 | Thisbiography of a living personneeds additionalcitations forverification. Please help by addingreliable sources.Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced orpoorly sourcedmust be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentiallylibelous. Find sources: "Marshall Lawrence" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(February 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Marshall Lawrence | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1956 (age 68–69) Flin Flon, Manitoba |
| Origin | Windsor,Ontario, Canada |
| Genres | Blues,rock |
| Instrument | Steel-string acoustic guitar |
| Website | www |
Marshall Lawrence (born 1956) is a Canadian musician. Lawrence is often referred to as the "Doctor of the Blues", as he also works as a psychologist.[1][2]
Lawrence was born inFlin Flon, Manitoba. After the age of 10 he moved to and grew up inWindsor, Ontario.[3] At the same time he became interested inrock and roll and asked his father for aguitar. Lawrence enjoyed his Echo semi-acoustic guitar and inspired byJimi Hendrix was determined to learn how to play it.
Lawrence played his first gig in 1969 inWindsor, Ontario, with a band named The Peanut Gallery, playing a 1969Gibson SG through aFender Dual Showman. He blew an amp playing "Johnny B. Goode." As ateen, he spent most of the 1970s and 80s exploring guitar rock styles, while being employed at a car factory in Windsor. Later on in his life, Lawrence moved east toKingston to pursue a Ph.D inpsychology.
Lawrence followed the techniques of his famous idols, the 1970s all-star power guitarists,Chuck Berry andJohnny Winter by buying their albums. He then found himself coming home to theblues ofB.B. King. Next, Lawrence discoveredEddie Hazel fromFunkadelic, a Jimi-inspired guitarist whose style at that time was considered popular who blended funkyJames Brown. Lawrence began to play 1970sfunk,groove andreggae with the groups Masala and Shock Walter. Simultaneously, Lawrence began experimenting withMIDI technology, by playingTower of Power-style horn lines, a soloflute and digital FX on his Roland-equipped Strat.
By 1996, Lawrence started to feel that he had matured well enough in blues music so he returned singing blues with the Marshall Lawrence Band. His work took him to NorthernCalifornia where he could'n find any blues scenes to play, mostly because of his not being familiar with the area. Without any blues music there for him, he purchased and learned how to play themandolin. He then joined a localbluegrass band, playing mandolin, by the name of the Tubtones. According to Lawrence, this taught him a great deal about rhythm and contributed to his current sound.
Lawrence returned to Canada in 1997 and having heard of an active and talented blues community inEdmonton, Alberta,[3] he moved there. In less than two weeks after relocating, he formed aR&B group. named it Rhythm Chil'un, and secured a house gig at Brandy's Blues Bar.