Marshall Lawrence
House Call
CD Baby 10400
http://chickenwilson2.blogspot.ca/
A native of Alberta, Canada, Marshall Lawrence plays bottleneck slide as well as anyone I’ve heard, which goes to show that Blues is indeed a universal language and Lawrence speaks it very well. Having met briefly through LinkedIn, I was essentially approaching this CD blind. Many reviewers sit down with an album, play it through and write as they go; I do things the old way. I find myself living with an album before making up my mind. I feel that in all fairness to the artist there is too much at stake to make a rash decision. I find myself listening to an album for a dozen times or more before making an announcement to the world. The playing on this disc is exceptional. It is some of the sweetest work I have heard. In all honesty I had one small problem when I started listening to House Call…the vocals were just too clean. There’s nothing here that a jug of moonshine and a few months in a smoke-filled room would not take care of. Oddly enough, the more I listened to this recording, the more the vocals grew on me. It began to dawn on me that Lawrence played somewhere between blues, bluegrass, country and folk. This man is a first-rate storyteller weaving his stories in some of the most beautiful song I have heard. Playing at times like a man possessed and at other times with a sweet gentle tone like a man playing with everything he’s got to try to impress that special lady who is just steps from the door. In either case Marshall gives it 100% every time he steps up to perform. A little research has shown me that he has received every honor that Canada bestows on its blues players. While I almost never read reviews and pay no attention to critics, I have to agree that Marshall Lawrence has got what it takes. A top-notch player backed with an equally talented band Marshall Lawrence is the real deal and House Call is one fine piece of work. I would be amiss if I didn’t mention that he has written all but two of the albums thirteen tunes. Call it what you will, I have two words for it…Damned Good! – Bill Wilson
