ArtistWorks Mandolin instructor Mike Marshall has a new album coming out with the Turtle Island Quartet. The famous string quartet has been playing together since 1985 - ArtistWorks Fiddle instructor Darol Anger was actually one of the original founding members. The current lineup consists of David Balakrishnan (violin), Mark Summer (cello), Mateusz Smoczynki (violin), & Benjamin von Gutzeit (viola).

The new album is appropriately titled Mike Marshall and the Turtle Island Quartet and contains four original Mike Marshall compositions including his signature mandocello tune "Gator Strut" (which he teaches in his Mandolin school here at ArtistWorks). They also recorded Darol Anger's arrangement of the Robert Johnson blues tune, "Crossroads".

Mike served as producer for the album, which they recorded in Berkeley from 2011-2012. It will be released on March 18, 2014 but you can pre-order your copy today at the links below. For more information on the Turtle Island Quartet visit their website: http://turtleislandquartet.com.

• Pre-order from Elderly Instruments
• Pre-order from Amazon