Marshall Lawrence, a veteran carrying the blues torch in Edmonton, will be playing Fort Smith’s Friendship Festival this year, pushing the boundaries of the blues.
Lawrence has earned the moniker “the Doctor of Blues,” not just because he actually has a PhD in psychology, (making the pseudonym that much more appropriate) but because an uplifted fan noted that after seeing Lawrence, he “felt better about himself and saw that there is still passion in the world.” Lawrence shares this passion, expressing himself through a genre he’s dubbed Acid Blues, combining elements where “freedom of expression, experimentation, melody and space are paramount.”
“Blues helps us laugh at our troubles, helps us put them in perspective and helps us move on. It lets us know that we’re not the only ones that have experienced bad patches in our lives. I owe a lot to the blues,” Lawrence said.
From the age of ten, Lawrence experimented with a diverse range of genres, “doing the rock thing, the punk thing, the funk thing and [I] came right back to [my] first love, the blues.”
His influences are evident when listening to the trichotomy of sounds on his albums, ‘The Morning After’ and ‘Where’s the Party?’, both of which will be available for purchase at the festival this year. Lawrence will also showcase material he’s recorded for his new album, ‘Blues Intervention,’ which is due out in October.
The Doctor says he’s excited to play the “top notch” festival this year and to rekindle the friendships he made last year. You can visit Lawrence’s website at www.doctorblues.com, and can purchase his albums online at www.cdbaby.com