Graham Marshall
Sunderland, England, United Kingdom | SELF
Music
Press
This is another effort by a local label (Left Field) and out-of-town talent. In this five song EP we are treated to the troubadour guitar stylings of Scotland's Graham Marshall who is at times way too mild-mannered to imply that he's been stuck that long behind exhaust fumes. Oh well, he does have some honest sensibilities that shine through the opener "Makin' it on My Own" and the slightly more upbeat follower "Emotional Invincible." This flip-flopping of emotions must be a Scottish thing but Marshall has a nice voice on him that I'd hate to peg, but it does remind me of better male vocalists of the mid-90's alternative/college radio scene. The title track does offer some bleakness but as with the rest of the EP, there's something sincere and simple about his arrangements that are immediately infectious and welcome. Good stuff all around. - Miami New Times
18-gig, 7-day busk tour across the UK. - Video Documentary
Discography
Ten Years Stuck in Traffic EP
Photos
Bio
Graham Marshalls story is reflected in his catalog of songs: survival, adventure, love and tragedy are more than mere subjects of whim to strum his guitar to.
A terrible car crash at 19 left Graham with a chronic, albeit benign, medical condition.
At 20, his band, Screaming Silence, was a hit in his hometown of Glasgow, Scotland. But in the brink of the showcase gig that would seal the deal with a label, the lead member
disappeared after running into some unsavory entanglements. This was followed by Marshalls best mate and song writing partner succumbing to a heroin overdose.
Graham entered into a rehabilitation program for clinical depression. On a cocktail of drugs and at the hands of questionable care workers, he was mentally and physically abused. Unconvinced by the prospect, Graham discharged himself, disposed of all his medication and began to song write himself to recovery night after sleepless night.
Anxious to leave a turbulent past behind, Graham packed his guitar, a few personal belongings and exiled to Australia where he lived on the move. But it was on his way back home to Glasgow that his adventures truly began; making unplanned pit stops
in Singapore, Borneo, Bangkok and Malaysia. He climbed Southeast Asias highest mountain, Mount Kinabalu, and was hosted by the indigenous Iban tribe who for the most part had never laid eyes upon a white man, let alone a Scottish local rocknroll hero.
After returning home with 20p (or 13¢), and in an effort to leave his troubled past behind, Graham decided to relocate to Sunderland, England for a trucking job. It was during his years of 18 wheeling travel that he would consequently write some of the material which would go on to become his first solo EP, Ten Years Stuck in Traffic.
In early 2010, this five-song collection would find its way to iconic music manager Bill Aucoin (Kiss, Billy Idol, Billy Squier) and his team who insisted on pressing the songs just as Marshall had laid them down. In an enthusiastic effort to self-promote his first release, Graham Marshall, now a well-seasoned traveler, embarked on a cross-country UK tour, playing an impressive 18 gigs in a jaw dropping seven days.
Sadly, Bill Aucoin would succumb to cancer in June of 2010. However, this has not slowed down this prolific songwriter. Once again, Marshall coped the best way he knows how..... by writing music.
Grahams brand of acoustic pop-folk is comprised of vocal gravel juxtaposed with sweet melodies and catchy hooks that the Miami New Times deems immediately infectious. And, with music peers in his category such as K.T. Tunstall, Paolo Nutini (both from Scotland) and David Gray finding commercial success in America, Graham Marshalls timing may be in perfect step.
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