CRAIG MARSHALL'S TURNAROUND SHOWCASES ACCOMPLISHED CENTRAL TEXAS SONGWRITER IN ABSOLUTELY PEAK FORM

AUSTIN, Texas – Craig Marshall delivers personal narratives with an artist's eye (“As Far As I Can Tell”) and an alchemist's precision (“Hard Days”). Evidence: Turnaround. The flawless new collection spotlights the veteran singer-songwriter offering vivid vignettes with unmatched clarity (“The Only Thing I Have To Do,” “Feels Like Home”). Elegantly framed slices of workaday life map the landscape (“Last in Line”). “There are heartbreak and country songs, but also songs like 'Last in Line,' which is about making stuff happen in the moment,” Marshall says. “I return to themes like living life and getting things done while there's still time. I try to put a positive spin on the way time can take its toll.” The opening track might best represent his lyrical evolution. “'Before the Days Have Gone' opens with a scene when you're kids and there's a limited summer and you're trying to play and stay out late before summer's over,” Marshall says. “You know you have to go back to school or work. Then it moves into a relationship where the people don't live in the same place and space and there's also a limited time. The chorus talks about the wheels of time. The message is to use whatever time we've got and make the best of the moments.” The entire collection simply showcases a sharp lyricist capturing motion between sunrise and sunset with a singular focus (“The Only Thing I Have To Do,” “Leaving Behind”). Marshall's elegant yet straightforward approach frequently turns heads throughout the Lone Star state. “Craig Marshall's as good as it gets,” says noted hit songwriter and frequent collaborator Kostas Lazarides (Dwight Yoakam, George Strait, Dixie Chicks), “and he just got better.” David Ventura Garcia of Transient Mic goes further: “Craig’s music captures a duality of lyric and song that most songwriters overlook – the silver lining of a dark cloud, the rainbow that follows the rain and the true cost of falling in love... The vocal timbre and arrangement of his songs are backed by his life experiences that ring with truth. This album ranks up there with the best that Austin has to offer today. Put simply, his talent is too good to be missed and his songs too heart-felt to go unheard.” Turnaround doubles down on literate storytelling longtime enthusiasts expect. Marshall hopes the approach will continue to branch out his reach in the singer-songwriter world. “I'm looking to take my career to the next level, whether that's more house concerts or showcases and festivals,” he says. “I'm always licensing in the publishing world and looking for more film and television placements, but as an artist in the Americana scene my goal is more to showcase at festivals or book a tour opening up for a regional act. I think my music is ready for that.” Bookers, note: Marshall draws from a deep well of disparate influences from melodic pop stars Paul McCartney and Elvis Costello to Americana forefathers Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen to country legends Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson. “Roy Orbison is a big one, too,” he says. “My songs always start with a melody first, but I look to many of those songwriters for lyrical inspiration. They write really distilled lyrics, ones that aren't always long-form narrative storytelling. I write vignettes with universal themes where the songs are more about creating a feeling than a literal A to B to C story.” Now, a little back story: Native New Yorker Marshall was born in Syracuse and grew up in Fayetteville. He graduated from high school there and earned a degree in anthropology from Oneonta State University. “I worked in four-color printing and graphics before the calling of music shaped my life,” Marshall says. “I've been digging up song lyrics and excavating ideas for my music career ever since.” Marshall and his two brothers are all musically inclined. His younger brother plays in indie pop bands and a children's music rock band in Minneapolis. Marshall started early. He began teaching himself guitar at eleven years old and started singing and writing songs at thirteen. The songs he's shaped from his diverse influences has paid off. Marshall's songs have been chosen for several film and television soundtracks, including “Few and Far Between,” which was featured in Muck (2015). “Good for You” was featured in 3 References with a premiere at the Austin Film Festival in 2013. Additionally, “Small Reminder” was in the Hollywood film My Uncle Rafael,” released in 2012 and currently on Netflix, and When Harry Tries to Marry features three of his songs. He's also been covered by covered by The Kennedys, Charlie Faye, Trish Murphy and country rocker Penny Jo Pullus. Marshall has performed in many legendary festivals and venues, including SXSW, Southwest Regional Folk Alliance, Durango Songwriter Expo, Threadgill’s, Cactus Café, Strange Brew, Saxon Pub, One 2 One Bar, Houston's Anderson Fair in and has opened for national acts such as Steve Forbert, John Fullbright, Freedy Johnston, Chuck Prophet, The Mastersons, Sam Outlaw and more. He even manages to pursue various interests in his free time. “I enjoy sports like racket sports, golf and skiing,” Marshall says. “I also collect coins and art, but my primary love is music, which I would like to be known everywhere. My wish is to get my music out to more and more ears whether it’s ten more or ten million.”