* En anglais uniquement
Mark Newman was born in the Bronx. His first musical inspiration was hearing his father play the two songs he knew on piano, "Heart and Soul" and what he calls "that famous tune that people play on the black keys...." He grew up in New York, and after moving to Los Angeles
Newman studied with session guitarist
Howard Roberts and
Ted Greene, who wrote Chord Chemistry and Modern Chord Progressions. His earliest musical influences were
the Beatles,
the Rolling Stones,
the Allman Brothers,
Ry Cooder,
Little Feat,
Jimmy Nolen (the guitarist for
James Brown), and
Steve Cropper, among others. One of his earliest experiences working in a band came after he answered an ad in a local paper. The musical group was looking for a guitar player and
Newman fit the bill -- and he remains a friend to the musicians in that group to this day. His first gig was an outdoor performance with that ensemble at a high school. The regular band canceled at the last minute and his new act filled in, though
Newman felt the gig was less than it could be.
In 1997 his acoustic and electric guitar, mandolin, and vocals fronted the band
Tao Jones, which released the album Rorschach Sunset in May of that year on Secret Records. Nine years later, after representatives from a new label saw him perform live at The Bitter End in New York City and after
Newman gave the powers that be copies of the songs "Dead Man's Shoes" and "Must Be a Pony," the
Must Be a Pony CD found release. When Fred Herrera from the band
Sweetwater ran into Sam Samudio (of Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs), Samudio was looking for a slide guitar player. Herrera told
Newman that Samudio was going to call, and
Newman thought he was kidding. When Samudio got together with
Newman and they played guitar for a few hours,
Newman ended up doing a gig with Sam the Sham the next night.
Mark Newman can hold a crowd on his own in live performance, his slide guitar superb, his vocals earthy and endearing. A version of the
Blind Faith nugget "Can't Find My Way Home" shows that his pop sensibilities go well with his traditional leanings. He has toured with both
Sam Moore of
Sam & Dave and Sam the Sham. ~ Joe Viglione