Marv Machura

Machura is a winning singer and talented guitar player.

Looking forward to his next disc. - Penguin Eggs

Marv Machura creates pure Canadiana, spinning tales that span the breadth of this land.

Delivered with a smooth gentle voice, songs about Saskatchewan, grain trains, and Canadian whiskey spring easily from this longtime songwriter and roots music performer who has published over twenty songs in Nashville. - The Alberta Sessions

Get Marv Machura talking about the west and he’s likely to burst into song.

This popular singer and guitar player who has been a mainstay performer in the local music scene for many years has been moving steadily in a direction leading back to his roots—his Alberta or Western Canadian roots.

“What I’m doing with these songs is trying to make a connection between the present, past, and future.”

For Machura there is so much to sing about and so much of ourselves that remains unsung. “I see myself as a kind of spokesperson just interpreting what is already here.”

With several record companies “sniffing around” and publishers from faraway places like Nashville, Machura seems to be onto something good.

- The Alberta Report

For Marv Machura, music is more that putting a few notes together. “I see it as a mean of connecting with people, telling stories, and drawing up from the well of common human experience…it’s the universal language.”

Although Machura had been writing “for the sake of writing” for the past while, having some success in publishing over twenty songs in Nashville, he is more excited about talking about his new project. He sees a big future for this kind of music. “Folk and roots music will continue to grow in popularity. I see it in how young people respond to my music. There’s a type of energy there that hits a kind of cosmic nerve or something. It’s almost like this what I’ve been trying to get right for many years.”

Old and new fans of Marv Machura’s Alberta-brand of roots music can catch up to this busy performer on Friday, April 9, at Sam and Tabby’s bistro as well as at Kosmo’s Tavern on Saturday, April 30 . You can also see him perform and talk about his music on the Big Breakfast television this coming Wednesday and next month, May 19.

- Leduc Representative

Marv Machura, aSouth Cooking Lake-area resident has recorded a radio-ready CD.

Machura is thrilled with the support the disc has already received even though the release date is still ten days away. Many tracks have been making the circulation on stations CKUA, CJSR, CBC.

“It’s making some waves.” Says Machura who describes his music a Western Canadian Roots. “I’m not writing for Nashville…I’m writing about things I know like Grande Prairie mill workers, CN grain trains, etc.”

He mixes up his topics and his music creating an eclectic folk mix often with a rock edge.

Machura who sings and plays guitar also brought in some of the Edmonton’s best local session players to help out on making his disc.

Machura plans to take his music on the road as he continues to perform live and tour around Alberta. “I love performing. Nothing can compare to it. There no better feeling than playing live for an audience.”

Machura says, “After the release party, I’ll keep on bringing music to the people.”


- The Sherwood Park News

Marvelous Marv

Marv Machura likes to tell stories. But Machura mostly likes to tell his stories in song—songs that often deal with Western Canadian historical themes like the Riel Rebellion or the Ukrainian Settlement.

“I’m a narrative-type songwriter,” he explains. “The story medium is the heart and soul of folk music, and I keep working at getting the story told and all the characters developed, etc. in that three minute song.”

When many people think of Canadian folk music, they think of Celtic or cowboy music. But Machura explains that he is neither, “So why pretend?” He explains, “There is a lot more to our musical heritage.”

Machura got his start in the music business by playing in a Ukrainian wedding band. “It was a interesting and a lot of fun” he says, “and I think some my music is definitely influenced by some of Slavic sound.” He laughs, “I mean how can playing all those Ukrainian folk songs at all those wedding not have some kind of influence? There’s a spirit it there that sometimes borders on possession. Some of those weddings would go on for several days and we would play for six or seven hours with maybe one or two breaks. It was great.”

From playing weddings, Machura moved on to several cover and bar/dance bands functioning both as a leader and a freelance guitar player. He began writing and performing solo while still in his teens, and now continues to pursue his solo career, performing with his band or by himself in and around the Edmonton area and across the province.

Machura can be found performing at the Uptown Folk Club on Friday, February 8.
- Vue Weekly

Marv Machura may reside out on the range somewhere near Sherwood Park, but his brand of down-home folk music isn’t typical cowboy fare.

Machura is earning his fan base by writing what he knows, not pretending to be someone he’s not in a ten-gallon hat. His music deals with his Ukrainian heritage, hockey and day-to-day life in Alberta.

He’s been noticed outside of Alberta, too. His song, “Pouring Coffee, Drinking Too Much,” from his most recent album, Big Hill King, reached # 5 on the efolk.com download chart, and his tune “Hockey Town” reached the top 40 on the American Idol Underground chart. (American Idol Underground, by the way, is a website endorsed by the famous show—up-and-coming acts upload songs to the site, and they are voted on by the public.)

Machura says his conviction to write honest music was inspired by famous Alberta songwriter Ian Tyson and his 1987 effort, Cowboyography. The songs on the album were dedicated to Tyson’s friends who worked on the ranges of Alberta, and the result is music that’s authentic, with lyrics that come off like dispatches about life on the prairies.

“Cowboyography was Alberta roots music like I had never heard before,” says Machura. “The songs were recorded with beautiful and complex arrangements—nothing like the pap that still comes out of Nashville. These songs were beautiful literature: this disc showed me how to write songs in a narrative style that transcended the place of origin and rang with truth, even to someone like me who had never been on a ranch and who does not like horses.”

Basically, the lesson was simple: write what you know.

“I moved my music over to this side of the fence,” says Machura. “And it’s not like I suddenly became a cowboy. I became like Ian Tyson in the sense that I understood that I had to write about things that I know in a narrative style and reach for that literature from my own Alberta background and life. My roots were Ukrainian farmers/immigrants and oil workers, and that’s what I decided to write and sing about.

“This album, to me, is that example of honesty for which I strive,” he continues. “So many locals were pumped up on the Celtic and/or cowboy thing, [but] I couldn’t see myself as another Celtic and/or cowboy wannabe.” V - Vue Weekly

"Marv, you show at the Clerk's Quarters at Fort Edmonton was the best show I've ever seen. You have to let me know when you are doing another one and when you are available to do more."
-Gary Michalchuk, President, EIL Environmental.

"Thanks so much for playing at Summit Ranch. Also your disc is great--it's playing right now on my system. We want you back and I hope I can count on you as my 'go to' guy for music."
- G. Ferguson, General Manager Summit Ranch

"I'm looking forward to tonight and hearing you play again. Of all the singers I've heard, you are all wonderful to say the least. " - Sue Schroeder, Alberta Country Showcase

"Hey Marv, can we have you down to our stage again this year? You were one of our favourite draws last season. Let me know what dates work best for you." - Arvin Hopecraft, Alberta Country Opry

"Marv, I love what you do. Your song 'Diamonds for Fields of Clover' is fantastic. I want you back this year again for our Country Picknic. I hope you can make it." -Ivan Daines, founder, musician, recording artist, rodeo hall of fame inductee.

"Thanks so much for playing at our festival. We all love your music and your discs are well-played around our home. It was good of you to cover for the guy with an extra set." - Lucy, Promotions Manager, Alberta Indie Rock Weekend.

"Thanks for a great show...I hope that we can have you back soon."
- Harold Wolfin, Booking Manager, Blue Chair Cafe.

"Marv, let me know when you are available. I want to book you into our club at least two or three times before the new year." - Richard , Manager/Owner Fatboyz Restaurant.

"Thanks for playing for us at the Alberta Sessions. Keep up the great work and hope to see you again sometime soon." - John Rutherford, The Alberta Sessions.



- Various Personal Responses to Live Shows

"Good music like yours is always played on CKUA. The best to you. I LUV your new disc, Big Hill King." -Tom Coxworth, CKUA, Folk Routes

"Congratulations on your new CD. What a great sound! I really enjoyed your songs--especially Grain Train and Canadian Whiskey as well as your more contemplative ones like the Kursk and Manitou Stone." Orest Soltykevyich, CJSR Radio Host

"Hey Marv, I like your stuff. I don't know...it's real somehow and sounds great." Jay Hanley, Music Director, CJSR Radio

"Hi Marv, your new disc a great work! Wow." -Dilbaugh Singh, CKUA Radio.

"Marv. Thanks so much for the disc. I think several people may have stood up to notice that song, Manitou Stone. I have your disc in my box that I program from." -Bob Chemlick, CKUA Radio.

"Thanks for the disc. I want to play something from it on my show...and that picture of you on the back must be one of the happiest pictures I've ever seen." -Craig Korth, Fire on the Mountain Radio show, CKUA Radio. - Various Radio Hosts

"You are marvelous Marv. I plan to connect you to something big. I feel the future vibrations of something happening. It is just around the corner too." - Mary Hazel, Dircector, Success on Track

"You are a great singer and songwriter. I like that you have something to say. Your lyrics are honest. Take care and keep writing the great tunes." -Mike Gouchie, Country Male vocalist of the year 2004

"Why I'm dropping you a line is to tell you that I absolutely loved your CD. I had my girlfriend over and I played Nora Jones and then yours and she loved both and said they were both of the same caliber. Not bad from someone who's never been to Saskatchewan! You are a great storyteller. You deserve fame and fortune. Well done!" -Daisy, a new fan from Toronto.

"It's great. Very rootsy and full of heart and soul. You've got a very nice voice--very John Denverish! And the sonic quality of the whole CD is excellent. Good for you. I especially like your beautiful song "Saskatchewan" as Maidstone SK is where I grew up. When I hear it, it kind of brings me home." -Dahlia Wakefield, Singer/Songwriter/Recording Artist.

- Various reponses and comments