Marion Walsh's New Roots-Americana CD Release

Singer Songwriter Marion Walsh's got a very unique style and approach to roots music and Americana. Part hillbilly twang, part smooth country temptress, Marion and her amazing band burn through one great song after another. Marion's an honest to goodness underground treat who turns in a very surprising and rewarding listen. !Radio Programmers and Music Reviewers! Email media (at) musikinternational dot com for a sample copy, album information and artwork.

Consumers can find this CD at national and indie music stores and bookshops; it is featured on Amazon.com and www.marionwalsh.com, with digital downloads available from iTunes.

Home to Home This CD presents Americana-roots music in all its glorious diversity; a perfect showcase for Marion Walsh's stellar singing style, paired with top instrumental support from Vancouver's popular Tosoff brothers (guitar-bbuttist Ted and pianist Bryon), as well as Rick Dalgarno (dobro, plays with Ted in The Blue Voodoo), e-bow-guitarist Daniel Ross (created acclaimed score for television's "Madison" series), and Mike Sanyshyn (finalist in Canada Grand Masters Fiddle Championships, recorded with Randy Bachman, Rachel Matkin, and toured with Duane Steele). Marion, herself, contributes guitar, mandolin and harmonica to her original melodies. Marion's tunes range far and wide. "Home to Home" is a hooky Americana-new country crossover; "I Believe" is a soft, but lyrically powerful, ballad punctuated by slide guitar, with a sound influenced by SoCal's rich 70's folk-rock heritage (think CSNY, Jackson Browne, Judy Collins). "BU" is roots music with more edge, and Marion adjusts her singing style to embrace the spirits of Bob Dylan, Edie Brickell and Maria Muldaur. Like an angel with a dirty face, Marion's vocals on "Since You Never Asked Me" blend equal parts honky tonk and torch with sweet sbuttiness.

Marion Walsh Multi-instrumentalist-singer Marion Walsh is a bit of a musical gypsy, traveling the breadth of North America. Born in Baltimore, she went to college in Vermont and upstate New York, then lived in Boston for almost 15 years before locating to Vancouver, Canada, for a year and a half; as you read this, she is in the process of moving from Vancouver to Portland, Oregon. Marion started piano lessons at age 8, but eventually switched to guitar. "Though voice is my true instrument," she quips, "I can make due on mandolin and harmonica as well." On HOME TO HOME, she relies on her trusty Martin 000-15S guitar (which she occasionally strums with a flat pick but usually played bare-handed; its recorded both miked and direct), a "very pretty" vintage mandolin, and both Hohner and Marine Band harmonicas. But it is her voice that has propelled Marion into a long-term music career; it has a clear and pure quality, demonstrating plenty of dynamic versatility and emotion. Like her early influence James Taylor, Marion's vocal style seems to flow effortlessly around each catchy lyric, complimenting the wide array of electro-acoustic instrumentation that brings her tunes to life. Marion's first solo CD was 2002's SONG GARDEN. Her recording debut was at 1989 as part of the duo Lloyd and Marion; then she made 11 recordings with an eclectic group called "nobody," which allowed Marion to add "keyboards, washboards, fingerpiano, bongos, triangle, finger cymbals, and various and sundry other noise makers" to her repertoire. A spontaneous composer, Marion feels "true inspiration isn't meant to be complicated," and instead of trying to write songs, prefers to simply "pay attention - to stay open hearted and open minded and allow room for the songs happen. Usually a phrase will pop into my head and stay there. If it stays long enough I figure there must be something to it, so I'll start to find other words and tunes to put around it. I write with a pen and paper, very scribbly and messy, usually sitting on the floor with my guitar handy. If I want to hear how a new song sounds, I'll try it out at a gig, which is a risk but also a very good indicator of how good the song is and how well I can play it." With plenty of heart and soul in every tune, Marion's sure of a warm reception on CD or playing live.

###