Sam Marshall is a blues musician from Seattle. Spending the better part of his life in the Northwest, and the worse part too, Sam's blood runs four generations deep into the soil of the Northwest. It is this that most likely led him back to the old lonesome sound of the country blues. At the turn of this last century, after playing in some blues/funk bands around Seattle, Sam left Seattle for the city of Boston to attend Berklee College of Music. While absorbing the rush of the city around him, he immersed himself in the study of jazz. Most days you could find Sam holed up in his tiny apartment playing along with the records of jazz greats such as Coltrane, Bill Evans, Michael Brecker, Pat Metheny, Mike Stern and others. If he wasn’t there he was probably out seeking fellow students to put together a small ensemble and play late into the night. Toward the end of his time at Berklee however, Sam began to drift back to his blues roots. He began to realize the opportunity to incorporate improvisation into the roots music he loved. Discovering contemporary roots artists such as Tony Furtado and Kelly Joe Phelps (who was the main inspiration in Sam taking up lap-slide) Sam set to work on his solo repertoire with influences reaching as far back as Leadbelly, Son House, and Fred McDowell, to the more contemporary John Fahey. Since late 2005, Sam has been back in Seattle making the trip up and down the coast every couple of weeks playing the great cities of the Northwest including Portland, Eugene, Vancouver, Tacoma and Seattle among others. Along the way, he has had the pleasure of opening for blues staples such as Robben Ford, Joe McMurrian and Nick Vigarino. Fortunately, Sam’s diverse audience continues to grow, and there is nothing he enjoys more than sharing his music with an audience. Just now releasing his new album, The Absolution of Sunny Boy Sam (whose title refers to a name given to him by co-workers at his old landscaping job), Sam has opened his eyes, ears, voice, and fingers to all the influences that have shaped his musical style along the way. From old fingerstyle rags to jazz fusion, many styles can be found in Sam’s playing and its direction is always unknown, as it should be. The only sure thing is that Sam’s roots remain planted in the blues, the place where he feels he can speak freely and honestly, no matter how much it may have rained that day.