Mystical mind-bending guitar licks and shamanic good vibes

Yes, he plays his Strat with his teeth. Yes, he rolls on the floor while doing it. Yes, he does sometimes actually set his guitar on fire. Still, Marcel Anton shies away from rock ‘n roll references. He is much more refined than that. He is a master musician and film composer who somehow, by a cosmic twist of fate, has fortuitously landed in Asheville. Tossed out of NOLA by Katrina, Anton was most recently down in South Florida before making Asheville his new home. With that landing, Anton is breathing new crazy night life into our local music scene. While Marcel has been seen prowling and wowing the local midweek jam scene (from The Westville Pub to the Tuesday night funk jam), solo gigs have been few — making last Friday’s performance at Tressa’s Jazz and Blues a treat.

Anton is of New Orleans Creole and Native American decent and infuses all his music with powerfully contagious Shamanic healing energy. People just seem to feel good when they are around it. Anton had a packed Friday night crowd dancing all night long at Tressa’s. His trio slayed everything from traditional New Orleans grooves, dirty blues and straight- ahead George Clinton funk to impeccably and skillfully delivered Hendrix, complete with floor-rolling, teeth-playing leads and sexy vocals. Anton was joined onstage by Austin-based bass player Michael Hynes and Minneapolis-based funk drummer Patrick Armitage.

Among his many musical accomplishments. Anton has played with the likes of George Porter Jr. and The Meters, the Neville Brothers, Alan Toussaint, Van Morrison, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rhianna, David Bowie, Albert Collins, Joe Satriani, Phillip Bynoe and Steve Vai. He has written or co-written songs for Robert Cray, John Lee Hooker, Finas Tasbi, Anthony Hamilton and has been on the music writing staff for countless big box office movie soundtracks. Anton has also built two record companies, producing several top-20 hits.

Look for him to play Tressa’s again in late June or early July.

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