Mark's Music Page
A Musical Journey
Early Harmony
I began singing at a very early age while listening to my older brother's 45's and the radio in the early 1960's. I found myself gravitating to singing harmonies as the "5th Beatle" above Paul McCartney.
A New Direction
It was 1971 when a new class called "Rock and Bach" was offered at Air Academy High School. i found myself cringing while attempting to make chord shapes and get the strings pressed down for clear notes. I was the worst in the class! One day my friend Ted asked if the teacher might let us take a couple guitars out at lunch. I started playing every day with my friend who had already been playing for several years. Once I played my first song: Neil Young's "Heart Of Gold". The next semester I was the student teacher for "Rock and Bach" and I was hooked.
Finding Henry
Once I got proficient, my parents took me to Johhny Smith music to pick out a good guitar. Johnny Smith himself took a nice used 1961 Guild D25 solid mohogany 6 string down off the wall and handed it to me saying "this is a good guitar". Little was I to know I'd been introduced to my very best friend, Henry.
Giving Back
As an aspiring new artist and a devoted Boy Scout, I decided to use my new found musical skills to give back to my community by volunteering to play for the newly developed "guitar Mass" at Our Lady Of The Pines Catholic Church in Black Forest. This became my Eagle Scout project and set me up for a lifetime of service playing and singing for the Lord. Little was I to know that I would continue playing and eventually writing music and lyrics all of my adult life for various churchs, bands, and throughout my adult Scouting career as the Chaplain for Boy Scout troop 167 and the entire foothills district.
LordSongs
The Making of LordSongs
In 2000 after my father passed away, I approached my mother, Scotty, to monetarily back my first formal recording project "LordSongs". LordSongs features 14 original songs that I had written and performed in various churches over my 30+ years of playing in choirs and praise bands.
Troublesome Gulch
In 2001 I started playing Bluegrass music on Friday nights with my friends Jay Genender, Tom Carr, Steve Rothenberg, Art Frankel, and Tony Groszewski at the Meadow Creek Bed and Breakfast in beautiful Pine Colorado. Our jams became local legend and we started playing events in the foothills area as "Alpine Junction". One Friday night in November 2005 I walked out of the back room and heard a unbelievably beautiful voice singing along with my friends. I walked up behind this musical goddess and proceeded to add harmony and accompany her guitar with my mandolin. Little was I to know that in 2009 I would marry this gorgeous lady on that very same spot we met and we would perform together with our own band "Troublesome Gulch".