Mark Growden (voice, accordion, banjo, saxophones, handlebars), Myles Boisen (guitar), Seth Ford Young (upright bass), Alex Kelly (Cello), Chris Grady (trumpet), and Jenya Chernoff (percussion).
Other folks that have backed me up include Kid Congo Powers, Lisa Mezzacappa, Eric McFadden, 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
Mark Growden is an internationally renowned multi-instrumentalist and artist based in San Francisco, CA.
As a composer, multi-instrumentalist and performer, Mark Growden has released several critically acclaimed albums. He has completed many successful US tours, performing at venues such as the Fillmore and Great American Music Hall in San Francisco and Tonic and The Knitting Factory in New York.
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.
Growden co-founded and co-produces the underground site-specific performance series COVERT along with famed artist and troublemaker John Law, of Cacophony Society and Suicide Club fame.
Growden's newest album, "Saint Judas," is his first studio album of songs in eight years. Recorded live in the Bay Area, it is a stunning exploration of moments of pain and catharsis, love and transformation, tenderness and desire. "Saint Judas" is a rich and haunting collection of stories and melodies that embraces and celebrates the saints and sinners in each of us.
Mark is currently touring the western US in promotion of "Saint Judas," which will be released on Friday, November 13th, at the Cowell Theater at Fort Mason in San Francisco. Tickets are available for purchase at brownpapertickets.com.
Check the tour schedule to see if Mark is performing in a city near you. To see what Mark is up to now, follow him at @markgrowden.
Mark Growden & Alex Kelly Saturday, November 21 8:00 pm
"San Francisco's dark, sultry songtwister/multi-instrumentalist/renegade bluesman Mark Growden is dropping by Seattle for an intimate house concert featuring cellist Alex Kelly."
Hope everyone can join us for this night at Cafe Du Nord:
Performance of Riley's In C, The Lickets, Julianna Barwick, and DJ Stereo Steve (spinning ambient sounds) Monday, Nov 16, 2009 8:00 PM PST (7:00 PM Doors) $10. at Cafe Du Nord >Details here and Tickets Here or at the door.
My attempts to create an Open at the Mama Buzz Cafe have failed. The will be no open mic at the Mama Buzz cafe. The "Every Second Sunday" open mic has been double booked for the second month in a row. It is clear I'm not suited to be the host of an open mic. Thank you all for your interest and support. My sincerest apologies to all musicians poets that hoped and even planned for this open mic.
On Oct 3, a fantastic gathering occurred within a cafe-sized room canopied by trees. The Gypsy Camp is a long-visited place within El Escorpion Park in West Hills - long overdue to be utilized as a unique venue for live music.
It was the beginning of a new series of acoustic shows that bring bands out of bars and clubs, friends and musical enthusiasts out of the house on a saturday afternoon, and a unique and magical experience to everyone involved.
If this looks like a good time to you, please tell people about it, and join us for Gypsy Camp The Second on Saturday, Nov. 14. Prepare yourself with a cooler and blanket and an afternoon to enjoy some great music.
Question: I really liked a song you play, but I do not know the title and have had no luck finding it. Storyline is about two people going to heaven in search of God...familiar? I hope to see your show in Portland in November as well. Wish you all the best!
the weasel exists in the bay area. many weasels exist in the bay area. if you are one of said weasels, we would love to see you this weekend. it’s a busy one.
Thu 10 – solo acoustic show at maggie mcgarry’s in san francisco. Fri 11 – solo acoustic show at mama buzz café in oakland Sat 12 – weasels exist. (bay area chapter) at retox lounge in san francisco. this saturday show will be extra exciting, as i will be joined by a band of friends and weasels from northern california, including phil stein-webber, who is responsible for the drums on ‘relentless professional behavior’. more info available on the calendar. hope to see you over the course of this epic weekend.
what a fabulous show in portland!!! ugh, i'm soooo embarassed....i showed up way top early and drank too much. i'm sorry to have bugged you and annoyed you so. thank god my friends were there to drag me away! anyway, we really look forward to your next portland show, and i PROMISE i'll leave you alone, and i won't be that stupid drunk girl...i don't get out much :) cheers
... M A M Y K Ô ... 
