We catch up with Juno Award winner Mariel Buckley following her big win for Contemporary Roots Album of the Year. We dive into the grit behind the glamour - from the "grateful tired" of life on tour to the evolution of her indie-alt-country sound. Mariel opens up about the pivotal choice to skip Nashville session players for her own band, navigating industry gatekeeping, and the raw vulnerability of songwriting through major life pivots. It’s a masterclass in artistic integrity.

ep39 Mariel Buckley keeps winning
released April 9, 2026
1:31:57

Episode TL;DR:

• The Juno win: What it actually feels like to win Canada's biggest music prize, and why hearing from peers meant more than the award itself
• Career evolution: From playing country covers at Calgary happy-hour gigs to earn rent, to finding her authentic voice and letting go of what didn't serve her
• Record by record: The pivots between Driving in the Dark, Everywhere I Used to Be, and Strange Trip Ahead, including writing through breakups, the pandemic, sobriety, and turning 30 (and 35)
• Sibling harmonies: A fun detour ranking great sibling harmony acts (Louvin Brothers, Everly Brothers, Beach Boys, Haim, and more), and the planned Mariel + Tim Buckley studio project
• The song Anvil: How a co-write with Robbie Heck became a raw meditation on the choice not to have children
• Outspokenness, evolution, and letting go of the fight: How Mariel has shifted from competitive scarcity thinking to genuinely championing her peers
• Defining success: Selling 400 tickets, paying her bills from music, mentoring others, and being known for integrity over metrics

Featured artists mentioned:

Matt Anderson, Kathleen Edwards, Rose Cousins, Donovan Woods, Jason Molina, The War on Drugs, Ruston Kelly, Leeroy Stagger, William Prince, k.d. lang, Lucius, The Staves, Haim

https://www.marielbuckley.com/
http://www.instagram.com/marielbuckley
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTBPYHl4E-O_Cjqn_uQcTXw

hosts: Glen Erickson, Alexi Erickson
AFE website: https://www.almostfamousenough.com
AFE instagram: https://www.instagram.com/almostfamousenough
AFE Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1o1PRD2X0i3Otmpn8vi2zP?si=1ece497360564480

Almost Famous Enough is a series of conversations centered around the music industry, pulling back the veil on what it really means to “make it”. Our podcast features guests who know the grind, who have lived the dream, or at the very least, chased the dream. Through these conversational biographies, truth and vulnerability provide more than a topical roadmap or compile some career advice; they can appeal to the dreamer in us all, with stories that can teach us, inspire us, and even reconcile us, and make us feel like we made a new friend along the way.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction

04:57 Meet Mariel Buckley

10:14 Juno Win Aftermath

15:55 Touring and Genre Roots

23:09 Finding Her Sound

30:08 Sibling Harmonies and Collabs

37:19 First Co Write Breakthrough

38:07 Studio Debut With Leroy

38:59 Touring To Level Up

39:56 Pandemic Reset And Therapy

41:35 Synth Country And Fallout

43:32 Vending Machines Recommitment

50:59 Writing Anvil In Nashville

01:07:04 Defining Success And Closing

01:15:51 Post-Fame with Alexi