What happens when you combine a love for music, humor, and heartfelt connection? You get the Marsh Family—a musical, tight-knit group from Kent, England, whose story was recently featured on the Dad and Daughter Connection podcast with Dr. Christopher Lewis. In a moving and entertaining episode, Dr. Lewis sits down with Ben Marsh and his daughters, Ella and Tess, to explore what it truly means to connect as a family and nurture confident, independent daughters. You can also find the family on YouTube!

Music as the Heartbeat of Family Life

One of the central themes in this episode is how music has become the Marsh Family's language of love, fun, and togetherness. Ben, Ella, and Tess describe how their music-making began as bedtime lullabies and evolved into viral parodies that resonate worldwide. Yet, at its core, their musical journey remains something deeply personal—a way to create lasting memories while laughing together and sometimes tackling tough topics through humor-filled social commentary.

Intentional Parenting and Meaningful Moments

Dr. Lewis guides the conversation into the small, everyday rituals that make a big difference. For the Marsh family, open conversations around the dinner table—discussing daily highlights and "lowlights"—have become foundational. These practices show how dads (and parents in general) can help their kids feel seen, heard, and valued. The episode highlights Ben's balancing act between guiding his daughters and giving them room to grow, especially as they move through the teenage years, and how parenting "by negotiation" fosters independence and mutual respect.

Navigating Modern Challenges Together

Parenting in the digital age isn't easy, especially for families in the public eye. The Marshes talk candidly about how they handle online attention—both the praise and the criticism—by maintaining open dialogue, deliberate boundaries, and always putting family first. Their rule? Everyone has a veto on family projects and their personal growth takes precedence over public performances.

Connection, Laughter, and Lasting Impact

This episode is packed with relatable stories, sincere advice, and a reminder that authentic connection—as a parent, partner, or creative collaborator—requires presence, empathy, and a willingness to see the world through your child's eyes.

If you're looking for inspiration, new ideas on parenting, or just an uplifting story about a family who sings their way through life's joys and challenges, this episode is not to be missed. Listen to the full Marsh Family interview on the Dad and Daughter Connection podcast, and discover how you can strengthen your own family bonds—one note, conversation, or shared moment at a time.

TRANSCRIPT

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:00:02 ]:
Welcome to the dad and Daughter Connection, the podcast for dads who want to build stronger bonds and raise confident, independent daughters.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:00:12 ]:
If you're looking to build a stronger bond with your daughter and help her grow into a confident, independent woman, you're in the right place. I'm Dr. Christopher Lewis, and the dad and Daughter Connection is the podcast where we dive into real stories, expert advice, and practical tips to help you navigate the incredible journey of fatherhood. In every episode, we'll bring you conversations that inspire, challenge, and equip you to show up as the dad your daughter needs. So let's get started, because being a great dad isn't just about being there. It's about truly connecting. Welcome back to the dad and Daughter Connection, where every week we have a great opportunity to be able to work on those bonds, those connections that we have with our daughters. I love that you come back every week to be able to learn more, to experience more, to hear more, and.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:01:07 ]:
And really gain insight into how we all are working to build those strong relationships with our own kids, our own daughters. And that's why every week, I bring on different guests, different people with different experiences that can share some of that journey with you. Because all of us are going to father in different ways. All of us are going to be able to build those relationships with our daughters in different ways, but we can learn from each other. And learning from each other is so important. And I always hope that after every one of these episodes, you've gained some, I'm going to say, tools for your toolbox, some things that you can just take with you to be able to start thinking about fatherhood in a little bit different way and give you some things to think about in regards to how you are working on those relationships that you want to have with your own daughters. This week we got an. We've got some great guests.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:02:04 ]:
And I'm using the plural because we have three guests with us today. They're all a part of the Marsh family. And if you have never heard of the Marsh family, you need to go check them out, because the Marsh Family is a musical family group based in Faversham, Kent, and they are amazing vocalists. The whole family is doing music together. And one of the things that I love is that they are taking music that you know and love, but they're putting their own spin on it. So, you know, I. On their website, they say. They say sometimes compared to the Partridge Family or in Weird Al Yankovit, talk about different types of music.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:02:46 ]:
But I love it because their music does have Humor and they, they have a ton of parodies that they do together and you can just tell that they really enjoy being together, making music together and creating a family dynamic that is really powerful. So we're going to be talking about this journey that they've been on, not only in their music but also in their relationship as father and daughters. Because I have Ben, who is Ben Marsh, the father of the Marsh family. And then I have his two daughters that are with us, Ella and Tess. So I'm really excited to have them here and to introduce them to you. Ben, Ella, Tess, thanks so much for being here today.

Ben Marsh [00:03:26 ]:
Thanks for having us. Yes, we're delighted to be on the podcast and a chance to kind of reflect. We're usually doing this music at such pace and this household is a very busy one. So it's going to be a bit weird and different to kind of sit down and reflect on parenting modes or childing modes or so. Yeah, really looking forward to the conversation.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:03:43 ]:
Well, I'm really excited to have you on and I, you know, when I just had dads on, I am able to talk to you just about being a dad to daughters. But I love it when I have dads and daughters on because we can have a little bit of a back and forth here to talk about this journey, I guess first and foremost, Ben, let's I want to start with you and as you think back to the moments that you've been able to share with your girls, what is one of the most meaningful moments that you've been able to share with your daughters and what made it so special?

Ben Marsh [00:04:10 ]:
Oh, there are so many to pick from. I think there was a lovely moment at their grandparents ruby wedding anniversary that involved because as an adult you're kind of used to going to weddings and funerals and those sort of big set piece punctuation occasions and for there to be a moment when the kids were still quite young but you sort of knew they were going to remember it and to have a big kind of festival carnival atmosphere. And actually we did all this was before we shared anything online or shared anything in the real world, the public world. But we did all do a kind of mini musical performance for the grandparents there. And so there happened to be someone that got a photo that got a shot of one of the kids kind of sat on a, on another grandparents lap watching us all performing. And it's just one of those bits that you really feel you, you're going to remember forever and kind of get locked in. And it was a weird mix of Kind of being super proud of the kids having the guts to go and stand there and take a risk. The girls were so excited that what they.

Ben Marsh [00:05:05 ]:
What they do, in fact, they still kind of do it. You can see them tensing up just to stop sort of moving, because they move since being in the womb. But I remember watching them on that occasion, that Ruby wedding, and they were singing and their hands were moving like this as they were performing. So it was a mix of kind of pride, also knowing it was just a lovely moment. You have to savor those little moments before they fly past.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:05:24 ]:
And Ella and Tess, what would you say to that? What moments really stand out for you?

Ella Marsh [00:05:29 ]:
I'd say for me, it was often on a kind of Saturday morning when we were much younger and it would be us four. We'd wake up quite early and we come downstairs and we have a Wii, which is like a Nintendo brand. And we used to love doing Just Dance. And dad would always come the morning in his pajama bottoms and we'd all be there for hours just kind of working through the Just Dances, which was a very, very memorable moment.

Tess Marsh [00:05:52 ]