Compared with the overdriven glory of an electric guitar, the humble acoustic isn’t always seen as being quite as cool. Polish percussive virtuoso Marcin is on a mission to invert such thoughts, and he’s just ripped his new single Classical Dragon on mainstream TV to help his cause.
The guitarist featured on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to perform the lead track from his forthcoming debut album, Dragon In Harmony, a collection of vibrant covers and guest-smattered originals. Tim Henson and Portugal The. Man’s John Gourley are two noteworthy features.
The former features on Classical Dragon but, backed by drummer JP Faundez and bass player Justin Goldner, Marcin had the unenviable task of taking on Henson’s solo himself for its mainstream TV showcase.
After unfurling a Polyphia-esque riff and some dazzling, classical-meets-fusion licks in his signature 'B5 Standard' tuning (B, F, B, G, B, E), he swapped guitars during a rumbling drum solo to handle Henson's parts.
Full of bright, full chords and spinning licks as he interchanges between rich classical rhythms and spinning fretboard runs, it's a wonderful 'anything you can do' moment as he tips his hat to his influence and friend.
That didn't go unnoticed either, with comments on YouTube ranging from “The way he managed Tim Henson's solo! Speechless!” to “Tim's part too, on the acoustic, crazy” and “The precision is incredible.”
As the song slowly comes off the boil, Marcin even delivers a solo of his own, tender and restrained but oozing with feel and peppered with bursts of space as the trio pulls off a very tasty diminuendo.
Since a startling run on America's Got Talent – having won TV talent shows in Poland and Italy beforehand – the guitarist has racked up millions of views for his ambidextrous, genre-mashing covers and original songs, leading Guitar World to dub him “one of the most talented guitarists of his generation”. A signature Ibanez acoustic followed.
Marcin is now the cover star of the latest issue of Total Guitar, in which he describes his new album as “my vision of what modern percussive guitar can be.”
“I want to show the whole spectrum of what I do,” he continues. “There’s a collective consciousness and understanding that this classical-flamenco percussive way of playing exists. It's a real, fully-fledged thing and it's not a gimmick – it's a pure level-up of the guitar world.”
Speaking to Guitar World in 2022, he said “it deserves attention from the mainstream and the average Joe, because it’s something many still haven’t seen or heard.
“That’s why my own songs, like Snow Monkey, are more mainstream-oriented, with hip-hop, Latino and Reggaeton influences. It’s a marriage between experimental playing and very much mainstream and accessible things.”
So far, then so good: his Kashmir, Moonlight Sonata and Toxicity covers have over 21 million views on YouTube, while the video for Classical Dragon has clocked nearly three million in just one month.
