mark alan

recalling a favorite boyhood memory, he says that he would lie between the rows of a freshly plowed field, the dark, sun-warmed earth to his back, just as the cool of dusk began to settle over the heartland. Mark Alan's music is rooted in that fertile soil and from time to time it seems to beckon the solace of some vast horizon. Growing up in rural Colorado and Kansas, he was only a child when he first heard the sounds that would shape him - sounds that resonate, even today. Always, somewhere a radio, playing Country, Rhythm & Blues or Gospel music. There were ’Indian’ pow-wows and church choirs singing. Late in the evening he could hear the seemingly endless din of cicadas outside his window - or later still, a pack of coyotes roaming nearby, yipping at the wail of some passing freight train. . . .
While there were formative years in the shadow of tall cottonwoods and summer-times spent wandering the farm, Mark’s family would eventually move on, to the outskirts of Denver. It was there, in a culturally desolate suburban environment, that he would spend the majority of his adolescence - his saving grace, a small ’record store’ in Boulder, a pair of headphones and a stack of well-worn LP’s. Listening to Soul, Folk/Rock and Jazz records served as tutelage and before long he was making a name for himself, establishing a reputation as an unusually gifted singer/songwriter. He moved to EUGENE, OREGON just a few years later, where he continues to garner high praise, performing consistently throughout the northwest, on college campuses and as an opener for the likes of Ray Charles, Joan Baez, Robert Cray and Kelly Joe Phelps. His long-standing Sunday night sets at the former Jo Federigo's in Eugene are nearly legendary among locals and University of Oregon alumni alike. . . .
The inheritance of voice and place makes for a powerful union. Though acoustic in nature, Mark’s music is strangely expansive. It's original in sound, soulful and groove oriented. His presence is warm and unpretentious. Poetic, yet simply profound, here’s someone faithfully doing what he’s supposed to do. He performs with that conviction night-in and night-out. When you see him, when you hear him at work, you’ll understand why friends are talking - about 'the real' Mark Alan.
Find out more by visiting the official website at:
www.therealmarkalan.com
You can purchase Mark's cd's exclusively at:
www.gotocdworld.com
Check out a Breedlove guitar like Mark's at:
www.breedlovemusic.com