Slide guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Marc Stone has had a breakout 2024, releasing his first studio album since before the pandemic and bringing his rootsy, Blues and Funk infused originals to premier venues, festivals and national television. Equally at home bringing the fire with his electric band, leading intricate all star projects, and tearing it up for packed houses with just a guitar and a mic, Stone has been described by OffBeat Magazine as  “some sort of glorious Elton John/Walter ‘Wolfman’ Washington mashup”. Released in April by Sony imprint Bent River Records, Stone’s star-studded, all-original studio album Shining Like A Diamond features Leo Nocentelli and George Porter, Jr. of the Meters, Joy Clark, Mike Dillon, Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes, Lilli Lewis, Weedie Braimah, Meschiya Lake, Papa Mali, Alvin “Youngblood” Hart, Marilyn Barbarin and many more. Drawing on his years playing with masters of Blues, Funk and Zydeco and collaborating with singer-songwriters, Jazz artists, African drum masters, rappers, poets and dreamers of all descriptions, Shining Like A Diamond takes the listener on a 34 minute journey across the American musical landscape as Stone tells concise and soulful stories of cheating, crime, digital dissonance and the never ending quest for the truth. The album’s first single “The Truth (Is What I Wanna Know)” was featured in  AMC TV’s new crime drama “Parish” starring Giancarlo Esposito, and the album has been receiving rave reviews. Writer Brett Milano says of the album "his latest shows how many ways there are to make a hip, modern blues record without relying on the obvious guitar-slinging thing...these songs are worth the care they get” and Roots Music Report gave the album five stars calling it “a Best of the Year candidate.” On the live front Stone has been everywhere at once on the New Orleans scene this year. He capped the spring season with a band set and his first ever solo set at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. In addition to club and festival shows with his band and duo concerts with slide guitar legend and Son  House flame-keeper John Mooney, Stone has been invited to add his ethereal and adventurous lap steel playing to up and coming rock and psychedelic bands including Atom Cat, Degenerate Piknic, Hollyrock and others. On the roots side of things 2024 has seen Marc leading the first all star Blues show at the newly reopened Dew Drop Inn with the original Dap King Ernie Vincent and Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes, doing television and festival appearances with the legendary Batiste family, closing French Quarter Fest and opening Jazz Fest with Rockin’ Dopsie, Jr. and the Zydeco Twisters and appearing on shows with Kenny Neal, Wally Ingrahm, Ed Williams of the Revivalists, Roy Rogers, Wayne Baker Brooks, Alvin “Youngblood” Hart, Carolyn Wonderland and Brooks Hibbert. 

In the midst of all this music making, Stone finds time to share his love of music by hosting the Soul Serenade on New Orleans Jazz and Heritage station WWOZ 90.7-fm, as well as teaching music and organizing projects that bring together artists of different generations and musical backgrounds. Iconic artists including Bobby Rush, Bonnie Raitt, and Bill Payne of Little Feat have all  praised Stone’s abilities and he has collaborated with a who’s who of the Roots music world. His recordings and all-star projects have included contributions from Walter “Wolfman” Washington, Joy Clark, Lilli Lewis, John Mooney, the Campbell Brothers, Luther Dickinson, Meschiya Lake, Roosevelt Collier, Papa Mali, Dave Malone, Camile Baudoin and Reggie Scanlan of the Radiators, Leo Nocentelli and George Porter, Jr. of the Meters, Kirk Joseph and Roger Lewis of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Marilyn Barbarin, and Alvin “Youngblood” Hart. As a guitarist, Stone has performed or recorded with Eddie Bo, Marva Wright, Dr. Lonnie Smith,  Leftover Salmon w Col. Bruce Hampton, Charles Brown, Alana Davis, Terrance Simien, Marcia Ball, Henry Gray and countless others.