She has been described as having “the unique ability to mix together a variety of musical styles, which can appeal to a wide audience”[1] and her childhood has been described as “a nomadic life that could have been plucked from an adventure novel.”[2] Mean Mary was born on March 22, 1980, in Geneva, Alabama, though her family lived near Bonifay, Florida, about two miles from Alabama.

Her head broke the windshield and her neck cracked the dashboard leaving her right vocal cord paralyzed with little hope of recovery.

She performed as just an instrumentalist for the next year until in 2004 she was informed by a specialist that there was slight movement in the vocal cord with a possibility of full recovery.

[11] In 2018, Mean Mary appeared on The Red Jacket Jamboree, an old-time radio variety show recorded at the historic Calumet Theatre and distributed by PRX.

[15][16] As a writer, Mary James has published a number of mystery novels together with her mother Jean, as well as a devotional and a music book for banjo and guitar.