Marshall Chapman was born and raised in Spartanburg, South Carolina. To date she has released eight critically acclaimed albums and her songs have been recorded by a variety of artists including Emmylou Harris, John Hiatt, Wynonna, Joe Cocker, Irma Thomas, Jimmy Buffett, Dion, Tanya Tucker, Russ Taff, Olivia Newton-John, Sawyer Brown, Mindy McCready, Greg "Fingers" Taylor, Jessi Colter, Ronnie Milsap, and The Uppity Blues Women. She has toured extensively on her own and opened shows for everybody from John Prine and Jimmy Buffett to Jerry Lee Lewis and The Ramones.
Of her three rockin' albums for Epic, the Al Kooper-produced Jaded Virgin was voted Record of the Year (1978) by Stereo Review. Following 1982's Take It On Home (Rounder) Marshall released two albums on her own Tall Girl label: 1987's Dirty Linen (A- in Christgau Consumer Guide, released in Europe on Line Records) and 1991's Inside Job, voted Album of the Month in the April 1992 Stereo Review.
In 1994, Marshall recorded a live concert at the Tennessee State Prison for Women. The result was It's About Time...— her first live album and the first release for Margaritaville/Island Records in May 1995. The CD drew rave reviews from no less than Time, USA Today and The Village Voice. Marshall and her band (The Love Slaves) spent the rest of the year touring with Buffett, playing for over a million people. Afterwards, they went in the studio and recorded Love Slave. According to Marshall, being a "love slave" is a way of life. "We're all slaves to something," she says, "....might as well be love!" Love Slave represents her most mature, musically diverse effort to date.
In 1998, Marshall began exploring new outlets for her creativity. One was theater. She and songwriting pal Matraca Berg contributed fourteen songs to Good Ol' Girls, a literary musical based on the stories of Lee Smith and Jill McCorkle. Good Ol' Girls will be on tour this fall—playing in over 30 theaters throughout the South.
Also this fall, be on the lookout for Marshall's first book. It's called Goodbye, Little Rock and Roller (St. Martin's Press). Companion CD will be available.
