'Wobber?' Boston Calling artist attempts to pronounce Massachusetts town

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.