Biography

"Every great once in a while a musician comes along who can make an instrument speak in tongues."
Deseret News

"Soothes with visions of swaying palms and inspires with driving energy and virtuosic flair."
Advocate, Fairfield County, CT

"In his hands the instrument becomes a lyrical tool of enchanting dimension."
St. Paul Pioneer Press Dispatch

photo: Steve Sutfin

In the early 1970's Mark was one of a handful of free-spirited musicians who created a whole new vocabulary for the Appalachian dulcimer. He created a driving flatpicking style, playing the dulcimer with a force and passion seldom heard before. This led to a first place win at the National Mountain Dulcimer Championships in Winfield, Kansas in 1979, appearances at festivals, colleges and coffeehouses across North America and Europe, and a recording career spanning over 20 years.

Mark has performed just about anywhere – from Barrow to Boston; Sligo to San Diego. He's shared the stage with performers as diverse as Grover Washington, Jr.: Norton Buffalo; Doc Watson, and the Skagway Girls Jr. Varsity basketball team. He once worked as a banjo playing gorilla in Dublin, but that's another story...

He's an engaging performer, artfully weaving stories and humor with heartfelt music to transport the audience. Drawing his repertoire from all over – haunting Irish airs, driving Appalachian fiddle tunes, lively French bourees and the enchanting music of Polynesia. His original songs and melodies have been featured on radio stations across the US.

Mark's involvement with music began early. After putting in a number of years playing guitar and bass in R&B bands, he discovered the Appalachian dulcimer and quickly developed an award-winning style that has put in demand as a concert artist and workshop leader.

His ground-breaking album, Fiddle Tunes for Dulcimer -- The Rights of Man on the legendary folk and blues label Kicking Mule Records featured the dulcimer holding its own alongside fiddles, bodhrans and mandolins playing Celtic jigs and reels, Appalachian hoedowns and more with intensity and drive.

For his second album, After the Morning, Mark teamed up with the legendary Irish fiddler Kevin Burke (The Bothy Band, Patrick Street) and some of the Northwest's finest Celtic musicians for a set of Irish, Scottish and American music. That album was featured as a Book of the Month Club selection, helping to bring the dulcimer to its widest audience yet.

Southern Light, Mark's third album, was a musical departure from the Celtic stylings of his previous efforts. It showcased his writing and multi-instrumental skills alongside a veritable who's who of contemporary new acoustic musicians, including steel pan virtuoso Andy Narel, jazz violinist Dave Balakrisnan of the Turtle Island String Quartet and Celtic bopsters Robin Petrie and Danny Carnahan. Mark's evocative, Island-tinged original pieces, as well as his guitar, dulcimer and mandolin playing, brought the CD to playlists on jazz, contemporary instrumental, and folk radio stations in the US, Canada and Europe.

Next came autumn, an album of instrumental solos featuring a brand new musical instrument, the MIDI dulcimer, and the acoustic MIDI guitar. Unusual in that much of the music was recorded as spontaneous improvisations, that album also pointed in a new direction – towards the Hawaiian Islands and slack key guitar.

Mark's recent release, The Water is Wide, features 12 heartfelt instrumentals played on slack key guitar and dulcimer. The music comes from islands real and imaginary – places as far away as the South Pacific, Ireland and Scotland and Old California.

When not touring Mark maintains a small recording studio and writes about music and music technology for several national magazines. He and his wife, Annie Dempsey, a designer of hand knitting patterns, live in Southern Oregon's rural Applegate Valley along with an assortment of semi-tame birds and squirrels.

Mark has worked just about everywhere there is a stage. He equally at home in concert halls, festivals and coffeehouses. Here's a small sampling of some of the places he's appeared. And yes, he'd love to play for your festival, organization or club. Just ask.

RECORDINGS
"Ke Kukima Polinahe" (acme arts)
"Old Time Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar" (acme arts)
"The Water is Wide" (acme arts)
"Slack Key Solos & Duets" (acme arts)
"autumn..." (Wizmak Productions)
"The Faery Hills" (Wizmak Productions)
"Masters of the Mountain Dulcimer" (Susan Trump Music)
"December's Hearth" (Wizmak Productions)
"Pasttime with Good Company" (Kicking Mule Records
"Winfield Champions" (Wood 'n' Strings)
"Timeless" (Camera One Productions video album)
"Southern Light" (Flying Fish Records)
"After the Morning" (Kicking Mule Records)
"The Rights of Man" (Kicking Mule Records)

INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS
VIDEO (all Lark in the Morning, dist. Mel Bay Publications)
"Beginning Appalachian Dulcimer"
"Advanced Appalachian Dulcimer"
"Making Homemade Musical Instruments"

BOOK/CD SETS (Mel Bay Publications)
"Favorite Old Time American Songs for Appalachian Dulcimer"
"The Complete Collection of Celtic Music for Appalachian Dulcimer"
"Scottish Airs and Ballads for Appalachian Dulcimer"
"Make Music with Homemade Musical Instruments"

with Keola Beamer:
"Learn to Play Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar"

FESTIVALS
Bankoh Ki Ho`Alu Festival
Vancouver Folk Festival, Vancouver, B.C.
Cowboy Poetry Gathering, Elko, NV
Walnut Valley Festival, Winfield, KS
Common Ground on the Hill, MD
Swannanoa Gathering, NC
Housatonic Dulcimer Festival, CT
Britt Bluegrass Festival, Jacksonville, OR
Song of the Sea, Bar Harbor, ME
World Music Festival, Mt. Shasta, CA
Northwest Folklife Festival, Seattle, WA
Oklahoma City Arts Festival
Salt Lake City Arts Festival
Festival of Fools, Amsterdam
Letterkenny International Folk Festival, Letterkenny, Ireland

CONCERT AND CLUB APPEARANCES
Passim's, Boston, MA
No Exit, Chicago, IL
Maggie May's, Austin, TX
Freight and Salvage, Berkeley, CA
Ryan's, New Orleans, LA
Down Home Guitar, Anchorage, AK
Hult Center for the Performing Arts, Eugene, OR
Baltimore Friends of Traditional Music, Baltimore, MD
California Traditional Music Society, Tarzana, CA
Second Fret, Oklahoma City, OK

RESIDENCIES AND ARTS COUNCILS
Utah Rural Arts Consortium
Arts Alaska
Oregon on Tour
Western States Arts Foundation
Young Audiences of Oregon and Washington
Champagne Arts Council, Urbana, IL
Southeast Island Schools, Ketchikan, AK

Mark offers workshops in all aspects of dulcimer, Hawaiian slack key guitar, `ukulele, bodhran, and more. He's taught at just about every major music camp and festival in the country. Click here for more info.