Marlon St. John profile picture

Marlon St. John

About Me

I began writing songs about twenty years ago. I had started off playing drums in a country & western band back in Central Indiana when I was fourteen and then played for a bit in a bluegrass band until I realized bluegrass music does not require drums, in fact it is somewhat discouraged. I switched to guitar about that time.

Shortly thereafter I began playing melodies that sounded new too me—and for the most part they were truly awful. Twenty years later I am still chipping away at what, I believe, makes a tune good and how to avoid playing a song that leaves both the audience and myself wanting to bolt and run.
I have referred to my style as roots-pop. And that is to say that what we refer to as standards, songs like "More Than You Know", "Summertime", "Louie, Louie", and "King of The Road" all at one time or another were considered pop songs and the trait they all share is their simple, strong appeal. My ultimate goal is to write a melody as graceful as Berlin's "Blue Skies"; I am not quite there, but not yet disheartened to stop.
By 1994 I was married and living in Chicago. I began going to open-mics and acquainting myself with the local music scene. Meeting such players as Michael Smith, Ralph Covert, Mark Zeus, Roger Connelly, Kraig Kenning, Mark Dvorak and the like really sharpened my thoughts as to what makes a good song.
Musical highlights for me over the years have been shaking Bill Monroe's hand; opening for rhythm and blues powerhouse Delbert McClinton; hanging out after a gig with Leon Redbone eating hot peppers and talking about Tin Pan Alley; having Art Blakey rest his hand on the back of my chair when he emerged from a dressing room to check out the house; performing a live FM broadcast of our jazz band's final show at a beautiful outdoor gig; scoring original music for two theater productions (Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, and Beth Henley's The Wake of Jamie Foster); being invited to perform at the Two Way Street Coffee House for their 30th Anniversary Show; being asked to play on two records by Mark Zeus; and having the sax player in a former band introduce me to my wife at a gig some time back.

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My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 08/03/2007
Band Website: http://obelus.blogspot.com
Influences: Van Morrison, Tom Waits, you know...the usuals
Record Label: what's a record label?

My Blog

A Change Has Come: The New Politics

Barack Hussein Obama has become The President.  He has also become the avatar of a New Politics.  A small number of years ago, a man outside the mold of The Old Politics becoming the Executive would...
Posted by on Tue, 20 Jan 2009 18:30:00 GMT

The Second Coming: The End of The World

In 1912, in Shreveport, Louisiana around the time when the Titanic went under, Leadbelly, a local musician would maneuver into a tavern with a guitar and a small accordion to ply his trade. Instead o...
Posted by on Sun, 31 Aug 2008 00:43:00 GMT

A Change Is Gonna Come

August 28, 2008 - BILL'S BLUES, Evanston, IL I met Bill, actually two Bills, at Bill's Blues. "Are you Bill?" I asked as I swung on to a stool by a man with glasses and a laptop sitting at the bar. ...
Posted by on Sat, 30 Aug 2008 14:34:00 GMT

Podcast Appearance

So, the Podcast from Chicago Acoustic Underground is now up. Kris Nichols and I had a chance to sit down with Michael Teach for episode 106.
Posted by on Sun, 24 Feb 2008 20:02:00 GMT

Podcast appearance coming up

Ain't MySpace grand? I ran across the Chicago Acoustic Underground while keeping tabs on my friend Donna Adler. I wound up getting booked for an upcoming episode of Michael Teach's ongoing series of...
Posted by on Sat, 17 Nov 2007 09:26:00 GMT

Kris & I at Lovell’s of Lake Forest

This will be our first time at Lovell's. I understand it's a very comfortable, full scale restaurant w/ a killer menu and full bar. Check out their website for more info:http://www.lovellsoflakeforest...
Posted by on Wed, 15 Aug 2007 20:37:00 GMT