Leaving his home in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, as a teenager, Marcel first chose to pursue a career in professional hockey. Moving from state to state from Alaska and Ohio, to Georgia and Tennessee the harsh bang-ups and penalties in hockey proved to be good preparation for a career in the music business. But it was the downtime that truly sparked Marcel's creativity.
'When I was on the road traveling, I had the time to experience loneliness, and all that stuff that goes along with being on the road. You know, getting traded four times in one season. I was able to express myself through my guitar and that's when I really started to hone in on singing and songwriting,' says Marcel, who was named for famous Los Angeles Kings player Marcel Dionne, and dropped his last name (Chagnon) to make his name easier to remember and pronounce.
While scraping by as a hockey player in Memphis, his roommate's girlfriend heard him singing during a phone conversation.
'She asked him about the music playing in the background, and it was me singing,' he explains. 'She said, 'Oh my God, you need to retire from hockey. I can get you a record deal. I have connections in L.A.' So I went there to be a country singer but the plan fell through.
Marcel found himself waiting tables and working landscaping jobs, sleeping on couches and beneath kitchen tables. Meanwhile, he plastered telephone poles around L.A. promoting his gigs at clubs like the Viper Room and the Mint.
'I had some nice friends in L.A. who would promote my show to the acting industry, so a lot of B-list actors, and occasionally an A-list actor, would show up to watch me perform. So I got 50 to 60 people a night, kind of converting listeners who never really listened to country music to like my music.'
After four-and-a-half years in Los Angeles, his photogenic good looks led to a variety of ads (GAP, AT&T Wireless) and television programs. But it was a 1993 movie The Thing Called Love that changed his life. In that film, a would-be songwriter packs it up for Nashville, hoping to make it big. Several scenes take place inside the well-known songwriter haunt, The Bluebird Café, a pivotal venue in Garth Brooks' trajectory to stardom.
'I decided, what the hell, let's take my credit card and go to the Bluebird Café,' he recalls.
He showed up on Monday night when dozens of wide-eyed hopefuls draw numbers and perform in numerical order but only until time runs out.
Marcel drew number 37.
'I had God with me that day, because I was number 37, and the odds were I was going to get a stamp, and that would mean I would have a guarantee to come back and play the next Monday. But I couldn't come back the next Monday. I was already living on my credit card. I couldn't crash in Nashville for a week. But the Force was on my side, because six people left. I got to be the last person to sing that day.'
Impressed with his unique vocals and perspective, Barbara Cloyd, who hosts the open mic night, introduced him to friends in the publishing business. He spent six months co-writing, though he did not make the move to Nashville.
'I commuted,' he says. 'The first time I met with publishers, they said, 'You have to come back. You have to set up a writing appointment.' But all the songwriters were booked three weeks out. So I drove back to L.A., and I thought, 'You know what? I've been sitting in L.A. for four-and-a-half years trying to get a record deal. It doesn't matter if I spend $50,000 to do it, I'm going to book myself an airline ticket, rent a car, stay in a hotel room and write with songwriters in Nashville.'
'I did that for six months. I'd go to Nashville for three weeks, and go back to L.A. for 10 days. I generated a massive credit card bill. After the fifth month of doing that, I had been offered over five publishing deals but I decided not to do that either, because I wanted to keep my publishing, and I was already so much in debt. I thought, 'What the hell's a few more thousand gonna do?''
Finally, in January 2002, instead of boarding a plane at LAX, Marcel stashed a mattress in the back of his truck, determined to drive to Nashville, and not leave town until he landed a record deal. One month later, after several demos circulated throughout Music Row, he signed to Mercury Nashville.
Marcel released his first single, 'Country Rock Star,' in 2002, and returns to the airwaves with the heartfelt ballad, 'Tennessee,' which he wrote shortly after settling into Music City.
'It's about the first initial trip I made across the country,' Marcel says. 'Anyone can relate to it. It's not just about leaving a relationship. It's about following a dream.'
His dream becomes reality with a debut album that's striking in its honesty, produced by Marcel and famed producer, Byron Gallimore (Faith Hill, Tim McGraw and Jo Dee Messina). From his naked ambition in 'Country Rock Star,' to his tip-of-the-hardhat in 'The Working Day,' Marcel's wayfaring lifestyle also surfaces in 'Tennessee,' 'You, Me and the Windshield' and 'Missing You.'
Describing his energetic, original songs, Marcel explains, 'They've got country lyrics, very down-to-earth. They're very working-man-oriented. I call it a fresh lyric. I sing about Coca-Cola and Corn Nuts in the middle of a verse. I say things that people haven't heard yet.'
Songwriter Spotlight: Marcel
