Chris Marshall‘s debut full-length CD, August Light, is billed as “an exploration of life; tackling universal themes of love, travel, finding one’s self, friendship, betrayal, heartache, and redemption.” Friends of mine who know the guy — ’cause Portland is like Austin, a slow orgy, because everybody you know used to date somebody else who used to date your other friend who used to date you — so friends of mine who know the guy have mainly this to say about him, over and over: “he’s an earnest young man.”
Seeing Chris Marshall play at Portland’s Doug Fir Lounge, sandwiched between The Low Bones and the impressive and under-lauded Richmond Fontaine, I can’t help but think that his music certainly is earnest. Earnest in a sweet, non-threatening way. His songs have the easy rolling lilt of tumbleweeds across the dusty main street of a small country town. There’s a heavy influence suggested by some of these numbers from a very specific era and subset of Texas musicians: Freddy Fender, Jimmy Dale Gilmore – the sort of stuff that inspired my Canadian friends in the late 80s to buy embroidered western shirts and dream of moving south.
Those who like the earnestness of good country rock with most of the grittier
edges shaved off might enjoy August Light. Numbers like “Look Out Your Window” stick fairly close to the standard country twang. Very safe, thoroughly palatable for those partial to a cozy boot-scootin’ song. Other numbers, like “Every Time the Wind Blows” stray almost into U2 territory with the vocals; imagine if Bono and Bruce Springsteen — two other very earnest musicians, well-loved and with insanely long, lucrative careers — had a musical love child. In fact, it’s when Chris Marshall’s music dips a toe over the country line into foreign territory that it gets most interesting. He may identify as indie, roots-rock, or country, but it’s the unidentifiable components that give his music a little more zing.
[Chris Marshall CD release live at The Doug Fir Lounge, Portland, Oregon]
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