Album Notes

A little backstory....

Nate Marshall was born in a farmhouse with no hot water at Dogtail Corners Road, Wingdale, NY, on July 13th, his Grandma's birthday and the hottest day of the year. At the age of nine, his parents bought a small farm, and he grew up with his three younger brothers doing chores, swinging on a rope swing into the Housatonic River, and playing baseball and soccer. At fifteen, he got his first guitar and learned to play some songs for the local Church choir. After high school he bummed around the country for most of a year in a $600 station wagon with his friend Dennis. He also had a job in an old age home.

At nineteen, he recorded his first CD of original material which shocked the old-time folkies in the Hudson Valley . Nobody could believe a kid with no experience could have written and sung songs of such spiritual and artistic depth. "I feel like I just met the new Bob Dylan," said a woman who'd been playing and singing locally for 25 years, after she heard Nate perform a couple of songs at an open mic. Nate then took off for a short visit to Europe, and wound up on the campus of Binghampton University for a couple of years. He also spent 6 months or so working for a human rights group in Chicago which aids victims of war. Somewhere along the way he picked up juggling and acrobatics. He can juggle seven balls with good control.

Nate recorded this CD at 22 and is touring in support of it. All the musicians and singers on the CD donated their time to it. We all feel like his is a voice that needs to be heard.

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On Nate's self-titled, 2nd full-length Album
(available NOW on CDbaby.com):

Nate seems at home in the world of folk, blues, country, there's even touches of a jam-band atmosphere (check out the bassline on "It Don't Mean a Thing"). He plays the majority of the instruments on the album, with the exception of a few musical guests, most notably his touring partner Katie Hand, who moves listeners with her warm voice as easily as she does the tender notes of her cello.

Nate's theory seems to be that we're more open as listeners when we can actually be aware enough to connect with his lyrics, instead of wallowing in self-pity. "If'n I Die Tomorra" is an upbeat and sometimes downright hilarious song: "...here lies an honest man, all except in word and deed." The tuba laughs along, and kazoos even make an appearance- in short, it's just damn fun to listen to.

This isn't to say Nate's all sunbeams and strawberries, "When, My Bones?" is an edgy blues tune. He sings, "everyone around me believes money makes the man..." but he'll still be singing, "not a dying dollar in my hand." Yet he manages to avoid that realm of hopeless angst that seems so common these days. Just like well-hewn blues, there's always an undercurrent of laughing in the face of what life tosses at you.

On songs like "Thin Shadows" we glimpse a more literary style of lyric, with social commentary and imagery woven together seamlessly; a lament in a jig's clothes.

These and the other myriad styles found on the album make me anxious for Nate's next release, provided he continues to show the willingness to grow and experiment that I found on this album. Until then, your best bet is to see him live, check out his website at www.natemarshall.com to find out when he'll be coming to your area.