Rooted in the gritty swamps of southern country blues combined with the precise simplicity of Appalachian folk, Corbin Marsh Band brings a unique style to the Athens music scene.
“I’ve been into that style of music since I was an early teenager when I heard the Grateful Dead’s album Workingman’s Dead and Bob Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde,” said Corbin Marsh, guitarist and lead vocalist for the band. “These were my first love affairs and I just took off from there.”
Corbin Marsh Band will play their first show as a full band since the early fall at Casa Nueva, 4 W. State St., alongside Joshua P. James & The Paper Planes and Rattle Trap String Band on Friday.
Marsh said he’s able to create his signature gritty blues sound through his 1954 Epiphone Century guitar and 1973 Fender amp.
“It’s like my dream guitar. I’ve always wanted it for many years,” Marsh said. “It’s designed to have a jazz sound, but when I put it through my (rig) it has this great dirty growl blues sound.”
The band released their first five-track EP, Wheel Spinning ‘Round, last year. The track “Match and Timber” is about Marsh’s breakup with a girlfriend who seemed determined to burn all bridges in their relationship.
The track’s chorus, “Match and timber, burn it to the ground, you really know how to bring a good man down,” refers to his ex burning any good will that could have remained between them.
“It’s about someone who you really cared about and didn’t treat you very well,” Corbin said. “Sometimes after a breakup you feel defeated or like a shell of what you used to be, so that’s where that song comes from.”
Those feelings were also reached thanks to the ambient steel guitar played by Stephen Karney over the chorus.
Marsh has made a number of friends in the Athens community including Troy Gregorino, booking agent for Donkey Coffee and Espresso, 17 ½ W. State St., who described Marsh as quiet in conversation but explosive on stage.
“With Corbin you’re getting someone who is really invested in his work and really genuine and impassioned about his music,” Gregorino said. “He’s got this understated side and then the transformational process when the music starts turns him into this energetic performer that’s fun to watch.”
wh092010@ohiou.edu
