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(Ayo Bamidele writes) I first came
across Jamie Marshall during a performance at the 12 Bar club In London earlier this year.
was astonished at how this solo performance had captivated the audience so completely and
also that embers of the audience had
travelled a long way to see this "unknown" artist. It was obvious: really
dextrous guitar playing, great vocals and good songs - it was rootsmusic.
We interrupted Jamie's live schedule to
get a few questions answered.
1) How are things, you seem to be
playing live almost constantly these days, do you still get the same enjoyment from it?
Absolutely! I draw energy and strength
from playing live. I love the immediacy of connecting with people.
2) You are among several performers
who have made an artform of performing solo, I'm thinking of Richard Thompson, Glenn
Tilbrook and Billy Bragg among others. What's the secret of your success in this area?
There's no secret. Get out there and do
it. The more you do it, the more you become aware of what you are able to do. I learn
something new every time I play. It's so important to interact with the audience, I try to
present the songs very much as a single entity as opposed to the two separate elements of
playing the guitar and singing.
3) You've received a lot critical
praise for your guitar playing, when did you start playing and who are your influences?
My Mum and Dad bought me a guitar for
passing my "Eleven Plus" a few years ago! I was influenced by the pop music of
the day in particular The Beatles and The Beach Boys. I didn't play much through my
University years (I got too involved in Rugby and the usual social activities that go with
that particular sport). I rediscovered the guitar in my mid twenties packed up my job and
became a musician.
As far as influences are concerned, I
listen to singers who are also guitarists as opposed to guitar players per se. I listen
particularly to how their playing and singing compliment one another. As far as
individuals go, John Lennon (a fantastic rhythm guitar player), Richard Thompson, Clive
Gregson, James Taylor, and John Martyn are all fine examples of this. That said, I listen
to all sorts of music from Hendrix through to Bossa Nova.
I also enjoy great guitar players like
Django Reinhardt, Jimmy Nolen (James Brown's
guitar player), Steve Cropper and Martin Taylor (British Jazz guitar ace and member of
Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings).
4) Listening to your current album
HereAfter, I can't help but be impressed by the quality of songwriting especially the
lyrics, where does the inspiration came from?
Words are so important to me and
inspiration comes from a variety of sources. Sometimes songs just come along and you pick
them out of the ether and work with them - both John Denver and Keith Richards (how's that
for opposites) have made this comment and I believe it to be true. I'm a very sporadic and
lazy writer, I can go for months without writing, though this panics me a little.
Sometimes I'll just sit down with my guitar and play any old rubbish until something that
I like appears, other times it can be that I've overheard a phrase in conversation in a
shop or on TV and this can become part of the basis of a lyric. I very rarely think
"Right I'm going to write a song today" and certainly I've never done the
Nashville dentist appointment thing where two or more writers sit down together and try to
write a song in half an hour and then go to their next appointment and try to do the same
again.
5) One of my favourite songs is
Vagabond Heart, for the imagery it evokes, what was behind that one?
I'd been reading an article in Q
magazine about Robbie Robertson, who at the time was recording an album with Daniel Lanois
in an old house in the French quarter of New Orleans. The feature was full of anecdotes
not just about the city, but also about events in his life and some of the people he has
met. It conjured up some very vivid images to me. Images that were also reflected in part
in the Mickey Rourke/Alan Parker film "Angel Heart" and I began to write the
song that eventually became "Vagabond Heart." There are naturally references to
music, to Voodoo, and to the people and the mystique that the old part of New Orleans has
for me. I tried to capture the essence of these influences in the lyric. I met the blues
musician Walter "Wolfman" Washington, a New Orleans native, in a club in Basle
where my band and I were playing and we'd gone to a party in a student squat somewhere in
the city after the show. Two downstairs rooms each with a petrol generator. One for the
sound system and one for the fridge stocked with beer. We had a couple of drinks and he
shared a few stories about the city with me. The song was recorded more or less live, I
wanted to give the impression of a group of musicians playing after hours in a smoky
cellar club somewhere. The audience has left and only the band remain drinking, relaxing,
and playing the music they love.
The guitar solos were recorded live
with Micky (Moody) and I sat opposite one another playing off one another. Micky used this
wonderful old wooden bodied Dobro guitar from the 1930's and I played my considerably
younger Takamine EN20 C.
It's a city I've always wanted to visit
but so far I haven't made the journey.
6) Tell us about your career to date
what do you consider to be the highlights so far?
I began playing
"professionally" when I left my tedious 9-5 suit job. I wasn't made for that
kind of career. My first paid gigs were in Wine Bars in the West London area. In 1981 was
in someone else's band for about 10 days, we were going to be big in Denmark! The reality
was that he was a jerk, we rehearsed on a pig farm, lived in the back of a Transit and
people in their late teens and early twenties weren't ready for a crap Elvis impersonator
from Croydon!
I LEFT!
Playing live at The Festival Hall to
3500 people was pretty special. I've also played on Top Of The Pops with Don McLean which
I guess is one for the scrapbook. The first time I played the Telc music festival in The
Czech Republic was magical. I love playing the 12 Bar as well, and I've had some great
nights at The Half Moon in Putney (in the days when it was run by someone who cared more
about music than selling bottled lager).
7) Are you enjoying the independence
your experiencing now?
I love this life! Leaving the supposed
security of a career was the best thing I ever did. I can't imagine life without
performing and want to be doing this until I drop. I have this wonderful vision of me and
a few mates aged 70+ still making an ungodly din!
8) Are you optimistic about the
opportunities advances like the Internet, digital TV and radio could offer to independent
musicians?
In time, the Internet will become the
biggest influence in the way music is accessed, sold and promoted. It's especially
appropriate for artists like myself who essentially "niche market." I have my
own website wwwjamiemarshall.com and I view it as a bridge between me and my present and
potential audience. I see it more as a resource than a vehicle to sell records. People who
visit the website cannot only check out my musical history but also find out where I'm
playing on any given day in the week. They can even access maps for the gigs or find out
what strings I use (if that's their thing)!
Radio in this country is not very
friendly towards artists that don't record for major labels (real independent labels-as
opposed to major companies vanity labels don't have the same clout) if you don't have a
single to promote, neither Radio 1 or Radio 2 (the most listened to music Radio station in
the UK) will play your recordings with any amount of frequency - getting play listed is
very tough. Local Radio takes a much more sympathetic view - I recently played on a
daytime show on Radio Wales that gets 100,000 listeners. Better yet, I played 7 songs in
the space of two hours! I wouldn't get any thing like that from National radio.
Paul Jones at JazzFM is another of the
good guys.
I'm not sure how many people watch
Digital TV but I guess any exposure has to be beneficial.
9) What about the current live
scene?
It's pretty buoyant, there are some
great acoustic clubs throughout the country. In London The Kashmir Klub, The Playpen and
The 12 Bar are all great venues for singer/songwriters. Long may they run!
10) What are you plans for the
future?
At present I'm promoting my current
album HereAfter. Longer term I want to keep playing, writing and recording and to reach
the audience that is undoubtedly out there for my music.
For more information on Jamie
Marshall visit his website www.jamiemarshall.com.
Jamie will be playing live at the 12
Bar club on Saturday 9 December 2000
Ayo Bamidele - www.rootsmusic.co.uk
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