Born In Plymouth, Devon, blues singer/songwriter/guitarist Bex Marshall grew up in a merry old England-style “mixed” family – her paternal great grandfather was the Squire of Cornwall while her mother’s side is descended from Irish Romany. For the latter, music has always been a part of life, and at family gatherings, her uncles would play instruments and prop young Bex on a table to sing.
One of those uncles, David Kiely, tasted pop stardom as a member of The Marauders, a Merseybeat band that played The Caravan Club, had a hit in 1963 with “That’s What I Want,” and rubbed elbows with Gene Vincent, the Beatles, Stones, and Roy Orbison. Scoring a hit spurred Kiely, who used the stage name Danny Davis, to splurge on a new Gibson Hummingbird. One of four shipped to the U.K. in ’63 (David told the family Mick Jagger also got one) it became part of the band’s sound and image.
Before those family sing-alongs, Marshall was hearing her father’s records – José Feliciano and other classical players, especially. Later, another uncle’s vinyl collection introduced her to classic blues and Americana. But being in the room when Uncle David played the Hummingbird was particularly formative.
“He was an incredible player and singer, and his voice was a bit like Roy Orbison – very powerful, with amazing vibrato,” she said. “He’d do old rock-and-roll songs, and it really affected me. Watching him one day when I was 11, a switch went on and I was suddenly desperate to learn how to play. I didn’t know what I wanted to learn, but I thought once I did, I could sit on a beach anywhere in the world and be cool playing guitar (laughs). So I started to pester mom and dad.”
Her obliging parents found a primary-school teacher who offered lessons, and instead of relying on a cheap beginner instrument, David handed her the Hummingbird. But…
“At the time, I was complaining; ‘Why do I always get the old stuff?’ Of course I wanted a brand-new sparkly one. But my parents settled me a bit; they told me, ‘Uncle David is giving his guitar to you as a gift.’”
’Bird in hand, she quickly became proficient at “country chords” before a fingerpicking friend of her mother’s helped her move forward.
“He taught me these wonderful classic instrumentals by John Williams and that kind of thing – stuff I could really get my teeth into,” she said. “He was giving me quite difficult pieces after a couple of months, and I was really keen to learn.”
At 13, she got a Yamaha Pacifica that, while easy to play, didn’t take. The Les Paul that followed it, however, became a mainstay when she joined a band playing heavy ’80s rock.
After high school, an unfortunate incident saw Marshall set music to the side.
“I was in my first relationship, and while playing guitar one day, the guy laughed at me and said, ‘You can’t play…’! It may not have been the done thing for a teenage girl from Plymouth to project any music intentions, but I wasn’t taking ‘can’t’ for an answer. Suffice to say that relationship didn’t last very long (laughs).”
She then took to traveling, and while in Australia, inspiration returned.
“Watching street musicians there made me want to play again, but I knew I had to raise my game,” she said.
Next, she visited Indonesia, where, “I had a guitar made of balsa wood, and I’d busk every day. I wandered with a partner who looked like a young Jesus, and as we walked through the small villages, I’d sit with the kids, playing tunes. Some would ask to take my guitar and off they’d go on an Eric Clapton tune (laughs).”
In ’95, she returned to London and discovered the 12 Bar Club, on Denmark Street.
“With a good drinking buddy, I’d go three or four times a week to watch live music. One night, when the announced singer didn’t show, the club asked whether anyone wanted to play. My friend pushed me onstage and they put a guitar in my hand; that was the first ‘official’ solo London performance! I was a little nervous, but they gave me a regular gig a few weeks later.”
She paid the bills working as a croupier while keeping up her chops and digging further into instrumental rock, classical, flamenco, ragtime, blues and roots music; most influential were John Lee Hooker, Rosetta Tharpe, and Bonnie Raitt. Les Paul fingerpickers like Jeff Beck and Mark Knopfler also drew attention.
In 2003, Marshall met legendary pirate DJ/music promoter Barry Marshall-Everitt, and the two were married in ’06. Her first album was 2008’s Kitchen Table, a song-driven blues disc with big doses of fingerpicking and slide on an Ozark 3515E thinline resonator.
In ’12, she recorded House of Mercy at Barry’s Snake Pit studio. In the spring of 2016, he was diagnosed with cancer of the urethra, and died a year later. In the time since, Marshall has operated Snake Pit in his honor, doing her part to keep the blues alive in the U.K. She also uses their home in Cyprus to host songwriting retreats with blues artists. Most sessions end with performances for locals.
Kiely died in 2021, and Marshall keeps close care of the Hummingbird, which is one of the instruments that helps her “get to those lovely places” where creativity flows. It has done its share in helping her win a British Blues award and garner four nominations for European Blues Awards.
“It’s very warm-sounding – a big, jangly kind of sound that is so well-balanced. There’s a magical sweet spot; when you strum at the front edge of the sound hole, it’s a time tunnel you can jump right into. And I can play anything on it – slide, ragtime… It’s a beast for strumming, and tones just pop out when you want ’em to.
“Every few years, I get it cleaned up and have any little things cared for,” she added. “I’ve spent a lot of money on it, actually (laughs), but it deserves to be kept in the best condition and I love it dearly. It’s certainly the best guitar I own, and it’s never far from me. I certainly don’t tour it, but when there’s a special show where it will be safe, I’ll take it out.
This article originally appeared in VG’s August 2024 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
