Saloli

Saloli is the solo moniker of Mary Sutton, a Portland-based musician who creates playful and reflective keyboard instrumentals. She composes her pieces for performance on analog synthesizers, live and unprogrammed without any overdubs or additional production. 2018's The Deep End introduced her vibrant, dreamy playing style, and following a pair of acoustic piano efforts, she explored her Cherokee Nation roots with the adventurous 2023 full-length Canyon. Mary Sutton is a classically trained pianist who has composed pieces for string ensemble as well as piano, citing Erik Satie as a major influence. Her project Saloli (the Cherokee word for squirrel) began when she performed a concert held at a clothing-optional sauna in a Portland wellness center. This was her first time writing music for analog synthesizer. The Deep End, a recording of the restrained yet detailed instrumentals, was released by Kranky as Saloli's first album, in 2018. The Island: Music for Piano, Vol. 1, a self-released effort composed on a 1900 Chickering piano, appeared at the end of 2021. A year later, Sutton released Ghosts: Music for Piano, Vol. 2, including a piano arrangement of "Barcarolle" from The Deep End, with a custom tuning. 2023's Canyon, her second Kranky release, is intended to evoke a day in the life of a bear in a canyon of the Smoky Mountains. The album was performed using a Sequential Circuits MultiTrak synthesizer fed through a delay pedal, creating the effect of echoing canyon walls.
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