Still Going Strong…. After All These Years

One of life’s greatest pleasures is discovering new Americana music. But it’s even better to find that the ‘new’ music not only hails from Scotland, but is accompanied by a back catalogue stretching over ten years. The Wynntown Marshals are such a find, with a wonderful retrospective album ‘After All These Years’ released this month.

 My introduction to the Wynntown Marshals came via Iain Sloan, a stellar pedal steel and guitar player, who is an integral part of the UK’s Blue Rose Code and features on Peter Bruntnell’s recent tour. Sloan’s pedal steel playing has been exemplary in both these bands, leading me to track down the Marshals –  Sloan’s own band, which was formed with singer-songwriter Keith Benzie in 2007. ‘Whispering’ Bob Harris was quick to champion the Marshals after their glorious re-interpretation of LA Guns’ ‘Ballad of Jayne’, which also featured on the band’s first full length album ‘Westerner’ in 2010, – beating me to it by over seven years! That album, and the band’s 2008 debut 6-track EP (a rare second-hand copy of which is currently selling for £90 online), are now unavailable in hard copy, providing a perfect reason to release a retrospective for the band’s ten-year anniversary. Benzie and Sloan form the core of the Marshals sound, whilst the bass and drums section has evolved, with a new line up revealed earlier this year with the addition of drummer Simon Walker and bassist David McKee.  

‘After All These Years’ comprises 16 tracks, 3 of which are exclusive new recordings – a total of almost 80 minutes of superb music on a single CD. This is Americana merged with pop, with stellar musicianship at its core. The existing material is drawn from four different albums, from 2008 – 2015, with every track sounding exciting and polished. The tracks aren’t chronological, and without reviewing the back catalogue I wouldn’t have guessed that the whole album isn’t fresh from the studio this year. The new band line up is represented in a beautifully re-worked version of ‘Different Drug’.  Listening to ‘Red Clay Hill’, first released in the 2015 album ‘ the End of the Golden Age’, I love that this is red clay dirt from Scottish roots, producing some of the best Americana music out there.  The opening track, ‘Low Country Comedown’, taken from the 2013 album ‘The Long Haul’, is simply a classic which I instantly put on repeat play. 

For me, the standout track on ‘After All These Years’ is ‘Odessa’ – probably the slowest tempo on the album, which serves to highlight the beautifully crafted lyrics and the heart-pulling guitar sounds from Sloan and Benzie. ‘Odessa’ is followed by another slow-burner, ‘11.15’, from the Marshals’ debut EP, which builds into a percussion-filled, glorious chorus. These two tracks span the full ten years of the Marshals’ history – bookends of an amazing journey.

This is music that ‘just feels right’. It is timeless. Exceptionally well-crafted songs with perfect narratives, brought to life with guitar, keyboard and percussion that perfectly complement the songs. And of course, Iain Sloan’s signature pedal steel and guitar are there throughout, providing a cohesive sound and identity.

‘After All These Years’ is a glorious retrospective from a band that deserves much more recognition than they currently have. The previously unreleased tracks offer proof that the Marshals are still going strong and their journey is far from finished, with the album leaving me eager for more and excited to hear the band’s future direction.