Bolton Marsh

How it all began

My audiobook journey began, as many do, with The Oral Tradition at my mother’s knee. Or, rather, tucked under the covers at bedtime. Mom really brought Kipling’s The Just-So Stories to life. Even now I can hear — feel — the rhythm of The Sing-Song of Old Man Kangaroo, “still ran Dingo —Yellow-Dog Dingo — always hungry, grinning like a rat-trap…” as she read. Every night, I was given a choice and every night it was the same request: “kanga-woo!”

My first memory of a recorded audio interpretation was in elementary school. The recording was Saki’s The Open Window. The reader was absolutely transportive as she read, “with a dazed horror in her eyes!” And I was done. I’ve heard it done since but never as well.

Later listens to other narrators only cemented my love for a story well-told. Patrick Tull reading the Patrick O’Brian Aubrey-Maturin series is a pure delight. Does he make Diana Villiers sound as lovely as she is? No. Do I care a jot? I do not. Everything else is perfect.

The same can be said for Sir Ian McKellen’s read of Michelle Paver’s Wolf Brother. From the first sentence, you are all in. I’ve shared a stage with McKellen (it sounds more impressive than it was) and hearing him say “… with his hot, murderous eyes…” made my blood run cold and delightfully returned me to that time.

Such is the nature of a book well-told. It transports us back to a time where the flickering of a firelight dancing across a tribesman’s face brought you along on the hunt and made you forget the dangers lurking just out of sight over his shoulder… or yours.

I try to bring that sense of grounded awe to my reads. Too much and you lose them; not enough and you never get them in first place.

About Me

I am an Atlanta-based actor in the Southeast market. I am a proud member of Actors' Equity and SAG-AFTRA. A veteran of stage (The Kennedy Center, Ford's Theatre, La MaMa, ETC) and screen (HBO's award-winning Something the Lord Made (three Emmys and a Peabody), Marvel and DC Universes), I am drawn to voiceover work where I can make inane faces and gesticulate wildly and it only enhances the read.

Home Set-up

I narrate in a WhisperRoom using a Rode NT1 large diaphragm condenser mic with a Scarlett 2i2 audio interface, connected to a Mac. I use REAPER as my digital audio workstation (DAW) of choice, utilizing the punch-and-roll technique.

Contact Me