With Contract Man, Geoff Marshall and The Mail Order Cowboys showcase a tight set of old-school country tunes that are simultaneously timeless and current. “Usually a week after something happens to me,” Marshall says, “I write a song about it.” Consequently, there’s an immediacy and authenticity to Marshall’s songs and stories that’s become the hallmark The Mail Order Cowboys music.

 

Recorded in 2016, Contract Man draws on Marshall’s wry sense of humour and the band’s abundant musical chops in equal measure. From smoky hard time songs like ‘Disaster,’ to whimsical offerings like ‘Hank Williams Hanky,’ through classic sounding tracks such as ‘It's Wrong For Me To Love You (Like I do),’ any listener with a pulse will find their own struggles reflected in these songs immediately.

 

Growing up in Greenwood, Nova Scotia, Marshall was surrounded by music early on and performed often with his parents and siblings. After Marshall’s family moved to Northern Ontario in the mid-1970s, however: “I basically joined the first band that would have me and got out of Dodge and onto the road.” Marshall played in everything from punk to reggae bands and worked as an illustrator, cartoonist and artist in Toronto and Montreal, where he formed his first full on country band.

 

After returning to Toronto in 2014, he founded The Mail Order Cowboys with Gary Robertson (electric guitar), Sean Dignan (drums) and Tim Bradford (bass) and performed in classic local venues including the Dakota, Cameron House, Castro’s Lounge and really anywhere that would have them.

 

When it comes to his work as both a visual artist and as a musician it’s all about the story. “It basically comes from the same place. I don’t see a big line between art, photography and music. They have to be sincere and cover topics people relate to, heartache and disappointment – the things people need help with.