Mark Andes

For current appearances, please see:

Biography

Heart, Spirit, Firefall, Canned Heat, Stevie Nicks, Dan Fogelberg, Whitesnake, Jo Jo Gunne, Chris Hillman, Kim Carnes, John Fahey, Iain Matthews, Kelly Willis, Jim Lauderdale, Eliza Gilkyson, and Joe Walsh. . . all have relied on the brilliant musicianship of Mark Andes to punctuate their songs and elevate their musical visions to chart-topping status. He has been the rock solid support on bass guitar, songwriting and vocals for all of the above. . . and more.

Growing up in Los Angeles, Mark was a founding member of such cutting edge bands as Canned Heat and Spirit while still a teenager. Spirit is still considered by many to be the first band to successfully fuse jazz and rock with protest, folk-like lyrics and is known as a progressive rock innovator. Their four albums (Spirit, The Family That Plays Together, Clear, and The Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus released from 1967-1970) all are propelled by the visionary rhythm section of Mark and Ed “Cass” Cassidy and include radio staples such as “Got A Line On You” and “Nature’s Way”.

Mark and Spirit’s lead vocalist Jay Ferguson went on to form the hard rockin’ Jo Jo Gunne (which also included Mark's brother, Matt) and quickly scored a top-30 hit with the infectious “Run Run Run”.

Mark moved on to Boulder, Colorado and worked with expatriate Californians such as Joe Walsh, Richie Furay, Chris Hillman, and Dan Fogelberg. After a brief stint with Chris Hillman, Andes formed Firefall with ex-Flying Burrito Brother vocalist Rick Roberts and former Byrd's drummer Michael Clarke, adding more radio hits songs to his repertoire such as “You Are The Woman”, “Just Remember I Love You”, “Strange Way to Tell Me You Love Me” and “Cinderella.”

Heart’s Ann and Nancy Wilson recruited Mark in 1982 where he co-wrote their return-to-radio hit “How Can I Refuse” in 1983 and helped to make the group one of the original MTV darlings. Andes' 10-year stint with Heart was dotted with multi-platinum albums, No. 1 hits, award winning videos, and non-stop arena headlining tours. During this period, Mark also did studio work with Kim Carnes, Joe Walsh and Whitesnake.

After Heart, Andes toured with Stevie Nicks and Dan Fogelberg adding rock bottom stability to their tours. In the late 90s, Mark relocated to Austin, Texas and has contributed to the artistry of Kelly Willis, Iain Matthews, Jon Dee Graham, Eliza Gilkyson, Jim Lauderdale, Alejandro Escovedo, Ian MacLagan and Jo Carol Pierce.

This page is maintained by Cindee Incidentally at the request of Mark Andes.