Artist, musician and producer John Marlin fell in love with playing guitar at the age of twelve and from there the rest is history. He currently has three songs out that talk about life and love. He has produced Granger Smith fan favorites such as “That’s Why I Love Dirt Roads” “Six String Stories” and “Chevys, Hemis, Yotas and Fords.” You can find John shredding the guitar on tour with Granger Smith this year on Smith’s “Country Things” tour.

We sat down to talk with John about all things music, his dreams for his solo music and what his favorite and least favorite thing about touring is!

BC: What can you tell us about your background with music and how you got started?

Marlin: “I feel like I have fell in love with music like how a lot of people I know do. I really resonated with rock music in my early teenage years which is also when I really started loving music. A lot of my friends were listening to rock bands and we were passing around CDs when CDs were still a thing. My mom had actually started taking me to concerts at a young age. I remember around eleven or twelve we started going to concerts together and that definitely sparked my interest with it. I also had a lot of friends that had guitars laying around, or their parents would have cheap electric guitars so we would learn some simple basic rock riffs. I started noodling on guitar with some of my friends and I clicked with it - they all moved on from it onto something else and I just stuck with it.”

BC: Do you remember the first song that you learned to play on guitar?

Marlin: “Yeah, it’s Smoke on the Water - that’s one of those rock riffs that anybody can play so that’s the only riff my friends could play so I decided to play that too and you play that and move on to some sort of other easy song. I would put money on it that the overwhelming majority of people that learn guitar, the very first song or riff would be Smoke on the Water for sure.”

BC: Other than music was there something you were equally or more passionate about growing up or even now?

Marlin: “Around the same time - mid teenage years I pursued tennis heavily. I wanted to go to college and play tennis and I competed for the majority of my high school years. I kind of got burnt out with that and then started to do music.”

BC: How did you start playing guitar for Granger?

Marlin: “I started playing in country bands my senior year of high school. I had some friends that were musicians and they had a rock band in my small town. I was hanging out with them and they had started to play country because that’s where you start to make money here in Texas. I just wanted to play music and I started to play in their country band and from there on I played with a bunch of different small country bands and we bounced around and moved onto other bands and played for different artists. I started played for more noticeable Texas country artists and they had pretty good regional success for Texas country singing. I was about nineteen or so and I played with this guy Bart Crow for a couple years and he was familiar enough in the scene that every country band in Texas knew this guy. so when Granger was looking for a new guitar player I had a friend that knew Granger and he had recommended me. Granger called me out of the blue one day and I knew of him but I didn’t know his music. Whats funny is that a band I was in earlier we had opened for Granger two years before I started playing for him. So he called me and we hit it off over the phone and I sent him some videos of me playing and dissecting some of his songs and he believed it was a good fit. He told me to come out on the road for a month for a trial period and we would revisit in a month and see how it’s working out and we never revisited.” Marlin tells us, “Five years later he will still joke sometimes that I’m still on my trial period.” He laughs.

BC: Is it nerve-wracking for you to play large crowds?

Marlin: “Not really, a little bit. It’s more like excitement but you can get a little bit anxious if we’re playing a really big show. It’s more so excitement nowadays. I used to get stage fright a lot but after five hundred shows - playing that many times you know the worst thing that happens is you mess up and it’s not the end of the world. You’re not that worried about it, but early on for sure.”

BC: How does it feel to have played such a numerous amount of shows?

Marlin: “It’s just as exciting! There’s the feeling of being way comfortable which is awesome and what you want.”

BC: Versus when you were starting playing for smaller crowds and now playing for arenas, what is that like for you?

Marlin: “I don’t know if this is cliche but it was just as fun playing in front of not so many people compared to a stadium. It’s more pressure but its equally just as fun. I remember the first time on stage, my sixth grade talent show. I remember it being such a thrill and from there playing bars where you’re just background music - that was super fun. When I play with Granger in front of thousands of people it’s a thrill but when I go to a coffee shop and sing my own songs it’s just as fun to me.”

BC: When you were a kid playing guitar with your friends did you ever think you would be where you are now?

Marlin: “I definitely wanted to be. I was pretty confident and was going to do everything to get there. I knew that I was going to try my best. I just knew this was what I wanted to do.”

BC: Since you’ll be on the road later this year what is your favorite part about being on tour and least favorite part?

Marlin: Other than the shown- which is the best part, my favorite part about being on the road is not really having an agenda. I feel pretty busy at home, I’m a parent so when I’m the road the only agenda for me at least and for the band guys is to play the show. The whole day I have whatever I want to do and I can go hang out, check out the city we are in and catch up on work. It’s nice to enjoy a slow paced day. I feel like the other guys with families would say the same thing. My least favorite part is a generic answer but it’s true which is being away from family. Luckily we live in the modern age where FaceTime is a thing and we’re all talking to our kids everyday.”

BC: What is it like going from 0 to 100 on show days?

Marlin: It’s an exciting thing. It’s a funny thing because I feel like at home my schedule is so different because I’m on your average parent schedule going to sleep at nine or ten pm everyday at home. On the road that’s like what time we’re starting a show. It’s exhilarating though. It’s zero to one hundred and right back down to zero real fast. I’m worn out at the end of a show.”

BC: What have you learned at this point in your life about music?

Marlin: “That it’s an everlasting journey, something you never master. It’s something you always are trying to get better at, something you’re always trying to understand. Music is an extension of yourself and it very much is a reflection of yourself and kind of your inner state. The more comfortable you are with yourself as a person like the better you play musically. For instance we were talking about nerves. Nerves come from you being worried from what other people think. Which is natural for all of us to do. Sometimes we worry too much and it definitely inhibits your performance. The less you care about the stuff and the more at peace you are with whatever happens the more you can be in the moment the better you play. I feel like it’s definitely a reflection of your inner world.”

BC: When was it that you sat down and wanted to release music of your own?

Marlin: “After having played with Granger for a little while I had always kind of recorded music and not necessarily wrote songs but i was always recording and making little demos. I started getting involved in the songwriting scene in Nashville and writing with other people and I did that for a couple years heavily. The songwriting game in Nashville is you write a bunch of songs and you hope other people will record them and so I did that a lot but I honestly got really burnt out. I was working on all this music and very seldomly would it have a chance at actually being recorded by somebody. I decided i wanted to be in control and be able to release music if I want to. I wanted to be able to creatively express myself where I wanted to and not having any barriers. I decided that I had to learn to sing so I and I started working on my own sound for creative fulfillment.”

BC: As far as songwriting goes, where do you get your inspiration from?

Marlin: “Life and whatever I’m personally dealing with, whether it’s positive or something negative. Even if you’re not intentionally trying to, you’re always kind of writing about something that is relevant to you in someway. I think it’s a broad answer but as far as inspiration goes I think other artists; artists that I have loved growing up and music that is coming out now that connects with me. It’s all the collective things that interest you subliminally.”

BC: I want to touch on your song, “Not Enough,” What can you tell us about it?

Marlin: “That song came from a couple years into playing with Granger. I was going through a quarter life crisis - for whatever reason I just didn’t feel satisfied and I really did not feel content and I didn’t know what it was that I needed to do. The irony is I thought about it, ‘why am I feeling discontent?’ and I looked at my life and I’m playing in a very note-able band, I’m living on a tour bus and traveling the world for a living playing music and I’m like literally doing what sixteen year old me dreamed of to a T. I came across an Instagram post that I made when I was seventeen and it was a picture of a tour bus at a concert I went to and I was like, ‘one day I’m going to live on one of these,’ I actually looked at my life and I’m like, ‘I got everything I want. Specifically.’ The song was just trying to process that and that happiness is a process. That song is a deeper song for me even though it’s a rocking song I guess.”

BC: When do you know when it’s time to release a certain song?

Marlin: “I don’t know, i’m trying to get better at that. For instance I have a ton of music- so many songs that I want to release and get out there that maybe I haven’t quite finished yet or hasn’t felt right to release. It’s a tough question, obviously whenever you have a song that’s done and it feels relevant to you is probably when you should put it out. It’s still something I’m trying to learn though - waiting for the perfect moment, saying ‘hey I just wrote a song’ and move on to the next.

BC: Do you have a favorite song of yours?

Marlin: “No, not really. I don’t have favorite song - I mean I only have three songs out right now but I have probably one hundred songs that I’ve written in the past few years. I don’t plan to release all of those. I think they all relate to different things you have going on - it’s almost like timestamps of ‘oh that was me at that point in my life.’ They are little mile markers for your journey.”

BC: Aside from being a guitarist and writing your own songs you have also produced songs for Granger Smith, what is producing those songs like?

Marlin: “Oh man, producing songs for me is both the most fun and fulfilling thing for me but also the most stressful thing for me at the same time. I’m just a perfectionist and I’m trying to get over that. I want things to be as best as they can. I love working with Granger because obviously I know his sound pretty well working with him for the past five years. Just getting to be creative and create something out of nothing, It’s the best feeling. It’s so cool to take an idea and make it into something that people can latch onto and find meaning in.”

BC: For you when producing when do you feel a song is at it’s best?

Marlin: “That’s a loaded question - producing and the same with writing too there is no perfect song. Every time you record a song you are going to move on from it and when you finish it there’s going to be stuff that you might have wished you did different or could have done. Eventually you just have to give it your best and make the decision that the song is done and move on. As the creator it’s never quite perfect ‘perfect’ at least in the moment. I would say it’s trying to create something genuine and authentic.”

BC: What can be expected from you in the near future?

Marlin: “I got a lot of music that I’m going to hopefully release before too long. All my past songs have just been done by myself so lately I’ve been trying to find some other people to work with and help me bring those songs to life. Hopefully before the end of the year I’ll be releasing a few more songs. My goal is to put out a song every month or six weeks. I’m trying to get a handful of songs where I can do that. Other than that performing with Granger. I love the the train that I’m on right now so hopefully keep it on the tracks and keep it rolling.”

Music is an extension of yourself and it very much is a reflection of yourself and of your inner state. The more comfortable you are with yourself as a person like the better you play musically.

JOHN MARLIN

BC: Do you have advice for those who want to be apart of the music industry?

Marlin: “Don’t overthink it, just do it. Even if you can’t see where the opportunities are just by putting yourself out there and playing shows, posting or connecting with other people. Those opportunities even if you can’t see them, if you continue to chip away at them, those opportunities will come up. The opportunity I had was not only career changing for me but life changing for me. It definitely came very unexpectedly. Especially with music it’s not like the formal job world where you can go to college after you get a degree or pursue whatever field and put in applications. Music is a bit more word of mouth and has a bit more of a looser structure and you can’t always see where those opportunities are going to come from. The more you pursue it, the more you make yourself available for those opportunities, they will definitely come.”

BC: What’s one of your favorite venues and cities to play?

Marlin: “There are so many places I like. One of my favorite places to play with Granger is a venue called, ‘The Intersection’ in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Granger has a huge fan base there in Michigan so whenever we play there it’s literally the most intense crowd. It’s so much fun and energetic.” Marlin tells us, “Favorite city that I’ve been to is Brisbane, Australia. I really really enjoy it there. Really it’s Australia in general, it’s way cool! I’m trying to think of the a city in the state - I personally love the big cities. I love when we go to New York, going and walking around that city is an electric feeling.”

BC: When it’s time for your own headlining tour who would you want to bring as supporting acts?

Marlin: “Oh man,” Marlin laughs, “I don’t know who I would get….that’s a tough question. I definitely can’t answer that. There’s so many people I love, so many people I would like to open up for and be support for them so as far as my music I don’t know. For good reason a dream opener is John Mayer. Anyone who gets to share the stage with him is probably doing something really right. There’s so many artists that I love and admire though that I would be lucky to play with in any capacity.”