The Early Days (2002-2009)
Neutron Dawn is the brainchild of the singer/songwriter, Ted Marshall. He founded the group, Neutron Dawn, during the spring of 2002, with an original line-up that included Ben, Nate, and Mike. They howled at the moon and rehearsed in a house outside Eugene, OR.
After a couple year, each members went on to other endeavors and Ted began to learn audio production. Becoming proficient in some early music software, he began to assemble his own personal recording studio. In 2003, over the next few months, he recorded and produced Neutron Dawn’s debut album The Light Fades from Here…. The album was raw and unpolished but a personal accomplishment for what was possible with early digital recording technology.
Shortly afterwards, Ted lost his job and decided to make several changes to his life. On Valentines Day 2004, he moved to Portland with his girlfriend Emily and began composing new music. Over the next few months, Ted refined his studio and recorded Neutron Dawn’s follow-up album Transmit Radio. The critics fell in love with it as an instant classic. It still receives a lot of airplay on Hockstatter road trips.
The next year, Ted worked tirelessly in the studio trying to re-record Neutron Dawn’s first album with new equipment. He was hoping to achieve a better sound but unfortunately, the result was The Hidden Strength of the Arch. A personal disappointment in the mastering. This led him to compose new material for the follow-up album Where the Kaleidoscope Ends. After releasing four albums, Neutron Dawn was missing a band to perform the growing catalog of music.
In 2007, Ted met drummer Marcus Furr (Neutron Dawn, Dust Bunny Nation) over a game of Texas Hold’em. They struck up a special bond and began to play together in the evenings. Later they were joined by a mutual friend, Dan Galvin, on bass. But unfortunately, all good things come to an end and after years, they played their last show together on July 5, 2008. This musical rager later got release as a live album entitled, The Basement Show. A couple months later, the album, Arctic Ashes, provided a selection of songs recorded during their time in studio together.
The Middle Years (2010-2017)
Over the years that followed, Ted continued to produce music through live improvisational performances. Using a looper, he would build up melodies before layering some lyrics on top of the sound bed. Most of these performances were off the cuff but some were covers of his favorite songs. He recorded dozens of these performances and in 2015, released some of the more memorable songs on the live album Scraps.
The Later Years (2018-present)
After taking a short break from playing music to spend time with his expanding family, Ted resurrected a lost collection of songs he had recorded around 2008 from his digital dustbin. So he went back into the studio to remaster these songs and record a bunch of new ones. Rimrock would be Neutron Dawn’s first new studio album in nearly a decade.
The following year, while the world was stuck at home in quarantine, Ted began writing new music and focusing on his music production skills. This unleashed a tsunami of creativity that resulted in his recording cover songs to assist with refining his music production chops. During this period of time, Ted collaborated with renowned Bay Area musician, Chris Heltne of the The Sticky Vamps. When the dust settled, they had a collection of cover songs which they would release as Undercovers. Afterwards, Ted went back to the studio inspired by these sessions. He refined his songs written during the global pandemic and released Fire Sale in 2022. These songs capture his unique perspective of the chaos that enveloped the world.