Mr. Airplane Man guitarist and singer Margaret Garrett.

By JT Thompson

Margaret Garrett is the guitarist and singer of Mr. Airplane Man, a duo that she formed with her close friend Tara McManus, who plays the drums. Their website describes the band as blending “hypnotic blues, haunting slide guitar, and idiosyncratic rock and roll with dreamy girlgroup melodies.” Mr. Airplane Man got its start on the streets of Somerville and Cambridge and the duo has toured with nationally known bands like the White Stripes, Holly Golightly and Morphine.

Rolling Stone describes Garrett’s guitar sound as a “real salvation. It cuts and swings and explodes, crying” and Guitar Player says, “every riff, scream, moan, chord stab, solo, tribal groove, and rave-up is that real, and Garrett delivers thrilling and impassioned performances.”

Garrett speaks with the reflectiveness and depth of someone with a strong sense of who they are, and also moves easily into the lightness and sense of humor of someone openly exploring who they will be.

Garrett’s mother has deep roots in Somerville’s arts scene.

“My mother is a visual artist. When I was young, she had a little studio in the basement, then eventually she got a studio at Brickbottom in Somerville. She is very involved in the Somerville scene, she makes an effort to be part of the city’s decision making process, she has always taken the idea of civic responsibility very seriously.

“She led by example. Do your thing. Be who you are. Be creative. She’s in her 80s now and is still doing new work and exhibiting.

“I first lived in Somerville in 1997. I was working at the 1369 coffeehouse, Tara was at the Wine and Cheese Cask. We got our start playing in Harvard Square.

“At first Harvard Square was a little intimidating. Playing there was a serious business for some people. You had to fight for a good spot. Eventually we had some regulars who would come by and watch and from that we got our first Plough and Stars gig which turned into a residency every Monday night.

“Thinking back on when I use to live in Somerville, I wish I could move back there now but I’ve been priced out.”

Garrett and McManus first met in summer camp when they were 10.

“Our bond was musical from the beginning. We use to light candles and listen to The White Album. Later we got into punk rock and would send each other mixed tapes and go to shows. But there was always a love of music from all over the world. In high school our friend Tony Flacket made us a mixed tape of Saccharine Trust, Dead Kennedy’s and King Sunny Ade.

“It was Mark Sandman who got the ball rolling with Mr. Airplane Man. Tara and I were both huge Morphine fans and I was lucky enough to be living in Boston at the time and get to know Mark on a personal level. One night after a Morphine show at the Middle East, I got up the courage to ask him if he’d give me some music lessons. He told me he wasn’t much of a music teacher but that I could stop by his loft in Cambridge. It became a regular thing where he’d play me recent recordings and patiently try to answer my many questions That was our relationship, he became a teacher and a mentor. He helped me to see past the obvious and into the deeper nature of things, the closest thing I’ve ever had to a Zen master.

“When I asked him how to start a band, he told me to travel. He saw my lack of life experience and knew that going out into the world was what I needed in order to evolve. That’s a really profound insight that I think still holds true today as a song writer and musician. Out on the road touring and encountering different cultures, having adventures and engaging in other’s people’s lives is what keeps music vital.

“When I began the journey that Mark suggested, Tara was living in Arizona. This gave me a destination on my cross-country trek. She let me stay with here for a few months at the cabin in the desert she was living. I tried playing with a drummer friend of hers but it didn’t really click. I managed to talk Tara into playing with me instead. She was studying Afro Cuban and Haitian dancing at the time. She had a strong sense of rhythm but hadn’t yet played on a drumkit. We were well matched int the way we both approach things intuitively not to mention the years of listening and talking about music together. It worked. It didn’t take long before moving to San Francisco where we started playing in a rehearsal space every night into the wee hours.

“When it came time to name the band we cycled through a few names before settling on Mr. Airplane Man, a song by Howlin’ Wolf that we listened to obsessively. There wasn’t much thought about the ‘Mr.’ or ‘man’ in the title given that we are two women. I guess it’s the perfect example of how music always came first for us. Being gendered was never that relevant.”

How would you describe the relationship between being inspired by a wide range of music you love and finding your own voice?

“It’s a process of finding and refining your own voice. We don’t know why we resonate with the music we do but I think we are always seeking something personal in the universal. Then the challenge is to to keep distilling it down to the essence of where that connection lies.

“When Mr. Airplane Man opened up for the great Tuareg guitar player M’Dou Moctar this past New Years Eve, M’Dou heard me playing my song i’m in love during sound check and said it sounded Tuareg to him. He asked if he could sit in on it. It was pretty great to have Tuareg guitar line going with a song that in my mind was part John Lee Hooker part Alan Vega.”

Recently, Garrett has been pursuing solo work under the name Margaret Airplaneman. She put out a solo album on Bandcamp, Live at the Charles River Museum of Industry, and is touring Europe this summer on her own.

“I was out in L.A. and discovered that I could create a more layered type of song with a loop pedal. There were new options available to me that hadn’t been possible in a drums/guitar duo and I really have enjoyed that.”

What was your experience of the Women’s March?

“I was in L.A at the time and missed the beginning part of the march but made it in time for the very end gathering. That was a good thing because I don’t like big crowds so catching it toward the end spared me from a panic attack probably.”

What do you think a more woman led society would be like?

“It depends on the woman,” Garrett laughs. “There are women that I’d hate to see leading society. Simply being a woman does not make you fit for the job. Maybe the question is about introducing more feminine energy into the mix. How can we find a better balance of male/female energy in ourselves as individuals and as a society. How do we find balance and harmony in our ways of relating to each other.”

What would you like to say to women in America today?

“Believe in yourself. Tune out the voices of doubt. Women have more role models now. It’s helpful to have that validation. So, yeah, believe in yourself.”

“By the way,” Garrett laughs, “I’m not there – I’m still working on it.”