Country Without Borders: Rick Marshall Bridges North And South On “Viva México”
Rick Marshall may have grown up in Kelligrews, Newfoundland, but he has salsa coursing through his blood. That’s evident after a single listen to “Viva México,” one of four musical calling cards the singer-songwriter is dropping to introduce himself to the world as an original country artist—and, not incidentally, as a happy convert to the way life gets lived south of the border.
“I came for the sun, I came for the sand/ But what you gave me, México, you can’t understand,” he sings, in homage to his wife and the exotic yet calming locale that’s captured his heart. “The ocean’s right there, and the waves say ‘Come and play.’”
The swoony chorus returns that invitation with a heartfelt vow:
“Oh, oh, México
She’s got my heart and you got my soul
No place I’d rather go
Than my México”
Mariachi-approved horn blasts and marimba tinkles mesh perfectly with the loping country backing track, making us believe this is one transcontinental love affair that’s going to last forever. And for Marshall, that isn’t just a good idea for a song: It’s a story he’s actually lived.
“I came down here many times in my life, to drink a few beers and try to unwind and part of me always said I’d like to stay”
A citizen of the Americas who resided everywhere from Kelligrews, Newfoundland to Kitchener, Ontario to Libertyville, Illinois, he at one point found himself hanging his hat in California—wherever he was kicking the dust off his boots, he could not resist the allure of Mexico.
And after decades of traveling down South and always longing to stay, the “fate” he speaks of, is the meeting of his future wife in an Irish Pub in Toronto, Canada.
As if Mexico itself, to whom he was inexplicably intertwined, was aligning the planets for him to meet this Mexican beauty, resulting in his inevitable return down South to the land of his dreams.
“I never was somebody to believe in fate, but something surely sent her my way, we’re married now and we live in México”
Life, as they say, is what happens when you’re busy getting acquainted with over a few bottles of tequila or was it Jameson’s (That is what they say, right?)
Pondering the effect of Mariachi horns on a North American country boy might make you think of “Ring of Fire”—which would be entirely appropriate, given that it was an audience with the great Johnny Cash that sealed Marshall’s professional fate as surely as those trips to Mexico determined his personal one. Being in the audience for Cash’s 1994 gig at The Bismarck Hotel in Chicago was a positively life-changing experience, he says:
“The songs, the stories, the persona, the whole vibe hit me. ‘This is what I want to do.’ Johnny Cash was a hero of mine. I was lucky enough to meet him and shake his hand at that show.”
For years thereafter, Marshall fronted the band Covered in Cash, performing the repertoire of the Man in Black in front of cheering audiences at sold-out venues. All the while, though, he was amassing a storehouse of his own original songs. So when he finally received a phone call from producer Dean Miller (son of the legendary Roger Miller) beckoning him to come to Nashville to record … well, let’s just say he wasn’t strapped for material.
“Viva México” is merely the first hint of the country magic they whipped up at Sound Emporium Studios, supported ably by an all-star cast of session players who are known for backing up some of the giants of the genre. Marshall’s own “Classic Country (Rocks My World)” namechecks 33 such titans, from Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson to Kris Kristofferson, George Jones and Tammy Wynette. Chuckling a bit at his own contribution to mythology, Marshall says the song was written behind the wheel of his truck. Seriously, how much more country can a guy get?
“Legend of the West” represents a real meeting of cultures, built on stories passed down by Marshall’s Californian grandfather and honed as a song while sitting under a starlit Mexican night with his brother-in-law. “I had my guitar, and we were sipping on some tequila,” he recalls. (See?) The lyric is a first-person farewell from an aging outlaw who’s reaching the end of a life that’s been spent “living by the gun” and “trading bullets for gold.”
Meanwhile, the melancholy and reflective “Grass Is Always Greener” is the proverbial One That Got Away song, in which our narrator laments a true love he sacrificed in pursuit of a fake one. “When you don’t know what you got,” he sums up gravely, “you let it go.”
In clumsier hands, it could all come off as studied and academic, but a sign Marshall saw on the wall of the studio when he arrived for the first session kept the proceedings properly upbeat and light. The sign contained a quotation from The Sound Emporium’s founder, Cowboy Jack Clement, which read as follows:
Remember, we are in the fun business.
If we are not having fun, we are not doing our job.
Suffice it to say this crew understood the assignment. The four songs are a blast to listen to, and sound like they were just as much of a ball to record for everybody involved. In the core band are keyboardist Billy Nobel and drummer Shawn Fichter (both of whom do double duty with Tim McGraw and Faith Hill), plus bassist Sam Hunter (Willie Nelson, George Strait, Ronnie Milsap, Glen Campbell, Elton John, Amy Grant, Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean, et al) and electric guitarist Troy Lancaster, a past nominee for The Academy of Country Music’s Guitarist of the Year award).
Also appearing on two tracks each are Tim Galloway (the ACM’s 2023 Acoustic Guitar Player of the Year), steel guitarist Steve Hinson (who’s performed and/or recorded with the likes of Trace Adkins, Dolly Parton, and Randy Travis), and acoustic guitarist Pat McGrath (a 25-year veteran of the Nashville scene with over 100 releases to his credit across the categories of bluegrass, folk, country and rock). Backing vocals come from Tania Hancheroff, who’s been heard on records by everyone from McGraw and Hill to Sheryl Crow, Carrie Underwood, Brad Paisley, Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, and Alan Jackson.
“It was almost surreal,” Marshall says. “The opportunity to meet all of these famed studio musicians, who were all so very kind and talented— as well as having a chance to chat and trade stories with them—made the dream come alive.”
As for Miller’s contributions from behind the desk, Marshall can’t sing the man’s praises highly enough.
“Watching him in action was like taking a master class in production,” he says. “My songs are my life story, and Dean got it so it shows in these tracks. I am thrilled and honored to be able to release them to share with my friends and future fans.”
Sounds like they’ve all earned themselves a nice siesta. Tequila, anyone?
Hi Rick! Care to introduce yourself to the readers?
Hello out there!
What can I say to introduce myself?
I was born in Newfoundland, Canada, and studied Grade School through University in the United States, and I have currently been splitting my time between Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico, and Kitchener, Ontario.
I guess the most important thing that I’d like for everyone to know about me is that I consider myself a singer/songwriter first and foremost.
I like to weave a tale and I have been writing songs for as long as I can remember and most of them take you on a journey. My goal is to write relatable songs that tell a story.
I am very proud of these songs on my debut EP, they are a small sample of the music to come.
I hope you enjoy the first single off of my debut EP, Viva México.
Your new song “Viva México,” reflects a deep connection to the place. What initially drew you to the country, and how has it influenced your music?
Well, it’s kind of an interesting story.
I had been traveling to Mexico for decades. I also grew up in an era that followed closely on the heels of the previous generation which was at its peak at the height of the western movies and television shows. I saw plenty of reruns of The Rifleman, Bonanza, Rawhide, as well as anything with John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Lee Marvin, Henry Fonda, Jimmy Stewart, James Colburn, I could go on and on. Then, finding out that my own bloodline brings me to the West Coast through my paternal grandfather, George Marshall.
Really, the way I feel about the West Coast and Mexico in particular, could be summed up in at least two Marty Robbins songs. El Paso City and of course, El Paso.
Something speaks to me here in Mexico, a kinship, although I have no rational answer as to why.
Viva México, the 1st Single of my debut EP, reflects this in that it is 100% an autobiographical story of my love-affair with Mexico.
I had a longing for Mexico, but I originally thought it might be a passing fancy, but over time as I returned, it became harder and harder to leave.
Not one to plan for tomorrow, I’m more of a seat of my pants, kind of guy. I would always go home whether it was Windy Chicago, Cold Ontario, or Blustery Newfoundland.
“I’d always go home to the snow and the sleet”
“But then you sent an Angel my way”
As a guy who takes life as it comes, I had no desire to look into the future, let alone hatch a plan. I only knew that somehow my destiny was intertwined with Mexico, but I could not have foreseen what was to come. Moving back to Canada after a number of years in the States (my father was in the US Navy), I eventually found myself the GM of a very popular Irish Pub owned by the Quinn Family, PJ O’Brien’s, in Toronto’s Financial District. No stranger to the madhouse of the St. Patrick’s Day frivolity, Sunday Irish Céilí’s, and the weekly number of bands that would cycle through, I was familiar with the Irish, English, and generally, Northern Europeans that would come through the door.
With no idea at the time where she hailed from, I began to notice this beautiful woman who had started coming to the Pub all dressed in black. PJ’s, being one of the epicenters of the Toronto Irish Community, was usually quite busy and there was not a lot of time for idle chit-chat, at least at the hour when she would normally arrive.
After being mesmerized by her beauty on a number of occasions and trading our fair share of niceties, I finally decided it was time to ask her out.
When I inquired about her availability from my friends, the couple she had started coming in with were very protective of her and wanted to make sure my intentions were pure. It seemed that they were perhaps a little too protective but then I found out that she had fairly recently become widowed.
So as my now wife would tell it, she was not in the market, nor looking for love. In fact, my friends were making her come out, telling her it was unhealthy to stay in, cooped up in mourning alone.
So we continued for a little while longer until I couldn’t resist and I eventually asked her out. When it finally arrived, our first date was like something out of a fairytale. It couldn’t have gone better and we have been inseparable ever since.
After dating for a number of years and living together in the Toronto Beaches, we then moved to Kitchener and we were eventually married in Niagara Falls, Canada. Not long after that, our son was born and we moved to Mexico, splitting our time between the two.
How does all this translate to my music? You only need to hear my song “Viva México” and another track off my EP, “Legend of the West” to understand the kinship I feel with Mexico and the West Coast.
How did meeting your wife influence your decision to settle in Mexico, and how does your personal life there inspire your songwriting?
I had always thought about living long-term in Mexico since the first time I crossed the border but being a working-age Canadian, I had resigned myself to the fact that it would only likely happen in my golden age, a snowbird if I’m speaking frankly.
I talk about “fate” in my song. In that, I never really believed in it.
“but something surely sent her my way”
My wife and I determined after we were together, that she had actually walked past my house on several occasions years prior to our meeting.
Then eventually this beautiful Mexican found herself in my place of employment, virtually making it impossible for us not to meet.
The forces calling me back to Mexico were stronger than I could have ever imagined.
It was as if the country of Mexico was playing the long game and had ever patiently sent my wife to the land of my birth, to bring me back to Mexico and everything since that day has been due to the healing powers of Mexico.
You’ve moved across various places in North America. How has each location shaped your musical journey?
*As a young man, when in Kelligrews, Newfoundland, on occasion when the moon was right, my uncles, cousins, and friends of the family would gather for a Céilí at someone’s house. There would be every manner of instrument all the way down to the spoons.
And the singing had such a feeling and heart, as they were traditional love songs or farewell songs from both Ireland and Newfoundland.
So that really struck a chord with me, so to speak.
Then while in the States, I was lucky enough to go to the same High School as Tom Morello, most notably from the band, Rage Against the Machine. We had a thing called “Humanities Week” at Libertyville High School, where I saw him play in our auditorium my freshman year. Funnily enough, my own band played “Humanities Week” 3 years later and filled that same auditorium.
Other notable graduates from LHS include Adam Jones from Tool, Maureen Herman from Babes in Toyland, and the amazing Ike Reilly. The New York Times called the Ike Reilly Assassination one of the best live bands in America.
A couple of years before moving back to Canada I saw Johnny Cash at the Bismarck Hotel in Chicago. Always a fan, this show brought it home to me and then I was lucky enough to shake his giant hand and say hello.
That is when I realized that somewhere, somehow I would eventually circle back around to music. I had never stopped writing the songs, acappella at first, then I taught myself guitar because I knew it would improve my songwriting.
Not long after, I moved back to Canada and started working in a number of entertainment establishments. I started singing songs with some of the bands if the venue would allow. I started to get really good feedback from the audiences so I decided I would form my own band, a tribute to Johnny Cash.
For over a decade, we played quite extensively to sold-out rooms and cheering Cash fans. Although it was quite an honour to sing the lyrics of Johnny Cash I knew I was nearing my end and that it was time to start focusing on my originals and let them into the light of day.
I recorded my original Demos with James Quinn, former bandmate and current friend, who is formally associated with the Indy Rock Group, The Beaches out of Toronto, that have been burning up the charts.
My first release from those sessions with James was my song, Classic Country Rocks My World, which garnered the attention of Producer Dean Miller in Nashville.
He reached out and said that he would like to work with me.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Your core band and session players have impressive credentials. How did their expertise contribute to the sound and feel of your new music?
Well, you can’t go into a session with those kinds of storied players and not have your music elevated. The musicianship was second to none, and every one of them has played with icons in the Industry, so I knew my songs were in good hands.
With musicians of that caliber each one on their own, capable of throwing out a lick that would wow the audience or listener, but as they will tell you, it is not about them, it’s really not about me, it’s about coming together collectively to create the best song we can.
Under the watchful eye of Producer Dean Miller, who understood me, my songs, and how to help convey it to the audience, Dean hand-picked the musicians that he thought would complement my style and his choices were bang on.
Not only was I recording in the storied Sound Emporium Studios in Nashville, TN, the place where most, if not all of my country idols had recorded at one time or another, but in talking to some of the musicians I came to find out that one of them, Steve Hinson, who plays the Pedal Steel on a couple of my songs, was also actually a long time member of Randy Travis’ band and had even toured Canada with Waylon Jennings and that was just one of the players, each more storied than the next in this amazing studio band.
They elevated the songs while keeping the original heart intact.
That pretty much sums up my Nashville experience.
Thank you for your time, I hope you enjoy my songs out now and those yet to come.
They’ll take you on a ride.