Marv Hamilton learned to sing in the back seat of a ’47 Buick while his mother, who sang on the radio in the 30’s, and father, a natural whiskey-drinking baritone, harmonized in the front. Marv picked up his first guitar in 1973 to play along with Cat Stevens, James Taylor, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. He was 24 and a Vietnam vet. In 1988, Marv began to play, write songs and perform with acoustic trio, “Vuja De”. In 2000, Marv released his debut solo album, “Wing and a Prayer” under his own indie label, “Best Dog Records”. Acoustic blues, ballads, breakup songs and “redrock eco-folk”. A psychotherapist, activist and tree-hugger, Marv is a three-time winner in Salt Lake’s prestigious KRCL/Founder’s Title Folk and Bluegrass Performing Songwriter Showcase. Marv was also a 2001 Kerrville Newfolk Finalist at Kerrville, Texas. Nashville songwriter Steve Seskin (Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Kenney Chesney), says, “If you don’t feel something when you listen to Marv, you’re probably dead”. Susanne Milsaps of Salt Lake’s KRCL 91FM and Magpie House Concerts Series chose “Wing and A Prayer” as best local album of 2000 and says Marv’s “the rootsy, earthy, teller of everyman’s story”.
Marv’s release of his 2d album, The Mind Will Follow, played to a sellout crowd at the University of Utah in Oct 2006. Of Hamilton, Catalyst magazine says, “Simply put, he’s one hell of a storyteller”. Of his new record, the Salt Lake Tribune says ”Hamilton’s folk and acoustic blues songs, whether they be love ballads, political dissections or odes to the mountains where he runs with his dog, have earned him a reputation as one of Utah’s finest songwriters”.
Paul Swensen, in the University of Utah’s alumni magazine Continuum, says, “His songwriting smells of the earth. He has an abiding respect for animals and wildlife. He writes achingly beautiful love songs. And his sense of humor reveals itself in offbeat ways.” And ”Love of literature, poetry and good writing—a lasting legacy of Hamilton’s English degree—show up in his gift as a lyricist”.
Marv has performed at concerts, coffeehouses, and house concerts, music and arts festivals, peace rallies, restaurants and celebrations in Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, Texas, Massachusetts, and Vancouver, B.C. sharing the stage with Chuck Pyle, Steve Seskin, Cheryl Wheeler, Dave Alvin, Firefall and other greats.
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