Bob Harris - 30/01/2010

Marcus Bonfanti plays live for Bob after midnight. He'll be talking about his second album featuring influences from Tony Joe White to Led Zeppelin. But he describes it as his own style. 'What Good Am I To You' is the sound of the North London blues. 27-year-old Marcus was born in London to an English mother and a "dangerously Italian" father. A self-taught guitarist, he has already packed plenty in, from LIPA (the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts) to top level session work. Bonfanti knows that comparisons are customary at this point. "Someone called me the lovechild of Tom Waits and Van Morrison once," he laughs. "I quite like that one." He admits that 'What Good Am I To You' does bear some American hallmarks. "But there's something British about it that I can never quite put my finger on. It's rooted in blues, that's my favourite genre of music to play and listen to. But I don't think the end product sounds like a traditional blues record, in fact I know it doesn't. I listen to a lot of other music, country, soul, bluegrass, jazz, some quite heavy rock stuff as well, and I think it all feeds in." Playing trumpet in brass bands and orchestras throughout his school life, Marcus didn't own a guitar until he was 15 . "From 15 till now, all I've done is sit there with a guitar," he says, reminiscing about playing Cat Stevens and Beatles tunes, Buddy Holly and Crosby, Stills & Nash. "Then when mum was out, I could play Zeppelin. Soon as she came back in, I would put a Beatles CD back on." Jimmy Page became a lasting inspiration, right through Bonfanti's time at LIPA. He opted not to complete his three years there, but was asked back to play in the band at the graduation party he hadn't qualified for. A 2008 debut album, 'Hard Times' followed.