Reviewed by Ian Phillips.
By Marshall Potts, Let’s Go Alice Records 2021.
Another country crossover artist who is making some waves is Canadian Marshall Potts who has found an audience with his country rock/Americana compositions.
He comes from Kamloops, British Columbia, (locals, and apparently also the Dalai Lama, call it the centre of the universe so I suspect we’d refer to it as God’s own country) and many of his songs could be classified as bordering on stadium/arena rock rather than country.
The Storm is a case in point.
Apart from the subtle banjo in the background the song is pretty much a straight down the line rock track.
Marshall’s smoky vocals are easily adaptable to either the rock or country formats.
They’re powerful and yet contain some delicacy and vulnerability.
Most of his songs have a positive outlook, The Storm being one of the few that contain a sense of foreboding evident in the repeating lines “didn’t I warn you, didn’t I warn you enough.”
Generally his music is about positivity, optimism, and living in the here and now.
Marshall is a talented musician and his interwoven guitar lines are a feature of most tracks, The Storm in particular.
The Storm is the second single to be lifted from his up-coming third album called Free And Easy.
The title track has already been released to considerable interest both in his homeland and the US where it has featured in both the mainstream and country charts.
Potts has explained that the album “collectively tells the story of my own journey and inner awakening.”
It may sound like a self-help therapy session but both singles suggest that the music is good and worthwhile listening to.
Marshall Potts, like Australian James Johnston, has produced singles squarely aimed at the lucrative American Country scene however, of the two of them I feel that the Aussie’s two singles have a slight edge.
Or maybe that’s just nationalistic pride talking.
