Fergus Marsh

Yesterday my multi-year saved search in eBay alerted me to the presence of an ACTUAL Patch of Shades. It had a buy-it-now of $300, so I bought it now. I guessed that the owner had no idea what previous Patch of Shades had sold for on eBay. I bought mine for $520. The next one, purchased by audities.org, a museum of electronic music rarities, fetched $1200.

 What I didn't know was that the seller was none other than Fergus Marsh, brother of Hugh Marsh, and Bruce Cockburn's stick player in the 1980s! I flipped when I saw who I had Paypalled money to on my bank statement this morning. I emailed him, and he sent a very sweet reply, even telling me which "Brucie" songs he had used the effect pedal on.

I wrote: "Holy Wow!!!!! You're Fergus Marsh?!?!?!? As in, played stick with Bruce Cockburn? I am not a big follower of stick, but you are my absolute FAVORITE stick player. Thanks so much for all the gorgeous sounds over the years!! David"

Fergus replied: "Hey David, thanks for the kind words. Just to let you know, i used the patch of shades on a couple of Brucie tunes. Down where the death squad lives was one of them. I used a flanger in the loop that engages with the wah effect. It was pleasingly nasty. ( on the bass end of the stick) Hope you enjoy it. Ferg"

 Wow!