Mark Growden profile picture

Mark Growden

About Me

Mark Growden is a composer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, visual artist, educator, cyclist, and father based in San Francisco, CA. He has toured the U.S. for years performing at venues such as the Fillmore and Great American Music Hall in S.F. and Tonic and The Knitting Factory in New York. He has released several critically acclaimed albums including Inside Beneath Behind and Downstairs Karaoke which are available on iTunes. Growden has composed original musical scores for a number of Dance and Theater companies including Joe Goode Performance Group, The Crucible’s Fire Oddyssey, and Alonzo King’s Lines Contemporary Ballet with whom he won the Isadora Duncan Award for Best Original Score for a New Dance Piece. Growden has also scored several films including “Blood Tea and Red String” which won Best Animation at the San Francisco Independent Film Festival and at the Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal. Resume aside, Growden is deeply committed to serving this world and the beings that occupy it with the expression of the divine through the arts whether it be painting, printing, singing, riding a bike, or taking out the garbage.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 27/11/2004
Band Members: Mark Growden (Vox, Accordion, Banjo, Lap Steel Guitar, Saxophones), Myles Boisen (Guitar), Seth Ford Young (Upright Bass), Sam Bass (Cello), Chris Grady (Trumpet). ............................................................ ......................................Other folks that have backed me up include Kid Congo Powers, Jenya Chernoff, Evan Fraser, Jesca Hoop, Eric McFadden, Storm, Jay Standards, Michael Mellender, Nils Frykdahl, Dawn McCarthy, Brian Kenney Fresno, Moe Stayano, Amy Denio, Robin Coomer, Carla Kihlstead, Peter Whitehead, Jon Birdsong, Jim Santi Owen, George Chremaschi, Molehill Orchestra, Tim Dixon from The Crux, Tarik Ragab, Amore Belhom Duo, Michael Farkas, Allen Werner, Tommy Cappel, Simon Cheffins, Mateo, Yari Mander,...
Influences: The Moment, My Instruments, My Physical Body, My Emotional Body, The Audience, Prison Work Songs, Georgia Sea Island Singers, Stravinsky, Coltrane, Mingus, Eric Dolphy, Al Green, Howlin' Wolf, Aretha Franklin, Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell, Merideth Monk, Tina Turner, David Bowie, Steve Reich, Nina Simone, Aaron Copland, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Kurt Weill, Tom Waits, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Latin Playboys, Amalia Rodriguez, El Camaron de la Isla,...more than anything, the Moment.
Sounds Like: Meredith Monk, Houndog, Kurt Weill, Howlin' Wolf, Tom Waits, Jeff Buckley, Latin Playboys
Type of Label: Major

My Blog

Mark Growden's Handlebars

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEmDfNkKDqk This was shot by my dear friend Yarrow Mahko at The Orchard Spotlight while I had my residency there last summer. The theater is housed in a be...
Posted by on Tue, 10 Feb 2009 10:45:00 GMT

If the Stars Could Sing - Mark Growden Sextet

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvgZli32QwY Video shot by Cindy Emch.
Posted by on Sat, 17 Jan 2009 13:05:00 GMT

Been in the Storm So Long - Mark Growden Sextet

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXcJ9PpELmc Filmed by Cindy Emch. Thank you Cindy.
Posted by on Tue, 13 Jan 2009 10:14:00 GMT

Delilah - Mark Growden Sextet

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxyTinj4bYw Featuring, Alex Kelly, Jenya Chernoff, Chris Grady, Myles Boisen, Seth Ford-Young and Mark Growden. Words and Music by Growden. Video by Cindy...
Posted by on Sun, 11 Jan 2009 10:19:00 GMT

I'm Your Man - Mark Growden Sextet

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA8tm4EAb_I An adaptation of Leonard Cohen's "I'm Your Man". Featuring Mark Growden, Myles Boisen, Alex Kelly, Seth Ford-Young, Jenya Chernoff and Chris Gr...
Posted by on Sat, 10 Jan 2009 12:57:00 GMT

Coyote - Mark Growden Sextet

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSppMJJWk3U "Coyote" by Mark Growden and Deke Weaver Featuring Seth Ford-Young, Alex Kelly, Chris Grady, Myles Boisen, Jenya Chernoff and Mark Growden.
Posted by on Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:23:00 GMT

Mark Growden Live at the Laughingsquid Party

http://vimeo.com/2650380
Posted by on Wed, 07 Jan 2009 08:57:00 GMT

Mark Growden Quartet- Delilah @ The Dark Room

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAG7WqPAAPE Mark Growden Quartet at The Dark Room Theater 11-26-08
Posted by on Thu, 04 Dec 2008 08:13:00 GMT

Mark Growden Quartet - I'm Your Man

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sd9QeH0IIg4 Mark Growden Quartet live at the Dark Room Theater. 11-26-'08 Video by Cindy Emch.
Posted by on Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:43:00 GMT

Mark Growden Quartet - St Judas @ The Dark Room

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi--_CB_TVo Mark Growden Quartet live at the the Dark Room Theater, San Francisco. 11-26-'08. Mark Growden - Voice, Accordion Seth Ford-Young - Uprig...
Posted by on Sat, 29 Nov 2008 08:01:00 GMT