Marques Morel is a Midwestern American songwriter, folksinger, guitar-thumper, and harmonica wailer from the Illinois corn country. A self-described wandering troubadour, he has performed everywhere from big city street corners around the world to county fairs, folk festivals, honky-tonks, cabin porches, and beside countless campfires.
His sound is thick with the nostalgic elements of vintage country, delta blues, dust bowl folk, and the Texas Troubadour tradition. Drawing from the likes of Townes Van Zandt, Woody Guthrie, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, and Leadbelly, Morel has carved out a sound that feels both deeply rooted and completely alive. The Alternate Root describes him as sounding like "a cross between Johnny Cash, Bob Seger, and John Stewart reciting ragged tales of the American West."
In June 2024, Marques released Tales and Tellings, recorded at Bomb Shelter studio in Nashville with producer Andrija Tokic. No Depression called it one of the year's most compelling Americana records. He has shared the stage with Charlie Parr, Arlo McKinley, The Hooten Hallers, and Lillie Mae, and continues to tour the Midwest and beyond.
Jason and Marques sit down for a conversation about growing up in Illinois corn country, learning guitar in his late twenties, busking on street corners in Santa Fe and Boulder, building a body of work over five albums, and what the making of Tales and Tellings meant for him as a songwriter. A wide-ranging conversation with a true Midwestern original.