About Marshal McKellar

Usually known as a songwriter more than a Christian Country artist, Marshal McKellar has written songs for himself to sing around the house and at church all his life.  He says he did not do anything else with his songs for many years.  Then, he became friends with the Crabb Family, and they began to encourage him about his writing.  

 Marshal has been married to his wife, Karen, for thirty years.  They have two sons and three grandchildren.  Reminiscing about his early life, Marshal says he was quite the surprise to his older parents.  

“My dad was 57 and my mom 42 when they had me.  They had each been married and their spouses had died when they married each other.  They didn't know if they could have children.  I was quite a surprise."

Marshal played music with his mom and sang his first solo at age five in church.  At 7 years old, he learned to play guitar, so his parents bought him a nice guitar to play and later to write songs.  

As a teenager, Marshal worked a part-time job, but found out from musicians he knew, if he played country music in a band, he could make a lot more money.  His parents knew he was playing in a band, but they did not know he was playing country music.  They also did not know the places he was playing.  As elderly parents, they were a little removed from what their teenage boy was doing.

In the country band, Marshal got to open for major country artists like Keith Whitley, Eddie Rabbit, Tracy Byrd, Vince Gill, Conway Twitty, and Joe Diffy.  Joe actually gave him a guitar stand he still has and holds dear since Joe has passed.  He also received a capo from Keith Whitley, items he could never replace.  When he was playing in the places his parents did not know about, Marshal’s conscience bothered him.  However, he continued to live the country music lifestyle for a while.

One night, after his parents were both deceased, Marshal says he came home late after playing in a bar and turned on the television.  He could not sleep and found himself listening to David Ring, the evangelist with cerebral palsy who travels the world.  As David Ring spoke, Marshal heard him say, “If I can serve God with the limitations I have, you can serve Him, too.”

“Listening to David Ring, God really got ahold of my heart,” says Marshal.  “I called a preacher friend of mine right after that and told him I couldn’t live the way I was anymore,” Marshal relays.  “He prayed with me.  I was ready to change at age thirty-three.  My life really did change.  Not long after that is when I became friends with the Crabb Family, and they encouraged my songwriting.  I kept my songs for only myself for a long time.  I didn’t do anything with them until the early 2000s.”

Marshal continues, “I don’t listen to country music or play at country shows anymore unless they are willing to let me sing Gospel music.  Going into those places or singing that music would take me right back to when I wasn’t living for the Lord.  I don’t ever want to go back there!  Since I got saved, I have lived for the Lord continually and sung Gospel music,” says Marshal.

However, one day Marshal was impacted by a different kind of Christian music.   

“Recently, I heard some Nashville Christian Country music, he shares.  “I was friends with Micah Schweinsberg when he was the drummer for the Crabb Family.  He was playing on recording sessions for his dad Rick, a producer in Nashville.  Having a background in country music, I was really interested in what they were doing, combining country and Christian music.  I started writing some songs that leaned more toward Christian Country and sent them to Rick.  Gary Russ picked up one of my songs and recorded ‘God Don’t Waste the Hurt.’  As I continued to write more songs and send Rick demos, he asked if I had ever considered recording one myself. He didn’t know it, but that had been a bucket list item, a life long dream for me.  I had wanted to record one of my songs and release it to radio for a very long time.”

Marshal did just that.  He had co-written a great new song with Cynthia Reamy called “Talking to Your Chair” and brought it to Nashville to record. 

“When a childhood friend talked to me about taking care of her elderly father at home, I knew there was a song in there,” says Marshal.  “She told me after he passed, she found herself talking to his old chair and finding comfort in that.  I asked her permission to write a song about it.  I thought about many people who had lost family members, and how comforting it might be to talk to the chair they used to sit in.  I hope the song will be a blessing to those who hear it, especially those who are grieving the loss of a loved one.”

To contact Marshal for station liners, interviews, or bookings, call  903-277-6317, email marshalmckellar@yahoo.com or contact New South Artists Agency at 615-830-4351 or newsouthartistsagency@gmail.com.