Marshall Crenshaw: An Interview

ALBANY- Marshall Crenshaw works a few nights a month, criss-crossing the country, then returns to Brooklyn to take care of things at home.

“In the past couple of years, I’ve been doing solo performances pretty often,” said the man
best known for the hit songs he's given to others.

"I tend to go out a couple of days at a time,” he explains, referring to a work schedule that allows him to perform regularly and still spend time with his family.
“I play on the weekends and come back in time to bring my kids to school on Monday morning.”It is a home life that includes a 4-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son.

Never known for possessing a great technical voice, Crenshaw’s talent comes in scripting the verses of the love-struck and the love-lorn. Matching phrases with catchy tunes, his compositions have achieved their greatest popularity delivered by the likes of Bette Midler,
The Gin Blossoms and Robert Gordon.

There’s an honesty that permeates Crenshaw’s recent release, “I’ve Suffered For My Art ... Now It’s Your Turn.”
The 14-track CD captures the songwriter on stage, mostly sans band, in a February 2001 live appearance at Asbury Park’s famed Stone Pony.

The stripped-down renditions of “Someday, Someway,” “Cynical Girl,” and “Whenever
You’re On My Mind” are redefined in their new embryonic state.
Mostly. it is the integrity of his voice that rings true. His voice is an instrument that creaks as much as it soars, yet breaks, aches and careens down a familiar highway of everything that
makes rock ‘n’ roll fun.

“I try to get a rhythmic foundation, a groove,” Crenshaw said of his songwriting process.
“The first idea is tempo and feel. I’m looking for something that feels good to hear and perform, and something that rings true emotionally for me.”

He is celebrating the 20-year anniversary since his self-titled debut record was issued.
Early in his career, Crenshaw happened upon a number of acting roles. He played John Lennon in “Beatlemania” and Buddy Holly in “La Bamba,” although these “came at me from left field,” he said. While “they were pleasant surprises” at the time, he has no designs for pursuing an acting career he says.
His early influences remain a mainstay today, and listens mostly to ‘60s music, jazz, and
rhythm and blues, as well as being partial to the sound of vinyl for capturing the essence of the period in which the songs were recorded.
“At times it seems that here’s something lacking in the electronic transformation,” he said, referring to the transition from vinyl to CD. Life has been a transition as well for the New York City resident, post Sept. 11.
“You see the altered skyline all the time," says Crenshaw, always on his mind. "The emotional shock is still there with me.”

by Thomas Dimopoulos
The Saratogian, March 14, 2002.