Biography
In early 1991 a Cleveland-raised tunesmith whose voice carried rich soul and whose piano-centered pop carried folk accents appeared without fanfare through the single “Walking in Memphis.” The moving ode to Delta blues country rose to number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and brought three Grammy nominations, one of which he claimed. Thereafter Marc Cohn’s thoughtful fusion of reflective pop, occasionally veering into Americana, R&B, folk, and blues, attracted listeners across the globe; although his recordings surfaced at irregular intervals, each one typically displayed clear intention and meticulous artistry. After a luminous run through the 1990s he endured a harrowing shooting the next decade yet resurfaced with the widely praised 2007 album Join the Parade, while a 2010 collection of interpretations focused on the year 1970 ultimately restored him to the charts. Renowned equally for partnerships, he wrote material for David Crosby, William Bell, and the Blind Boys of Alabama, the latter ensemble reuniting with him in 2019 for the collaborative album Work to Do.
Raised in Cleveland, Cohn gravitated early toward towering figures of the early-1970s singer-songwriter movement such as Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell, and Jackson Browne. His affinity for emotionally direct songwriters together with classic soul and R&B shaped his first musical steps and prompted him to enter the cover band Doanbrook Hotel while still in junior high. He performed vocals and guitar with the group through high school even as he continued developing original material on his own. Enrolled at nearby Oberlin College, he taught himself piano and formed a lasting connection with the instrument. After moving to UCLA he began performing on the Los Angeles coffeehouse circuit. Another relocation followed, this time to New York to join his fiancée, where he assembled the Supreme Court, a fourteen-piece ensemble featuring a horn section. The band’s inventive rearrangements of familiar songs attracted an audience that included Carly Simon, who suggested they appear at Caroline Kennedy’s wedding. That performance marked a fitting conclusion, after which Cohn disbanded the project to concentrate on his own songs and supplemented his income with session work.
While supporting Tracy Chapman on piano in 1989, Cohn succeeded in placing one of his demos with Atlantic Records and received a recording agreement. Working alongside co-producers Ben Wisch and John Leventhal, his self-titled 1991 debut offered an impressive showcase for his refined, perceptive piano pop and introduced his signature gospel-tinged hit “Walking in Memphis.” The album, which later achieved platinum status, brought Cohn broad recognition and the Grammy Award for Best New Artist. Issued two years afterward, his next release, 1993’s The Rainy Season, largely extended the thematic atmosphere of its predecessor. It included guest vocal contributions from prominent admirers such as David Crosby, Graham Nash, and Bonnie Raitt and featured another charting track in the uplifting “Walk Through This World.”
Cohn maintained a low profile for several years before issuing his third album, 1998’s Burning the Daze. Comparable in mood to his earlier work and enriched by appearances from Patty Griffin and Rosanne Cash, the record proved to be his final studio effort for Atlantic. Although he kept writing and performing live, he essentially withdrew from the studio for nearly a decade. He released the independent live compilation Marc Cohn Live 04/05, and in 2006 Atlantic issued The Very Best of Marc Cohn, formally concluding their association. During the same span Cohn remarkably recovered after being shot in the head during an attempted carjacking while touring with Suzanne Vega. Once healed, he created the highly regarded 2007 album Join the Parade, shaped partly by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and his own survival.
Cohn re-emerged in 2010 with Listening Booth: 1970, an album of covers originally issued that year. Spanning rock, soul, folk, and pop, it showcases vocal contributions from India.Arie, Jim Lauderdale, Aimee Mann, and Kristina Train across four of its twelve tracks. The 2014 single “The Coldest Corner in the World,” drawn from the 2015 documentary Tree Man, represented his first new original song in seven years. A 2016 anthology, Careful What You Dream: Lost Songs and Rarities, aligned with the twenty-fifth anniversary of his debut and preceded a major U.S. tour the following year alongside Michael McDonald. Throughout this period Cohn stayed engaged as a writer and collaborator, adding songs to David Crosby’s 2016 album Lighthouse and composing several tracks for William Bell’s Grammy-winning 2017 release This Is Where I Live. In the same year he supplied the song “Let My Mother Live” to the Blind Boys of Alabama’s album Almost Home. That partnership continued when he and the veteran gospel ensemble combined again to record the 2019 joint album Work to Do.
Raised in Cleveland, Cohn gravitated early toward towering figures of the early-1970s singer-songwriter movement such as Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell, and Jackson Browne. His affinity for emotionally direct songwriters together with classic soul and R&B shaped his first musical steps and prompted him to enter the cover band Doanbrook Hotel while still in junior high. He performed vocals and guitar with the group through high school even as he continued developing original material on his own. Enrolled at nearby Oberlin College, he taught himself piano and formed a lasting connection with the instrument. After moving to UCLA he began performing on the Los Angeles coffeehouse circuit. Another relocation followed, this time to New York to join his fiancée, where he assembled the Supreme Court, a fourteen-piece ensemble featuring a horn section. The band’s inventive rearrangements of familiar songs attracted an audience that included Carly Simon, who suggested they appear at Caroline Kennedy’s wedding. That performance marked a fitting conclusion, after which Cohn disbanded the project to concentrate on his own songs and supplemented his income with session work.
While supporting Tracy Chapman on piano in 1989, Cohn succeeded in placing one of his demos with Atlantic Records and received a recording agreement. Working alongside co-producers Ben Wisch and John Leventhal, his self-titled 1991 debut offered an impressive showcase for his refined, perceptive piano pop and introduced his signature gospel-tinged hit “Walking in Memphis.” The album, which later achieved platinum status, brought Cohn broad recognition and the Grammy Award for Best New Artist. Issued two years afterward, his next release, 1993’s The Rainy Season, largely extended the thematic atmosphere of its predecessor. It included guest vocal contributions from prominent admirers such as David Crosby, Graham Nash, and Bonnie Raitt and featured another charting track in the uplifting “Walk Through This World.”
Cohn maintained a low profile for several years before issuing his third album, 1998’s Burning the Daze. Comparable in mood to his earlier work and enriched by appearances from Patty Griffin and Rosanne Cash, the record proved to be his final studio effort for Atlantic. Although he kept writing and performing live, he essentially withdrew from the studio for nearly a decade. He released the independent live compilation Marc Cohn Live 04/05, and in 2006 Atlantic issued The Very Best of Marc Cohn, formally concluding their association. During the same span Cohn remarkably recovered after being shot in the head during an attempted carjacking while touring with Suzanne Vega. Once healed, he created the highly regarded 2007 album Join the Parade, shaped partly by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and his own survival.
Cohn re-emerged in 2010 with Listening Booth: 1970, an album of covers originally issued that year. Spanning rock, soul, folk, and pop, it showcases vocal contributions from India.Arie, Jim Lauderdale, Aimee Mann, and Kristina Train across four of its twelve tracks. The 2014 single “The Coldest Corner in the World,” drawn from the 2015 documentary Tree Man, represented his first new original song in seven years. A 2016 anthology, Careful What You Dream: Lost Songs and Rarities, aligned with the twenty-fifth anniversary of his debut and preceded a major U.S. tour the following year alongside Michael McDonald. Throughout this period Cohn stayed engaged as a writer and collaborator, adding songs to David Crosby’s 2016 album Lighthouse and composing several tracks for William Bell’s Grammy-winning 2017 release This Is Where I Live. In the same year he supplied the song “Let My Mother Live” to the Blind Boys of Alabama’s album Almost Home. That partnership continued when he and the veteran gospel ensemble combined again to record the 2019 joint album Work to Do.
Albums
