Why Chan Marshall?

As I have a tendency to get caught up in reading and writing about the more relevant news events of the day, it is perhaps no great surprise that we must sometimes neglect the thousands of correspondences that daily flood the mailroom here at McBone Manor. The sheer volume can be overwhelming and, I'll be honest, not all the letters are worth the time.  Still, we appreciate the trouble it takes to put pen to paper and so we like to give each mailing equal treatment before filing it away for posterity in our state-of-the-art, climate-controlled storage facility.  Luckily, our crack team of unpaid interns is there to separate the chaff from the grain.  Here's one we agreed was worthy of a post all to itself.

Dear McBone,

Before Stabbone and McGraw, I was a flabby weakling who couldn't keep his finger out of the mayonnaise jar.  When I discovered your amazing miracle diet, I knew I was hooked for life.  I've been a loyal reader ever since, but every time I see your tagline, I have to wonder: who is Chan Marshall?

Yours in eternal gratitude,

McBoner 4 Life


Dear 4 Life,

Good to see that you, like so many others, have noticed the tag that, regardless of relevance, decorates the bottom of most every post on this blog.  Perhaps you have also seen the 500-foot woman who looms Godzilla-like over the city of Cleveland on our internationally known, Kid-Shay-designed banner (for sale here).  That's our gal, and to answer your question, Chan (pronounced 'Shawn') Marshall is an American musician who has been recording for Matador Records since the early nineties under the name Cat Power.

I first learned about Cat Power through her album You Are Free, which my sister had given to my sometimes-popular wife as a birthday present back in aught-three.  We liked the music and gave it a few spins, but ultimately it found a home in the more obscure reaches of our record collection.  Well, I never gave the disc another thought until I stumbled upon this video a few years later:



Suddenly obsessed, I dug the album out and listened, over and over and over again.  I read about her too, about how she struggled constantly with extreme stage fright and alcohol abuse until she decided to take control and vault herself into the stratospheric heights of total awesomeness.  I could go on about how goddam cool I think she is, about how she's a great singer who plays guitar and piano and writes killer songs to boot, but I think Chan can express much more eloquently just why she has been appointed the involuntary spokeswoman/resident Rock Goddess of McBone:



If the music is not convincing enough, you may also have noticed that she is pretty cute.

Just sayin'.

nwb