The Bloomingdale resident has been a guitarist for Crackin’ Foxy, Adirondack Hot Club and other local groups. He plays in the regular Wednesday night jam sessions at the Shamrock Bar & Grill in Gabriels.

Marklund’s friends and fellow musicians describe him as a skilled artist with a bright future.

“In the five years I’ve known him, he’s grown and matured as a musician at an impressive rate,” said Joe Dockery, a percussionist who has played with Marklund. “He’s also grown and matured as an individual. I have a real soft spot for Alex, and for him to have an accident like this, I’ve been deeply affected by it.”

Marklund, 31, remained in critical condition this morning at the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington, where he was taken after an early Sunday morning crash on county Route 55, the Bloomingdale-Gabriels road.

Alex Marklund plays guitar with Crackin’ Foxy in August 2016 at Saranac Lake’s Berkeley Green. He used to be primarily a bluegrass player but learned to play in the Gypsy jazz style for this local band. (Enterprise photo — Chris Knight)

State police said Marklund, whose first name is Jon but goes by his middle name, was driving east in a Honda Civic around 3 a.m. when he passed an eastbound car driven by his girlfriend, Stephanie Sears — then lost control and went off the north shoulder of the road, hitting a tree.

Marklund had to be extricated from the car. Police said he suffered a brain bleed, punctured lungs and other serious injuries.

After initial treatment at Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake, he was airlifted Sunday to the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington. He has been in critical condition since his arrival there.

“He hasn’t woken up yet so the extent of his injuries are still unknown,” read a post Tuesday on Crackin’ Foxy’s Facebook page. “Fortunately, he’s young, strong and good fighter. We’re all pulling for you Alex.”

“Everybody is just shocked,” Crackin’ Foxy founder Mark Hofschneider said Tuesday afternoon. “We don’t know about any prognosis at this point, and that’s kind of hard, waiting it out to see where things are. But there’s a lot of concerned people.”

Hofschneider said Sears and Marklund’s family has been at his bedside at the hospital.

Marklund hails from the Philadelphia area and moved up here after college, Hofschneider said. He has a cabin in Bloomingdale and works as a carpenter for Saranac Lake-based Tissot Construction. Hofschneider described Marklund as “super-easy-going with lots of energy and a wonderful attitude.”

Marklund joined Crackin’ Foxy, a local swing band, about a year ago, Hofschneider said. Before that he had primarily been a bluegrass guitarist. For this group he had to learn Gypsy jazz.

“I said, ‘Well, it’s a slightly different style,'” Hofschneider recalled. “But he had a great attitude and said, ‘What do I need to know?’ I showed him a few things, and he just took off right from there and took it upon himself to learn the style and learn it very well.”

Bluegrass and Gypsy jazz are like night and day, Hofschneider explained, but that didn’t deter Marklund. To hone his skills, he’s been attending music camps and taking lessons from well-known musicians in Montreal.

“He’s just been a sponge,” Hofschneider said. “Even recently, he’s just been progressing so quickly, more than I’ve ever seen anyone progress.”

Dockery said he just played with Marklund last week in a post-concert jam at Lake Flower Landing in Saranac Lake.

“It was an incredible jam, and I’m looking over at Alex, and he’s smiling, and we’re laughing,” Dockery said. “We’re giving him leads. He’s giving me leads. I left that party confirming my admiration for this young man who’s just got the world by the tail.

“Being 62 like I am, you look at kid 31 years old like that, and to see emotional and musicianship growth happen in such a short period of time, I can see his future, and his future is wide open in the world of music. The world needs Alex.”

A prayer vigil for Marklund was held Tuesday evening at Berkeley Green in downtown Saranac Lake.