Austin-based musician Craig Marshall believes that as a songwriter, he’s only as good as his next song. Fortunately, the prolific Marshall always seems to have a next song on tap, with a songbook that goes back thirty-plus years. The latest entry into Marshall’s discography is his sixth album After All, arriving via Big Ticket Records on August 7th. The record is Marshall’s second outing with producer (and longtime Marshall admirer),Robert Harrison, leader of the critically acclaimed band, Cotton Mather. “Craig Marshall has always kept his artistic sights trained on the loftiest of goals,” comments Harrison. “That is to craft songs that are immediate, timeless, and classic.” Indeed, the songs on After All show off Marshall’s gift for penning and performing the kinds of tunes that helped country-inflected folk to eventually become the Americana genre. His longstanding status as a well-kept secret speaks to his influence, while his skills transcend genre at the same time. “I’m hearing Buck Owens or Merle Haggard in my head when I’m writing a song like ‘After All’ or ‘The Only Sound,’” Marshall says, but in fact, two of After All’s centerpieces, “Something On Your Mind” (the album’s first single) and “Only Till The End of Time” navigate firmly in the Petty-Beatles lane. Marshall’s love of The Beach Boys and The Bee Gees can also be heard, and over the years, critics have cited artists as diverse as Badfinger, Marshall Crenshaw and XTC when describing Marshall. The songs on After All do show these influences, but ultimately a Marshall fan will hear a Marshall song, and the uninitiated will be treated to a warm, familiar sound that plays unique and fresh. Marshall considers After All, (the follow up to 2013’s Hiding In The Doorway) to be a continued return to form after four albums released in the early 2000’s that leaned more on a band aesthetic. Now, Marshall’s winning voice and acoustic guitar are front and center again, further showcasing his songwriting skills. “I’ve returned to the song-driven music that I was playing when I first moved to Austin,” he explains. “Writing timeless songs has always been the goal, but starting with the last album, and even more on After All, I seem to be able to connect with listeners in a much more visceral way, and I’m finding people reacting and commenting on my lyrics in new way, too.” New ways of connecting can be hard fought for a career musician. Marshall’s lengthy musical resume stretches back to his teen years performing with various combos in his hometown of Syracuse, New York. After moving to Austin in the early 1990’s with his then-band, The Delta Rays, he soon found himself establishing and leading the locally popular Sinatra-style jazz-swing outfit, The Lucky Strikes, which kept him busy, but eventually provoked the urge to get back to the personal songs that are his trademark. The resulting work cemented Marshall’s growing reputation as a writer, leading to his songs getting picked up for a variety of film and television soundtracks, being covered by revered Austin-based songwriters Trish Murphy and Penny Jo Pullus, and American folk-rock act, The Kennedys, and being honored twice by the Austin Songwriters Group for tunes that now appear on After All (“Bitter Times Disappear,” “Back For More.”) Most recently, Marshall’s notoriety among those who know has helped him start an exciting new working relationship with fellow songwriter Kostas Lazarides, who has written hits for Dixie Chicks, Dwight Yoakam, Patty Loveless, and many more. “He became a fan of my writing, and I invited him to Austin so we could work together and share the stage at an Austin Songwriters Group showcase,” Marshall explains. With the release of After All on the horizon and this new writing partnership in the works, fans of Marshall both old and new can be assured that he will be providing many more “next songs” in the future. After All by Craig Marshall arrives on August 7th, 2015 via the artist’s own Big Ticket Records label. The album’s first single “Something On Your Mind” is streaming now.