PERFORMER Shaun J Marshall has spent more than a decade perfecting the unmistakable sound and swagger of Sir Rod Stewart and now he is bringing the rock legend’s greatest hits to Australian audiences.
THERE are famous voices, and then there is Rod Stewart and for performer Shaun J Marshall, recreating that unmistakable rasp has become a journey more than a decade in the making.
But long before he was strutting across stages performing Maggie May, You Wear It Well and Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?, he was a teenager learning guitar while his father spun old vinyl records at home.
“I guess it was in my teens that I discovered Rod,” Shaun said. “I was learning to play guitar and my old man used to play the old vinyl records, and I got introduced to Rod’s music through my father.
“It was friends and family who actually said to me, ‘Hey, you kind of sound like Rod when you sing’.”
It was a seed that would eventually grow into The UK Rod Stewart Show, with Shaun now bringing his tribute to Australian audiences as part of Rod Stewart: The ‘Maggie May’ Tribute Tour.
Growing up in Plymouth, music was a family affair from an early age Shaun was only about 12 or 13 when his father decided to put together a 1960s band featuring his sons.
“He always wanted a family group, so it was like a very, very small version of the Jacksons,” he laughed. “He put my brother, who is two years younger than me, on the drums. My brother started off hitting pots and pans and then Dad bought him a drum kit.”
For Shaun, one of the toughest tasks is deciding what to sing, with Stewart’s recording career stretching across more than five decades and numerous musical eras.
“He’s actually covered a lot of songs and made them hits again,” Shaun said.
“But primarily, it’s the hits.
Rod Stewart: The ‘Maggie May’ Tribute Tour plays the Logan Entertainment Centre on Sunday October 18 at 2PM with tickets available at loganarts.com.au.
