Back in 2008, Maria started learning banjo and became involved with the vibrant UK bluegrass scene, going to sessions, festivals and music camp. A couple of years later she started learning to play fiddle and guitar and eventually switched to clawhammer banjo. In around 2012 Maria started to write songs and sing out in public at sessions. She initially formed the folk trio True North in 2012 and performed with them for a couple of years, including gigs at Holmfirth Festival of Folk and Hepworth Live.
In late 2015 Maria gathered together some of the best UK bluegrass musicians to form The Reckless Abandoners. The band performed an entertaining blend of bluegrass, Americana, acoustic country, folk and blues, making its debut at Orwell Bluegrass Festival (Ipswich) in spring 2016 and going on to perform at all the major bluegrass festivals across the UK over the next four years. It became increasingly difficult to bring together a six piece band with members all round the UK, especially as everyone got busier with different projects.
Maria and Phil established the Yorkshire based duo Phrase & Fable in 2019 and have performed a number of live gigs since. The duo performs a mix of mellow Americana and folk classics, upbeat bluegrass standards and some of Maria’s original songs, with guitar, clawhammer banjo, mandolin, fiddle and some fine harmony singing.