MARCUS TURNER 1956 – 2016

In 1976 a 20-year old student from Dunedin, Marcus Turner, came to the very first Cardrona Folk Festival. It was obvious to us all on that day at the old Cardrona Hall that we were listening to a musician of quite unbelievable talent. He soon moved on to writing his own songs, and in 1982 released his first album “The Best is Yet to Come,” which revealed an extraordinary skill at putting thoughts into very powerful words. Several of his compositions have become standards around the international folk music world.

His premature and totally unexpected death in 2016 left not just his family, but the whole New Zealand folk scene in shock and grief. He had only mentioned to me a month earlier that he was preparing to record a new album, featuring many of his newer and unrecorded songs. Sadly this never came to pass.

It was two years ago that I clicked onto an internet site which featured a concert Marcus had performed at the Cardrona Folk Festival in 2014, filmed with his permission. As I listened, I realised that what we had here was a wonderful legacy of what Marcus meant to us all and what made him so excellent – live, in front of an enthusiastic audience. The fact that 13 of the songs were still unrecorded was an unexpected bonus. The idea of releasing an album of that brilliant concert was born.

My sincere thanks to the Turner family for their encouragement to go ahead with this project. I would particularly like to thank Graham Wardrop and Gilbert van Reenen, who both gave generously of their time and technical expertise in helping to put together this CD of that most memorable night in Cardrona.

I hope that it will bring back many fond memories of a real “New Zealand treasure”, both to his family and all his devoted fans and friends around the country. We still miss him greatly.

For details on purchasing the album, click here.