NY Artist Q&A: Eddy Marshall

For this series of bloggy interviews, I’ve shared questions with young artists and musicians living in New York. This time: guitarist and singer-songwriter Eddy Marshall. I’ve met him through Berklee College of music and I’m excited that he wanted to be part of this little Q&A – couch session. In addition to the questions, we met up and played a few songs in my place in Brooklyn together. Next time I’ll make him sing too 🙂

Q&A with Eddy Marshall

* WHERE ARE YOU FROM, WHAT DO YOU MISS ABOUT HOME?

I’m from Falls Church Virginia. I miss my friend circle, my mom’s Steinway piano, and Super Chicken.

* FAVORITE PLACE IN THE CITY

The Williamsburg bridge late at night. I love walking home from gigs in Brooklyn and being able to see the whole skyline in front of me.

* FAVORITE NEW MUSIC

Lula Wiles has a new album coming out on January 25th that I’ve already listened to on NPR too many times. Scruffy Pearls just put out a new single that slaps and I THINK they have an album coming soon that I’m extremely excited for. I’ve also been listening to the GORILLAZ a lot and BOY is still a favorite.

* FAVORITE OLD MUSIC

As much as I think wailing guitar solos are meh, sometimes I still love shamelessly listening to classic rock at high volume. Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, etc. And I constantly listen to the Beach Boys and the Beatles so I can figure out fun ways to put absurd chords under singable melodies.

* WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE NON-MUSIC THING TO DO

I love reading and cooking.

* WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY WORKING ON MUSICALLY

I’m always writing new music and trying to build my cover repertoire. So basically, I’m writing the songs I want to play and learning the songs other people want me to play.

* WHAT’S YOUR GREATEST FANBOY MOMENT?

There is a band called Walk Off The Earth and they give away a free signed and drawn on a ukelele at every show. At Boston Calling in 2014, I was decked out in my WOTE gear and they came out into the crowd and gave me a uke! Still, have it on my shelf.

* CRAZIEST GIG EXPERIENCE

When I first booked a tour in 2015, I said yes to a three-hour gig and we probably had about an hour and a half of material. We just took so many endless instrumental solos and played so many different breakdowns and weird covers. We would take a song like “Take It Easy,” by the Eagles and make it 20 minutes long with sections of obnoxious swing and I don’t think the southern Virginia crowd of three was really feeling it.

* WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN 10 YEARS?

I hope I’m doing exactly what I’m doing now but at a much higher level. Playing gigs almost every night of the week with amazing musicians, cooking, baking, reading, and everything else, AND I will have a nine-year-old dog.

* YOUR WEBSITE

EddyMarshallMusic.com

* LINK TO A VIDEO OF YOU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeW7746Eeds

Singing for Beatrix

After a long period of closing, finally the Mauritshuis Museum in The Hague re-opened after their renovation. They did an amazing job, and if you haven’t gone, please do so. Their collection houses the Royal Cabinet of Paintings which consists of 841 objects, primarily Dutch Golden Age paintings; Vermeer, Rembrandt, Jan Steen and many more.

So for their opening events I played a couple of gigs with different guys, Jernej Bervar, Marciej Dormeradski, Frans van Geest and Martijn van Iterson.

Very special was that on one of those Princess Beatrix was invited and it was really cool to see her.

Anyway, here some pictures 🙂

Cheryl Bentyne

Screen Shot 2014-05-14 at 10.57.58 PMIts so amazing that Berklee invites all these wonderful musicians to give workshops and masterclasses 🙂

Today it was Cheryl Bentyne, known for singing with the Manhattan Transfer, one of the best vocal groups in the world. When studying jazz choir conducting I studied a lot of their music. And, since I am also a big fan of Bobby McFerrin I really love their version of ‘Another night in Tunisia’.

Next to her career with the Manhattan Transfer she also performs as a soloist and played with musicians like Kenny Barron, David Newman, Don Alias and Lewis Nash.

A couple of statements that resonated with me:

* trust in simplicity

* study the meanings of the songs

* you must bring joy

* instant fame is not the way

http://www.cherylbentyne.net/

Lizz Wright workshop

This week we had Lizz Wright visiting the vocal department of Berklee. Amazing.

2014-04-16 13.16.39Lizz Wright (1980) is an American Jazz/R&B singer and composer, originally from Georgia. She is mainly self taught and she signed a contract with Verve in 2002 and her first album, salt was released in 2003 and reached number two on the Billboard Jazzchart. You could compare her voice with Norah Jones, but you will find a lot of gospel influences. She is an very spiritual person, and the way she answered all our questions was touching. I am a fan 🙂

Here some short tips she gave us that I like to share.

* Try to “sit in the bass” when there is a nice blues shuffle

* When you improvise in a swinging tune, focus on the hi-hat.

* LIsten to Shirley Horn when you wanna learn the perfect spacing.

* Always for technique focus on your hips and shoulders when you do your exercises.

* Watch Dianne Reeves for microphone technique, but also for everything else she does.

http://www.lizzwright.net

A short video: