Properly pronouncing Massachusetts towns is a struggle that almost every visitor to the Bay State — and even residents at times — faces.

MARIS, a Montana-born artist who played her first-ever Boston Calling on Friday, May 24, fell victim to this struggle when MassLive asked her how to pronounce “Woburn” after her set.

“Wobber,” she questioned. “I’m not good at pronouncing things in general. I said, ‘Green-witch’ for a really long time and then I went there and people were like, ‘Hmm, okay, you’re not from here.’”

After teaching her some Boston terms like “Packie,” which is slang for the package store, MARIS got into her set which she described as a “full-circle” moment because she saw her mother right before.

“She has been a supporter since day one, literally,” MARIS told MassLive. “So I feel great.”

MARIS wanted to go all out for her first-ever Boston Calling set, but she mentioned how expensive it is to fly out musicians and dancers.

Through the help of her music director, who went to Berklee College of Music, MARIS invited a band of 10 students as well as two background dancers. This made for MARIS’ biggest production yet.

“We had two days of rehearsals and then we just went right into it,” she said. “I think it went pretty amazingly.”

The singer also donned a customized vintage Wagner ski suit that she thrifted, bedazzled and fitted with rip-off pants and arms to add a theatrical element to her performance.

“I really wanted to have a rip-off legs and rip-off arms because I feel like entertainment and music and comedy kind of go hand-in-hand,” MARIS explained. “It just totally elevates the performance. I kind of want to feel like I’m a superstar from outer space.”

Originally from Montana, MARIS moved to Los Angeles, California in 2021 and decided to stay and become a musician.

Her mission is “to connect with listeners through her candid experiences as a queer and emotionally vulnerable songwriter with an ‘80s-inflected pop universe and beats you can’t help but dance along to,” her biography reads. This sound is evident in her latest single “Julia Roberts,” which MARIS released on May 17.

The song is the latest addition to MARIS’ discography. The singer has been dropping singles since 2022 and put out her 6-son EP, “Gravity” in 2023 along with an accompanying short film called “Gravity: The EP: the Movie (Black House, Best Friends Music).”

MARIS followed that up with the singles, “Voicemail,” “Hot Guitar Player” and “GOING YET!” the same year. After tackling her first Boston Calling, MARIS will be playing with Kid Sistr in June and at Missoula Pride.

You can learn more about MARIS by going to her website. Click here to check out more MassLive coverage on Boston Calling.

The District 9C schools that had qualifiers for the 2024 MHSA State Track and Field Meet AA-C gave it one final go on Saturday in Great Falls. Here are some notable finishers on the day:

In the girls’ 100-meters, Fort Benton’s Ally Jaques ran a personal-best 12.84, which was good for third place, while Brie Mattson of CJI was ninth, timing out at 13.32.

The boys’ 200-meter dash placed two Longhorns in the top-10 as Truman Giese was ninth with a PR of 23.72 and Brock Grossman was right behind him at 23.82. Ali Doyle of Turner was a 200-meter podium placer, doing it in 27.42.

Turner also had finalists in the 400 meters as Ryan Doyle was fourth in running a 51.36, while Bridget Reed took fifth with a 1:01.18. PRs were aplenty in the 800 meters as Doyle ran his best mark of 1:59:14 to finish third. Carter Campbell of North Star was also a top-10 800-meter runner, doing it in 2:04:67 to take ninth. Reed broke her individual record with a 2:22.68 800 meters, good for third.

CJI had another placer as Cooper Streit was ninth in the 1600 meters, running a 4:51.09. Alex Worrall from Big Sandy had a 5:41.92 1600, finishing sixth a new PR. Streit ran his best 3200 at 10:33.67, which was good for eighth.

Ryland St. John of CJI was 10th in the boys’ 110-meter hurdles, running it in 17 seconds. Reed’s nice day continued with an eighth-place finish in the girls’ 100-meter hurdles, finishing it at 16.63, which was her season low. She also had a season-best 47.77 in the 300-meter hurdles to finish sixth, while Doyle was eighth in that same event with a personal-record 48.38.

Fort Benton’s 4-by-100 relay teams placed as the girls of Jacques, Ang Riener, Etta Wicks, and Sarah Clark were third at 51.28, while the boys of Giese, Grossman, David Olson, and Callum Ballantyne were sixth at 45.64.

In the field, Clark threw the javelin 117 feet and 10 inches, making her third at state. Brynn Kammerzell of CJI won the girls’ high jump, securing a five-foot-six-inch clearance. Riener had a five-foot jump to tie for fifth. Big Sandy’s Darrell Sunchild had a PR in the discus, throwing it 130 feet and nine inches to place 10th.

Wicks (16 feet and 1.25 inches) and Doyle (15 feet and 11.75 inches) went ninth and 10th in the long jump. Tracen Jilot of Box Elder was tied for seventh in the boys’ high jump as he hit a six-foot clearance. North Star’s Xander Searles had a 10-foot and six-inch pole vault to have him tie for ninth. St. John tied for ninth in the triple jump, accumulating 40 feet and 6.25 inches.