Winston Marshall facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Winston Marshall
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Marshall in 2019
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Winston Aubrey Aladar deBalkan Marshall
20 December 1987 Wandsworth, London, England
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| Other names | Country Winston |
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| Years active | 2007–present |
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Melissa Chen
(m. 2024) |
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Winston Aubrey Aladar deBalkan Marshall (born 20 December 1987) is a British musician. He is best known as the former banjoist and lead guitarist for the folk rock band Mumford & Sons. With the band, Marshall won several important awards, including a Grammy and two Brit Awards. He has also played music with other groups and worked with artists like Baaba Maal and HVOB. After leaving Mumford & Sons, Marshall started his own interview podcast.
Contents
Early Life and Musical Beginnings
Winston Marshall was born in Wandsworth, London, on 20 December 1987. His father is Sir Paul Marshall, a British businessman. His mother, Sabina de Balkany, comes from a European Jewish family. Marshall has a sister named Giovanna, who is also a singer and songwriter. His mother is French, and his grandmother was a property developer in France. Marshall has shared that some of his family members were victims of the Holocaust, and his maternal grandmother survived it. He went to St Paul's School in London.
Marshall started playing guitar when he was thirteen. He was inspired to play the banjo after watching the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou?. This led him to switch to folk music. Marshall met his future bandmate, Marcus Mumford, when they were teenagers at church. They played worship music together. Marshall chose to focus on the banjo because there were fewer banjo players, which made it easier to find music jobs.
Music Career Highlights
Early Bands and Jam Sessions
In the early 2000s, Marshall was part of a band called Captain Kick and the Cowboy Ramblers. He played banjo, guitar, dobro, mandolin, and harmonica for the group. He was known as "Country Winston Driftwood" in this band.
Marshall also ran a jam night for young musicians at a small music club in London. These jam nights attracted many musicians who loved acoustic music, including artists like Noah and the Whale and Laura Marling.
Joining Mumford & Sons
The band Mumford & Sons officially formed in December 2007. Before this, the four members had already played music together in different ways. Marcus Mumford started writing songs after seeing Marshall's band perform. Mumford found Marshall's music inspiring and was encouraged to join them on stage.
The first Mumford & Sons performances were informal jam sessions at Marshall's club. Mumford, Marshall, Ben Lovett, and Ted Dwane all played together. Marshall played the banjo, guitars, dobro, and sang backing vocals for the group. He was often seen as the funny member of the band.
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The band played at Glastonbury Festival in 2008. They released their first EP later that year. Marshall and Mumford worked in Marshall's mother's antique shop to save money for recording music. They toured with Laura Marling and Johnny Flynn from 2008 to 2009.
Their first album, Sigh No More, was released in 2009. Marshall was credited as "Country Winston" on this album. The album included the hit song "Little Lion Man". Sigh No More won the Brit Award for British Album of the Year in 2011. The band was also nominated for a Grammy and performed with Bob Dylan.
The album helped make Mumford & Sons famous in the nu-folk music scene. They toured a lot after the album's release.
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In 2010, Mumford & Sons played on Laura Marling's album I Speak Because I Can. They also released an EP with Marling and an Indian group called Dharohar Project. The band continued to tour widely. Their second album, Babel, came out in 2012. This album had more of a rock sound. Marshall sang lead vocals on the song "For Those Below".
Babel quickly became a best-selling album. Marshall stopped using his "Country Winston" name, saying he had grown out of it. He also mentioned that he didn't really know how to play the banjo and had been told by his hero, Jerry Douglas, not to learn properly. Babel won the Grammy for Album of the Year in 2013. The band also won the Brit Award for British Group that same year.
The band took a break in 2013. They returned in 2015 with the album Wilder Mind. This album did not feature the banjo and had more of an electronic rock sound. Marshall was credited as "WN5TN" on this album. He later said he had started to like the banjo again after the break.
The next year, they released an EP called Johannesburg. This EP featured African artists like Baaba Maal. Marshall had worked with Maal on other music before this project. The EP also did not use the banjo. Marshall sang lead vocals on the song "Fool You've Landed".
Mumford & Sons released their fourth album, Delta, in 2018. This album brought the banjo back, but in new ways. Marshall felt that Delta was the result of ten years of hard work. The songs on Delta were inspired by their adult life experiences. Marshall started writing some of the songs in Nashville. He was encouraged to try more electronic sounds. He also wrote "Wild Heart" for the album.
Marshall left Mumford & Sons in June 2021. He explained that he wanted to be able to speak freely about politics without involving his former bandmates. He said it was hard to leave because he had imagined them playing together for many years.
Other Musical Projects
In 2010, Marshall was part of a group called Mt. Desolation. They recorded music and performed shows. They released a free song called "State of Affairs" and a self-titled album.
In 2012, Marshall played the banjo for the Dropkick Murphys song "Rose Tattoo". The band joked that they "kidnapped" him to play on the song.
Marshall also joined a temporary group called Salvador Dalí Parton in 2013. This band was meant as a joke. They wrote six songs very quickly and performed several shows before breaking up.
In 2017, Marshall worked with the electronic music duo HVOB. They released a single called "The Blame Game," where Marshall sang vocals. They also released a full album together called Silk. Marshall and HVOB toured Europe in April 2017.
Marshall also worked with Baaba Maal between 2013 and 2015. He played banjo on Maal's 2015 album The Traveller. In 2019, he created remixes for songs by Maggie Rogers and Kevin Garrett.
Other Ventures
Marshall has also tried stand-up comedy. He took improv classes before 2013.
In January 2021, Marshall started a group to help people from Hong Kong who moved to the UK connect with British residents. This was after a new security law was put in place in Hong Kong.
In January 2022, he launched his own podcast called "Marshall Matters." The podcast is hosted by The Spectator magazine. Marshall interviews people from creative industries on his podcast.
Influence on Music
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Marshall is credited with helping to create the British nu-folk music scene. Many successful artists in this style started by performing at the folk jam nights he ran. One musician said that no one else could be credited for starting this music trend.
Marshall's banjo playing in Mumford & Sons also made the instrument more popular and respected. Emmylou Harris said that the band made the banjo cool again. Their music is seen as responsible for a banjo revival in both Europe and the United States. Marshall even has a Deering banjo model named after him.
Personal Life
Marshall was married to American actress Dianna Agron. They got engaged in late 2015 and were married on 15 October 2016, in Morocco. They kept their relationship private. They separated in 2019 and divorced in 2020. In 2023, Marshall became engaged to Melissa Chen.
He is a big fan of the Manchester United football team. He has also become interested in dance. He has taken several dance classes.
Marshall is interested in the books of Canadian psychology professor Jordan Peterson. He invited Peterson to Mumford & Sons' studio in 2018.
On 7 July 2022, he appeared on the BBC's political TV show Question Time. He discussed the resignation of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson that day.
Selected Discography
With Mumford & Sons
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Individual Projects
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