ABOUT TATUM MARSHALL
Neoclassical Composer and Fingerstyle Guitarist
Tatum Marshall: 20,000 Hours of Solitude
Tatum Marshall is a London-based neoclassical guitarist who began composing at the age of 6, and who has worked with Abbey Road Studios, featured on CandyRat Records, and session recorded with Ed Sheeran. In an era of AI-generated music and MIDI loops, Tatum’s work is a return to real human performance and the raw resonance of the nylon guitar. With over 20,000 hours dedicated to his craft, he creates original music that speaks to the soul and drips with emotion.
Tatum identifies as a 'composer first, and guitarist second'. His music shows restraint with skill, sometimes simple, sometimes slow, giving the music what it needs instead of the trend of showing off and making guitar egocentric.
Tatum is currently in the studio completing his 2nd studio album: 'Art Extinction Event.' With singles coming monthly from June 5, and the full album launch on November 6.
Industry Authority & Global Recognition
While his music is born from a solitary journey, Tatum Marshall’s technical mastery is validated by the industry’s highest tiers:
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Abbey Road Studios: Recorded and tracked at the world’s most iconic studio.
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Ed Sheeran: Featured as a session guitarist for one of the world’s biggest artists.
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Global Competition: A Top 10 Global Fingerstyle Competitor and recipient of the prestigious Showcase Award (selected from over 10,000 artists at Open Mic UK).
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Peer Acclaim: Endorsed by guitar legends including Mike Dawes, Andy McKee, Trevor Gordon Hall, Yvette Young and more
100% One-Stop Sync Licensing for Film & Media
As a professional composer with a background in high-level marketing, Tatum understands the needs of modern Music Supervisors and Directors. His entire catalog is 100% One-Stop, meaning both Master and Publishing rights are pre-cleared for immediate use. His sound is perfectly suited for cinematic trailers, documentaries, and high-end brand storytelling.
TM Music Global
Tatum Marshall is the founder of TM Music Global, a media agency and music catalog, providing streaming, sync licensing, live performances, consultancy for musicians and guitarists, and bespoke events and songwriting.
Join the Community
With a dedicated following of over 50,000 fans online, Tatum Marshall has built more than a discography; he has built a movement for authenticity.
Details:
Based in: London, UK
Genres: Neoclassical, Cinematic Acoustic, Modern Instrumental, Fingerstyle Guitar.
Available for: Sync Licensing, Session Work, Masterclasses, and Film Scoring.
Full biography
The Beginning: A Lost Savant
Tatum Marshall was born in Salisbury on July 11th, 1991, and grew up in the small village (hamlet) of North Gorley, in the New Forest national park of South England. His village had just 100 people. His mum worked as a nurse, and his dad as a cameraman for the BBC.
His family home had limited technology and was too far from friends, so Tatum began to obsess over his dad's guitar, starting at the age of 5. With no guitar teachers nearby, Tatum is self-taught and an autodidact. He immediately had a talent for guitar, able to strum any chord progression in just a few days of learning as a child.
Crucially, this meant he never learned covers, and instead, began songwriting from a young age. Instead of learning to read music, Tatum learned to enter a flow state, where the guitar would play itself.
Tatum's father and brother were early inspirations for his musical taste. He grew up listening to Led Zeppelin, The Beatles and AC/DC. His dad also introduced him to Steve Vai and Joe Satriani, whereby Tatum developed an appreciation for solo guitar. His brother introduced him to Extreme and Nuno Bettencourt. As a teenager, Tatum began listening to alternative metal and nu metal, and has said his favorite band of all time is Linkin Park.
Tatum also had severe myopia, or short-sightedness, and could only see 6 inches in front of his eyes. As an adult, he believes this also contributed to his obsession on guitar, as he became highly focused and tactile at objects in his immediate vision, while the distant world blurred into the background.
At school, Tatum was a gifted artist, but his family did not realize at the time that he had clinical Pure OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). This obsession with music and art turned to difficulty controlling his thoughts and emotions, and his academic grades suffered.
As a teen, Tatum did not join other bands, continuing to prefer creating new compositions on his own. However, due to his guitar and songwriting abilities being a 'secret', and without encouragement, nothing ever happened and his talent did not get a spotlight.
Despite being gifted, due to the Tall Poppy Syndrome of lower-middle class England, he was told to 'keep it as a hobby' and discouraged from taking it seriously or promote himself.
College Drop-out and Moving to London
At the age of 16, Tatum was kicked out of school for being disruptive and having poor academic performance. He began to work as a dishwasher in a local pub, and spent every hour he could playing acoustic guitar, finding new ways to play, including tapping and drumming.
Tatum moved to London to involve himself in the thriving music scene. He worked wherever he could, including being a bartender and waiter, convinced that his destiny was with music.
He worked day and night and composed where he could. Music never left his obsessive mind. Even when he was not with the guitar, he would compose music in his mind, seeing the fretboard, and hearing the individual notes.
A Dark Decade
At aged 21, Tatum began to spiral into his OCD. In just 10 years, he held over 20 jobs, from being a barman, to working in a windowless call center. At one point, he washed carpets for 12 hours a day, and at another point, he worked for an online gambling provider.
Undiagnosed at the time, Tatum had a severe period of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Without knowledge of the condition, he was confused and consumed by disturbing and violent thoughts that became obsessions. Living in a rental, working on minimum wage and dealing with severe mental illness almost made him take his own life.
However, after years of meditation, he began to improve his mental state.
The Unseen Years
Tatum began taking music even more seriously. Not just as an artform, but for the first time, to promote and share his music himself without a label.
Combining his percussive fingerstyle guitar technique with singing, his first act was as a 'singer/songwriter - pop guitarist' - with the name Anon (short for Anonymous).
Living in Reading, he entered 'Open Mic UK' a national music competition with 10,000 entrants. He won all 3 rounds, and in the final, performing in the NEC Arena, he won the Showcase Award given to the top 5 standout acts.
Disappointingly, the reward turned out to be a mentorship that would cost him £1500 per month, which he couldn't afford.
He began playing in bars and pubs, mostly empty apart from his girlfriend Natalia, and he joined with a booking agent, who booked him into a circuit of bars and a headline performance at Basingstoke Festival.
Taking this seriously, Tate hired a videographer to film his set. However, just before he started his performance, an England football World Cup match began on a screen outside, and everyone left the tent. Tatum described walking out to an empty audience as a low point. He had already been 'unheard' for 5 years before this.
Believing that he was cursed, Tatum decided to quit music. He wrote the song 'Farewell in Jazz' in a state of deep sadness - a melancholic solo jazz piece, and what he believed would be his last song. The energy and sadness of the song is real.
Rising Tide
However, his OCD did not allow him to quit. Music stayed on his mind, and it became an impossible task to ignore it. However, he did need to change. He changed his artist name from 'Anon' to 'Tatum Marshall' and began to lean more heavily into his guitar technicality and instrumental songwriting that had defined his childhood.
Renting an attic in a house-share, Tatum converted it into a home studio, and crouched over a small microphone surrounded with pillows and duvets for sound treatment, he recorded Shockwave, Daydreams and Cool Sensations. His dad filmed the music video of Shockwave on his mobile phone at a beach in Cornwall.
The music was composed and recorded in the attic room into a cheap Yeti 'podcast' microphone, and the mixing and mastering was done on Audacity, a free software. Despite the unoptimized nature of the studio, Tatum's talent and energy transferred into the songs, with Shockwave generating more than 2 million streams online.
Momentum and Acclaim
After decades of being invisible in the industry, Tatum began to receive acclaim. He performed in California with fingerstyle legend Andy McKee, and has been acclaimed by Mike Dawes, with the guitarist saying: "Tatum slays on guitar". Esteemed guitarist Trevor Gordon Hall said of Tatum's work "Dazzling, you have to hear this." And Vienna International Music critiquing Tatum as "A serious talent and composer." He also featured on CandyRat Records, the legendary fingerstyle guitar label and YouTube channel.
Tatum released his album Bringing Quiet Back, a neoclassical album that prioritizes emotion over complexity, and uses zero AI. The album is available for streaming and also in limited edition vinyl.
Tatum finally has found his calling as a modern classical composer. It is where he finds joy, and can let his ego fade into the background while the musicality takes center stage.
Where is Tatum Marshall in 2026?
Tatum Marshall is currently finalizing the recording of his 2nd studio album, Art Extinction Event. The album will launch on November 6, with singles released monthly until then. He has excitedly called this album his best work, with a mixture of beautiful neoclassical, some technical guitar songs, and even some electric guitar. An international tour is expected for 2027. Tatum's journey is just getting started. Subscribe to his socials or most importantly, listen to his music, to support and follow his journey.
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