Reviews – Cynthia
Author: Sara Sherr
Source: The Philadelphia Daily News, Yo! Features
Local singer-songwriter Cynthia G. Mason has been a fixture on the indie rock scene since the mid-’90s, when she started putting out cassette-only recordings on her own label, Spiderwoman Records. The 32-year-old West Philly native is gentle enough for the ‘XPN/Lilith crowd, but her darkly observant lyrics and intricate guitar picking have earned her comparisons to Cat Power, Suzanne Vega and Kristin Hersh. She took a break to study at Temple Law School and is now a public-interest attorney at Philadelphia Legal Assistance, where she helps low-income women who are victims of domestic violence. Last year, she got her big break when her recording of Richard Buckner’s “Surprise, AZ” ended up on a Believer magazine CD, alongside tracks by Spoon, the Decemberists and the Shins. Mason also loaned her vocals to B.C. Camplight’s “Blood and Peanut Butter,” featured on an episode of “Grey’s Anatomy…” (click here for the rest of the story.)