Rob Marshall begs the Rain to wash away all his troubles in his new country-gospel single — premiering exclusively on Tinnitist.
Fuelled by Marshall’s ringing piano chords and hickory-switch vocals, decorated with guitar licks that slice the air and a haunting harmonica that floats around the edges, this slow country waltz channels the rustic elegance and earthy sincerity of vintage Willie Nelson. But it’s very much a product of present-day California — when Marshall came up with Rain, his girlfriend at the time was living around the corner in a historic, ghostly old house with a well-worn grand piano in the living room.
“We’d have huge parties there and it was a ball,” he says. “One time, though, we had an argument, and I left in the middle of a storm. I was walking home in the pouring rain, and I just started singing the chorus — the whole thing just hit me, fully formed.”
Marshall’s third single, Rain was co-produced by Marshall and Daniel Grimsland, with Marshall on acoustic guitar, bass, piano, and lead and backing vocals. The track also features Grimsland on drums, Matt Lomeo providing background vocals in addition to that sweet and mournful harmonica, and Marshall’s frequent collaborator and California Cavalry bandmate Jimmy Cormier on electric guitar. Rain was recorded by engineers Grimsland, Benjamin Knapp and Jim Scott, with Scott handling the mix.
Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Marshall has been cutting his teeth on the L.A. Americana scene for years now. On keys and vocals with his band The California Cavalry and also as a solo artist, he has performed and recorded with The Mastersons, Calling Cadence, Grammy winner Gabby Moreno, bassist Taras Prodaniuk (Dwight Yoakam, Lucinda Williams, Shelby Lynne) and keyboardist John Ginty (Neal Casal, Whiskeytown, Blind Boys of Alabama).
Born to a musical family in Ventura, California, Marshall was on the path from Day 1. His grandmother on his Dad’s side played organ and accordion and was known for having perfect pitch. His grandfather on his mother’s side was deep into African drumming. And his father and uncle played in a garage-rock band. “There are pictures of me banging on a drum when I’m one year old,” Marshall says. “And the piano was always there in the house. My sister has been going through old family videos and sending me clips, and as young as three years old you can find me just plinking away on the piano.”
Growing up, Marshall would always take piano lessons, quit every year or two, then start up again with a new teacher — until he finally settled on a local surfer named Greg. “He would come in straight from surfing, sand coming off his sandals,” Marshall says. “I would make mix CDs for him of stuff I wanted to play, and we’d sit down and figure things out. He taught me how to learn by ear, which was way more fun to me than reading music.”
By the time college rolled around, high-school Salutatorian Marshall knew he wanted to pursue music full-time, so he enrolled in the music program at UC Santa Cruz. There, he performed in operas and musicals, studying voice under opera singer Patrice McGinnis and accompanying pianist Mickey McGushin, both of whom he credits with changing his life. “They really set me on the course to becoming who I wanted to be,” Marshall says. “In the music department, it just felt like people really wanted to be there and were really giving themselves to their work, which is a big part of what drew me in. I decided that if I’m gonna do this for four years, I might as well do something I know will be valuable to me for my whole life.”
After graduating, Marshall went on to Cabrillo College, where he studied jazz improvisation for piano under trumpet player Ray Brown, who’d been a member of the U.S. Army Band in the ’60s. “He toured with a lot of the big bands of the era, just an incredible musician. You could play a solo and he could sing the entire thing right back to you on the spot. He was brilliant with melody, and was just the funniest, grumpiest old man. He’s been one of my biggest mentors and influences.”
After the jazz program, Marshall got a job as an assistant at engineer and lifelong family friend Jim Scott’s PLYRZ studio in Valencia (which would later host sessions for his debut solo singles). At PLYRZ, Marshall chalked up firsthand experience working on albums by artists like The Mastersons, Casal, Marcus King, The Whigs, Eric Krasno, Joe Satriani and more.
“I had an opportunity knowing Jim, so I came back to L.A. and worked as a gofer in his studio and he taught me so much. I sat there by the board and listened to him mix all these incredible records. The Mastersons is one that really stuck with me. They were in a studio for three weeks, damn near living in there. And there were all these great musicians in their community. I walked away from that session having made a lot of friends. I even contributed to a group vocal harmony that ended up on the record.”
In the end, though, Marshall realized he wasn’t enough of a gearhead to be an engineer. For a few years, despite his lifelong passion he fell out of pursuing music and focused on his day job at an orthotics company. “During this time, though,” Marshall says, “I’d always go to shows with my buddies, and would just have this nagging feeling, like, ‘I want to be up on that stage. What am I doing down here getting drunk at the bar?’ ”
Through friends he’d met during the pandemic, soon he was showing up for the open jam at music venue and pub Ireland’s 32 in Van Nuys, which is where he since connected with his band The California Cavalry and a thriving collective of L.A. musicians, many of whom ended up playing on his first recordings as a solo artist. Marshall’s debut single Other Friend was released in March, with the followup Honey Bear arriving in May.
“I finally ended up meeting the people I needed to meet,” Marshall says. “I’m at a point now where I’ve really grown to love L.A. I have such a profound community of artists around me who are all just great people. I feel lucky every day.”
Check out Rain above, sample Rob Marshall’s other singles below, and follow him on Instagram.
