About Me
When her expressive, resonant voice sails over the rhythms of a kicking country rock band, its quite easy to envision that Tara Marks grew up as a quintessential Southern girl. But guess again: California is the state the singer/songwriter calls home. Born in Walnut Creek, near San Francisco, a childhood spent in the dusty San Joaquin Valley town of Fresno ingrained a strong feel for country in her soul. When I write it comes out naturally, Tara says. Natural is the key word: every element of her artistry glows with an incandescent honesty that begins in the songs.Originally I did poetry, typically about being a teenage girl heartache, crushes daydreaming, she reveals. Her fanciful side was inspired by her father a key figure in her life, a man whose affinity for music included devotion to the music of Frank Sinatra. When she was still a young girl, Taras father passed away. I went through a lot when my father died, she says. It was hard my dad was the one who was always singing. I had someone who encouraged me to be a dreamer, and then he was gone.While many a young singer aspires to the Opry. Tara Marks has already been there. After performing the National Anthem for a Fresno Falcons hockey game, she learned about a competition for singers in Nashville. Although she didnt win, from the contestant pool of 117 singers, she was selected to return to Music City to record. Mom said no I needed to finish high school, Tara recalls. I didnt know that much about The Opry or what it symbolized, but I sure did learn a lot when I was there.In music, as in life, timing is everything. Now, newly wed, Tara has grown into a songwriter whose life experiences shade and shape her songs. Making music her life, shes not waiting for things to happen. Im a take charge person, she confirms. This is how I want to make a living and support my family. I also enjoy being a producer; my husband and I produce my music, and I am 100 percent involved in the total process.From the uptempo rocker Sugar Hill to the toe-tapping country soul of I Know, Tara invests her songs with a rollicking honky tonk flavor. Her signature song, She Stands Alone, takes a darker, more pensive tone as she draws a poignant picture of a girl who believes in fairy tales/And singing in the rain, facing her fears and pain.Tara Marks is neither alone nor afraid as she prepares to share her music with an appreciative audience of listeners. Im not a shy person, she laughs. Everybody knows what Im feeling every moment of the day they never have to question it. With a generosity of musical spirit an enthusiastic, upbeat energy, a supportive partner and a loyal cadre of musical cohorts, shes ready to sing her special song.-- Dan Kimpel
