Marques Toliver

One of the most unique artists to appear during the 2010s, Marques Toliver is a songwriter, producer, violinist, and vocalist from Daytona Beach, Florida. He began to study music at the age of ten and later attended Stetson University's School of Music, where he studied classical violin. A move to New York — where he often busked — led him to performances and recordings with An Albatross, Grizzly Bear, TV on the Radio, Bat for Lashes, Holly Miranda, and Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson. In 2010, he appeared on the BBC's Later...with Jools Holland and performed a solo violin-and-vocals version of his song "White Sails" (a demo version of which he self-released the same year). Shortly after signing to Simon Raymonde's Bella Union label (home to Beach House, Fleet Foxes, and Veronica Falls), Toliver released the four-track EP Butterflies Are Not Free (2011). The single "Magic Look" (2012) followed as a precursor to Toliver's first album, Land of CanAan, released in May 2013.