Marvin and the Cloud Wall was born from a love of the softly harsh country of northern NY and VT, the streets and bridges of Brooklyn, the smells and sun of Tucson, the way southern time ignores itself entirely, the American literary lexicon, the never-ending highway, and an almost painful gravity towards sound impacting and color.

Marvin and the Cloud Wall is the solo project of musician Joe Novelli, known for his genre-bending lap steel work with bands and artists from the world over (see JoeNovelli.com for more on those fine collaborations).

In this project a 1972 drum machine named Marvin joins Joe (and sometimes a drummer or two) to blend guttural slide blues, garage rock, indie americana, and cinematic layers into a rumpus both beautiful and brutal, depending on the whimsy of the listener.

Folks say the loveliest things about Joe's playing:

"Aching slide guitar"--HARP Magazine

"Ghostly"--Allmusic.com

"Serpentine slide and lap steel"--My Old Kentucky Blog

"Breathtaking"--Ithaca Journal