Fort Lauderdale and really put down the Blues. In the 48 degree weather which was unexpected, she was surrounded by die hard blues fans who feel its never to cold to listen to first class blues. H.W. Link from Germany was one of the blues lovers who sent an email to Mary, “ I am still in awe after witnessing you live performance, what a voice, what a show.
Mrs. Brooks has already started writing songs for her next CD which she expects to have ready by late December, Until then look for her at many Festivals, Fairs and Clubs.