British blues guitar ace Bex Marshall is being modest when she says she’s “cobbled together” all her interesting styles of guitar playing that started as a child, following her as a world-traveling songwriter/musician. After spending the past ten years touring and tapping into international markets, she’s releasing her long-awaited studio album, Fortuna, out March 1. “Yes, it’s been quite a trip,” Marshall tells me, “minus the lockdown – in which time I created and made this record. When I released my last record, The House of Mercy, it was a huge springboard for me to finally get out on the road, to sow my musical seeds. I had my U.S. agent, my work visa, a good record, and I was off… working it from the ground up.”
A lot of her touring has been stateside, treading the beaten path with her three-piece band. And she’s got some stories to tell. “I just loved the road, then came the lockdown. I have good friends I have stayed with over the last ten years. One of my best friends, Vikki Hein from Memphis – whose father is the late great Scotty Moore – I remember when I first visited her she got out all these vintage guitars for me to play. I was surrounded by about 50 dream guitars; it was heaven. Now it’s like my second home. Vikki also introduced me to Scott Coopwood, who I co-wrote ‘I Can’t Look you in the Eye’ with.
“Red, my good friend and bass player for many years, had a heart attack on stage at the start of a biker festival show. We nailed the first song then called an ambulance. He was ok, but it was a surreal experience flying down 50 miles of back road in Iowa following an ambulance after playing to hundreds of bikers moments before! Red survived but it meant finding another bass player short notice. The only guy who could was an old fella, Sonny and Cher’s bass player from 1961. He agreed to come on the road with us for the next seven days. The time lost meant 10-hour drives, skipping meals, and power-teaching him the songs in the car all day. He was slightly deaf. It was a hardcore week, but we did have a few laughs. Just before we drove back to the hospital to collect Red, the bass player took us for a $500 dinner saying he had a blast with us and loved being back on the road for that week. Turns out he was a millionaire and told us we were welcome to stay with him any time we come back to South Dakota. The USA has been an incredible place to tour for me. I always get a fantastic welcome. I have christened many House of Mercys in the USA!
“Other markets like Brazil… I love the Brazilian passion for music and will be heading back there at the end of this year. I embedded myself in to the heart of the country staying months at a time soaking up culture. Australia, too; I had great shows there, including a place called the Lions Den in Cairn. The barmaid suggested I take the scenic route back, that turned out to be the Cape Tribulation Road. All the rivers around the area were flooded! I was driving a plastic 4×4 hire car with no breather pipe and the “scenic route” turned into a near death experience, The revs and power were fading; the engine almost cut out as we approached the top of the hill. We were then greeted with a 45 degree-angle mud soaked slope which hit a flooded river full of snakes and crocodiles. Then after three of the same hills and rivers later, a crumpled front bumper, an engine full of water and my nail marks on the steering wheel, we made it to a garage.
“Holland, Russia, Norway, Czech Republic, it goes on… Lots of hard work, rain, shine, snow, and I have worked with some incredible musicians. My natural happy place is being on the road, taking my music to places I would never go to normally.”
Fortuna was recorded at House Of Mercy Studios and Snakepit Studios in London, produced and arranged by Bex Marshall and Nick Hunt (Dave Stewart, Boy George, Placebo, George Clinton). “It’s a little log cabin in the middle of London’s Crouch End, with a plethora of history and memorabilia adorning the shelves and walls. It was built and used as a radio studio for several years by my late husband. Over his last few years he recorded and interviewed touring bands who came through London and we would put them up, feed them and generally look after them for their stay, thus the name House of Mercy.” When her husband, legendary London music promoter Barry Marshall-Everitt, was dying from cancer in 2017 she stopped touring to be with him until the end.
“From the time I met him he inspired and mentored me. Without him I wouldn’t be here doing this. He threw me the music baton when he died, and I’m running with it. He understood the road and championed me always, wanting me to be the best I could possibly be. We created the House Of Mercy and we continue it in the studio in London and Cyprus, and I love to take that inspiration on the road. A radio DJ, music promoter and tour manager… being married to him was like having real life masters degree in rock n’ roll history. He recorded the first ever 1971 Glastonbury Fayre album (from under the first pyramid stage). He was an original pirate DJ on the Mi Amigo (the ‘boat that Rocked’) on KDKB ‘Rock Around the World.’ He had so many fantastic tales. Barry ended his music career booking seven nights a week, sold out shows at The Borderline London. It was another wonderful time for me, being able to watch the best US Americana acts coming in to the UK and breaking into the London scene.”
Marshall was born in Plymouth, England the product of two disparate families: her great grandfather was the Squire of Cornwall, and on her mother’s side her great grandmother was the original fairground fortune teller Madam Olga. Her father’s admiration for Jose Feliciano inspired her to pick up the guitar so that she could play for him. She was just eight years old when she got lessons from a fingerpicking hippie named David Prout. “Sadly, he died from a drug overdose, but not before I saw him to tell him I had made my first record. I remember his face beaming with pride. That was the last time I saw him. My mother was running a pub and arranged guitar lessons with him for me. I would hang out in the “biker bar“ lounge, which I found out later was an official Hells Angels meet. It had a great classic rock jukebox… which brings me to Eric Bell. I played with him many years later at the Clonakilty Guitar Festival in Ireland. It inspired me to learn his iconic solo in ‘Whiskey in the Jar’ as a ragtime. I had to tune the A string down to G to make the bass lines work on that one. I religiously listened to my uncle Alex’s vinyl collection which educated me in classic blues and Americana at the time. He taught me how to be gentle with the records and clean each one afterwards with a velvet cloth. It was an eclectic collection, but I took a little from a lot – soaking up guitar licks from the likes of Mark Knopfler, Freddie King, Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt, Muddy Waters, Jeff Beck, Hendrix.”
At age 11 she was given a 1963 Gibson Hummingbird by her Uncle David, and started playing instrumentals and classical guitar standards. She favors fingerpicking and electrifies that style with slide and free form ragtime. “My acoustic playing led me into classical, flamenco, and ragtime. I began indulging in complicated jazz instrumentals like Gershwins ‘Summertime,’ Scott Joplins ‘The Entertainer,’ and John Williams ‘Cavatina.’ I could play all these by the time I was about 15. I love a good instrumental, from Peter Green’s ‘Albatross’ to Don Reno’s ‘Duelin’ Banjos.’ I was fortunate enough to meet the Reno Brothers (sons of Don). Don and Dale also guest on my House Of Mercy Album.”
Marshall’s lead guitar, matched by soaring vocal lines, slice through her new album with skillfully understated hooks and heavy blues-rock flamenco finesse. “I develop the songs into something which in my imagination pushes in one direction. it’s always about the words, the craft of bringing out the sentiments with the chords and licks. Influences are just influences; they send me on the trajectory to where it begins, then it goes through the Bex Marshall spin cycle and may come out shrunk to hell or xxx large. As my style has evolved I think it’s much easier for me to play free form ragtime over the last few years. It sounds like there are two or three guitars playing sometimes. It’s a hell of a lot of fun!”
She’s returned to recording with a renewed outlook, noting that she’s not as worried about the process as she was before. ”It helps having a studio to work in at home, but I have faith in my gut and what I have learned since the last record, it’s good to hand the reins over for certain things, I realized that I have everything I needed to record at the Snakepit, and the songs are really the most important thing for me; they had to be something which were relevant to me and made me happy when I played them live. I definitely had an image in my mind’s eye at the beginning of the recording process, then slowly it developed the way I envisaged it. I’m so thankful to the musicians that helped me create that. I wanted to create a body of work that belongs together, with the core vocal binding them to a unique musical flow of songs – a primarily upbeat record. I wanted make a guitarist’s record. To step forward to the next stage of performance for me while reflecting some moments that can define the last few years of my life. I had the vision and when things came to mind my gut said yes or no. That’s how it happens with me; I keep going until I feel I need to abandon it and let it go.”
Marshall recruited Richie Stevens on drums (Tina Turner, Simply Red, George Clinton), Toby Baker on keyboards (B.B. King, Eric Clapton, Alexander O’Neil, Sinead O Connor), B.J Cole on dobro (Elton John, Coldplay, Sting, Shania Twain, Robbie Williams), Aurora Mannola on bass, Shola Adegoroye on gospel vocals, Danny Bryan on percussion (Taj Mahal), and the late Robert Eugene Daniels on bass. The final track of the record, “When It’s Gone,” was recorded in remembrance of Eugene “Red Bass” Daniels, although written several years earlier. “When we recorded Fortuna the talent in the room was focused and super sharp. The tracks were fairly new, although we had demoed them in the studio through lockdown. They needed to come alive and getting the vibe right in the Snakepit was a serious musical coming together. It’s not a big space; the air gets hot and intense after a while. That’s why it’s called the Snakepit. It gets sweaty and almost spiritual when the music starts, and when the musicians exit it’s like there’s been a musical exorcism.
“We worked fast and we laid down the tracks in around six or seven days. These super talented folks tore it up in there. We then started to edit. Nick is so great. When it comes to engineering he just flies through the raw tracks. Nick and I worked together on my previous release, so it’s like a proven formula. We knew how each other worked and respected that. I think it’s difficult to find people you click with at a level, but he knows how to bring the best out in me and all of the musicians in the studio. I wanted to take as much time as needed for the mix, several weekends and odd days over several months. I also needed to give myself breaks from listening to the tracks over and over, with fresh ears listen to it through until I was happy, (but) not looking for absolute perfection. Nick lectures at one of London top sound engineering colleges and the album was submitted for his masters degree which he passed with flying colors!”
“These days I am more confident in the production process; I am much happier to think about the idea of collaborations whether it be musically or in a production, after I started hosting bi-annual writing retreats in North Cyprus. I started enjoying collaborations much more, working with people with a certain expertise in different styles and backgrounds. It’s a challenge to write with other artists and it’s a joy to bring out the different aspects of music arrangements, etc. I’m always learning about music production is a never-ending learning curve to write something and let someone else produce and even sing it. I co-wrote a song recently while on a writing retreat of Chris Difford’s (Squeeze) for Pamela Anderson to sing. It’s one of my favorite tunes right now. I could definitely hand over the reins to that one!”
A few years ago Marshall was asked to be “the voice of Janis Joplin,” as she puts it. She went on the road with Joplin’s original band members from Big Brother & the Holding Company. Sam Andrews, the original guitarist, regaled her with stories about Joplin and said “I gave her the first job and you the last.” Greg Douglass from the Steve Miller Band was also on that tour with Marshall, and later this year he will be a guest songwriter at her retreat. “Greg was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a songwriter. I think he’s a killer guitar player as well as a funny character, full of road dog stories.”
Marshall plans on doing a 2025 full tour of the album, including stops in the U.S. “I have things popping up already in the States – Clarksdale MS, North Carolina in November. I’ll keep my website updated so folks can see what I’m up to, I’ll be in and out like a fiddler’s elbow.” In the next few months she will be touring the UK and Europe concentrating on the bi-annual writing retreats in Cyprus scheduled in June with Nick Moss and October with Greg Douglas. “Im hoping to start planning and plotting some new recording projects as I go. I guess I’m hoping to get back to where I left off with the touring, and I’m certainly not going to leave it another 10 years to do another record. I’m just getting started!”
