All types of music are floating within CBC Music, and discovery has always been one of the joys of the blues community. From time to time, we will showcase one of the hundreds of artists who have created profiles and uploaded their own music for you to enjoy. There is a world of blues in here, and we will help you find it. Today, former CBC Music Searchlight contestant, Marshall Lawrence.
When CBC Music’s Searchlight contest got to round three, it was great to see a blues act make Edmonton’s top five. Delta blues-influenced multi-instrumentalist Marshall Lawrence goes by the moniker Doctor Blues, a title that was bestowed upon him by a guy in a bar.
AUDIOHave a listen to Marshall Lawrence’s Searchlight entry and some of his other music as you discover this Prairie bluesman.
The story starts like a bad joke: “A fellow walks in and sits at the end of the bar,” says Lawrence from his home in Edmonton, as he recalls the night when he was given his nickname. “He looked bummed out, but during the set he started to get livelier. I went to talk to him and he said, ‘When I came in here I was really bummed out, but when I heard your music you healed me, you’re the doctor of the blues.’”
Little did the fellow know that Lawrence was qualified by more than his musicianship to heal the blues. Lawrence has a PhD from Queen’s University, and was a practising psychologist for more than 10 years. His professional life has informed his music career, and vice versa.
“The blues is a healing music,” Lawrence says. “It’s like counselling, really. I’ll be singing about bad patches in my life and when people listen to it they say, ‘That guy got through it. If he can get through it, then I can.’”
As a former psychologist at a home for troubled youth, Lawrence has experienced the power of connecting with people through an appreciation of music. He talks about 14- and 15-year-old kids who had no desire whatsoever to talk to a shrink. But by ripping off a few riffs, Lawrence managed to break down barriers and connect with the kids through the shared ability of playing the guitar.
The profile Lawrence has posted on CBC Music notes his preferred blues sub-genres, specifically, 'neo-delta blues & roots - delta-style blues and roots with a raw edge and an acid twist,' and the three discs he has released since 2003. There is mention of a new album, House Call, set for release later this year. What doesn’t show up in his text, what Lawrence leaves for the music to tell, is the way blues has affected his life as both a doctor of psychology and as the “Blues Doctor.”
I asked Lawrence who has more wisdom, a guy with a PhD in psychology from Queen’s or a sharecropper with a guitar? His response: “You can’t answer that. We all have our wisdom. We just need to be open to hearing and not judging.”
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