Hear My Heart
A Review of Steve Marriner and Local Electric's new album.
I’ve been a fan of Steve Marriner’s for 20 years. I first saw him at the Tango Bistro in Stratford, Ontario, playing harmonica for Harry Manx. He projected an image of boundless enthusiasm and positive energy, traits that he exhibits to this day. Over the years, he has appeared on stages and records with seemingly everyone. He’s been successful with his band MonkeyJunk, winning two Junos for best blues album of the year. He has toured extensively with Canadian blues hero Colin James in a trio format, where he has played bass and blues harp.
Marriner’s latest recording project is Hear My Heart, with his current band Local Electric.
The first song is called Workin’ on Something. An ode to hard work, it’s got a mid-tempo groove and a lot of very musical details. There’s Jesse O’Brien’s keyboard run through Leslie speakers that deepens the sound, there are Stax-like horns to lift everything and great guitar dynamics to keep it all moving. A stinging guitar solo leads us through to the end of the song. The first song on an album tells us something. “I’m workin’ on something,” he sings, “because something’s working on me.” The statement of the album is laid out for us. “I see my angels and I know I won’t be swayed.” This song is a soul workout.
The second track is Got To Be An Answer, a cover of a song by the great Lonnie Mack. Marriner testifies with all his might and plays some burning lead guitar. He brings our attention to a great tune originally released in 1969. Marriner and friends add a minute of runtime to the Lonnie Mack version, giving a sense of completion to a song that, as great as it is, seems too short on the Mack recording.
While we’re talking about cover versions, the third song on the album also served as the first single. It caught me by surprise. I never expected Steve Marriner to cover a Genesis song. I Can’t Dance is a great tune from 1991. Marriner picked up on the blues in the vocal and thought it would be fun to play. He’s not wrong. It’s fun to listen to, as well. He gives it his all and elevates the song with a hard-driving rendition.
The other notable cover on this album is, oddly, not a cover at all. It is Hellbound for Heaven, a song he wrote and recorded with Harry Manx on their 2019 album of the same name. Five years ago, he also released a solo version of the song, just him with a 12-string guitar and a harp on a neck rack. It’s obviously a song that means something to him. It’s a song about dying and looking forward to heaven. “Tired of draggin these old bones around,” he sings,” love and loss have worn my body down.” The version on Hear My Heart is excellent, and it tells us a little something about Steve Marriner. The title was perfect for his collaboration with Harry Manx, whose album titles are similarly playful, such as West Eats Meat and Dog My Cat.
I Don’t Know What to Say is another moderately slow burner. “I don’t know what to say,” he laments, “I never know what to say to please you.” There are hints at a fall from grace that he wishes he could recover from. There are beautiful guitar riffs and haunting organ swells setting the scene.
The album carries on in an amiable mood with Straight Line. It breaks out of the mid-tempo range of most of the album with a sprightly Cajun-style stomp. “I made a promise I intend to keep,” he sings. The song sounds fun, but it is built on a foundation of determination to succeed as a husband and father.
No More Nashville is a tasty country song of heartbreak with Jim Bowskill showing off his steel guitar prowess. The song is a weeper about how the singer has had enough of Nashville, and even though “ghosts of giants fill the Ryman,” he can’t stop thinking about how he let his lost love down. Marriner uses this opportunity to rhyme Ryman, home of the Grand Ol’ Opry, with cryin’. It’s a bold move, and he pulls it off.
Through the Night is a bluesier number and does not disappoint. There’s a lovely electric piano courtesy of keyboard wiz Jesse O’ Brien. After the first verse, the song adopts a faster, rockier bounce. Marriner’s harp is masterful as usual. The proceedings have the atmosphere of a band having a good time jamming, while also remembering to make a good record. “We’re gonna make it through the night,” he sings. He makes you want to believe him.
Little Bird showcases some tasty lead guitar from Rick Holstrom.
The final tune, Shootin’ Off, also featuring Holstrom, is a fine excuse for Marriner to blow his harp. The band is having fun here, and you will too. It makes me wish there was more straight-ahead blues on here, but that’s just me.
I expected a more light-hearted record, something relentlessly cheerful. Instead, he takes us down a more mature path. Marriner has been around. He seems like a man who has everything. “Now we got the baby and the dog and the house,” he sings to his wife. But he is reassuring her that “there’s a straight line that runs from your heart to mine.” Steve Marriner is more than just a great soul-blues musician with a mastery of various musical styles. He’s an adult man grappling with issues in his heart and his life. In other words, he’s turning into a great and honest songwriter.
The bottom line is this: you can’t go wrong with a Steve Marriner record. He’s got talent and conviction to spare. He’s got ghosts in his attic and devotion in his soul. If you get a chance to see him play live, don’t miss it. I have seen him perform more times than I can count in the last twenty years, and I have never been disappointed, and have always been uplifted.