Ten years have passed since Bex Marshall’s last content release.
The London-based blues guitarist & songwriter has been travelling extensively in the interim and has successfully broken into a number of foreign markets.
Fortuna is the brand-new album offering from the roots-blues ‘n’ blues-rock guitarist. The album will be released on CD and digital by Dixiefrog Records on Friday 1 March 2024.
With the release, Bex fully establishes herself as a noteworthy musician on the world stage. She develops her own songs, plays slide-guitar like a tiger-wolf, and creates an authoritative album that comes jam-packed with clever motifs, compelling lead lines, and fearlessly driving rhythms.
For the album, Bex drew together an impressive troop of collaborators that included Richie Stevens on drums (Tina Turner, Simply Red), Toby Baker on keyboards (BB King, Eric Clapton), B.J Cole on Dobro (Elton John, Coldplay), Aurora Mannola on bass, Danny Bryan on percussion, and Shola Adegoroye. The album was engineered, co-produced and mastered by Nick Hunt (Dave Stewart, Boy George.)
Bex’s voice is filled with gust and vindication…
Raw Ramp Music Magazine
Bex also laid-down some bass-lines from her friend “Red Bass” (aka Robert Eugene Daniels) before the musician’s sad passing (during the Covid emergency.) The bass-play, recorded at Snakepit Studios, has been preserved and enshrined on five of the tracks.
“5am” the first single taken from the album (video shared below) is a dramatic ballad in blue & violet that opens with subtle waves of guitar. Bex’s voice is filled with gust and vindication. Throughout the song, her guitar blusters like the sail of a misfortuned schooner that has lost the east wind, enveloping the song structure in a mist of mesmerising regret. The song tells the story of a drunken fight with a lover that culminates in a drunken parley of acceptance. It is embracing and impactful!
“I grew up listening to Tina Turner. Vocally, she was my heroine. Her tone, soul, and vocal range was so versatile…” she says.
“Other influences include Eric Clapton’s cool guitar style, John Lee Hooker’s back porch flavour, Freddie King’s sting, Hose Feliciano’s flair, Janis Joplin’s ragtime, and Elton John and Bernie Taupin’s songwriting. I was lucky as my uncle had a stunning vinyl collection, and I was able to absorb all these relevant box ticking blues rock greats.”
“The album is where I am today musically and philosophically and reflective of the performer I am now,” the musician adds.
“I wanted to take the hard lumps out of life, and present them back in a different light, sometimes with humor, sarcasm, or resilience but always with a shed load of tenacity.”
Grab the single here: https://dixiefrog.lnk.to/5AM
Pre-order the album at Bandcamp: https://rocknhall.bandcamp.com/album/bex-marshall-fortuna
Words: @neilmach 2024 ©
Images: Photo Credit © Rob Blackham