Musician Uses CD Proceeds to Give Back to Bristol

Though Mary Lorraine Traynor lives in Rehoboth now, she never forgets her Bristol roots. Traynor, who works a day job as a nurse, but has been writing and playing music her whole life, has released a new CD and is offering 50% of all proceeds to benefit .

"It's My Life," which Traynor says has hints of traditional country and swing, costs $15 and can be purchased directly from her at the Fourth of July Parade and during the Independence Park concert on July 3. At both events, Traynor will be camped out under a pop-up tent with a sound system and ample copies of her CD.

Traynor has fond memories of growing up in Bristol. Her father was from Alabama and her mother was Portuguese American, and both loved music. Though many people in her family sang or played instruments, Traynor credits her mother as the main source of inspiration.

“She taught me how to play my first song when I was 12 years-old for the Rec Department talent contest,” Traynor says. “I won, and won for several years.”

That song she first learned, “Pick Me Up on Your Way Down” by Harlan Howard, is a featured cover song on Traynor’s album. The eleven other songs on the album are originals written over the course of her life. One of the most notable tunes, “Hometown Bristol,” speaks of a pretty town on the harbor with fieldstone walls, and was written on a whim.

“It was for a competition. A bunch of musicians were having party last Spring. We had to write about the neighborhood where we grew up. Just for fun. I sat down and this tune came to my head. I penned the whole song in one sitting,” Traynor recalls.

Shortly after the party Traynor got the idea to produce and record the song in time for this year's Fourth of July Parade with proceeds going to a cause near to her heart, hunger. She says she called Bristol Good Neighbors and they were gung-ho about the idea.

“Now it’s an even better project, because it’s not just about me,” she says.

You can find Mary Lorraine Traynor with her CD “It’s My Life” on July 3^rd at Independence Park in a spot opposite the stage from 6 p.m until the end of the show. On July 4, she’ll be set up at the end of the parade route on the corner of High Street and State Street from 7:00 a.m. until the last patriotic straggler goes home.

Traynor can also be contacted at maryltraynor@comcast.net.