Carly and Mark

Winners in the "Best Folk Song" category for 2008 in the annual Toronto Exclusive Magazine music awards for the song "Morning Light Praying" - Toronto Exclusive Magazine

"Een erg jazzy vrouwenstem, een even jazzy simpele gitaar. Mooi, zuiver. Wat wil je nog meer?"

"Hij speelt gitaar, zij zingt met een kristalheldere stem jazzy songs. Erg zuiver opgenomen, heel vrolijke muziek. Soms een duet, en dan is het nog mooier."
- netties.be

"sheer acoustic beauty" - indieheart.com

CARLY AND MARK
"Morning Light Praying"

It's tempting to compare the dynamic between singer Carly Blasutti and guitarist Mark Hart to that of folk-jazz duo Tuck and Patti, though perhaps with less overt virtuosity (and we mean that in a good way). This wistful leadoff track to their sophomore album perfectly captures the stillness of those rare moments of reflection when, for a few fleeting minutes, life seems both easy and crystal clear. - John Sakamoto

4 stars. Carly has a very lovely voice that really complements Mark's fantastic guitar playing! - Unsigned Music Magazine

In 2007 singer-songwriters Carly Blasutti and Mark Hart came away from the Toronto Independent Music Awards with three awards for their eight-song debut release Carly and Mark.

The critically acclaimed album earned the duo best song honours for ‘Dreamin’ Of'’ as well as honours for best live acoustic group and best female fronted group.

For a first record to score that well is both a blessing and a curse.

Yes, it gets you a lot of attention, which is good, but it also creates certain expectations about your next project, expectations which can sometimes be difficult to meet.

Fortunately that’s not the story here.

New City Morning should exceed any expectations created by Carly and Mark’s first record.

In the three years and a bit since they made that first record, Blasutti and Hart have continued to grow and evolve as both songwriters and as performers, the result, I suspect, at least in part, of having logged a lot of hours together on stage.

They’ve also grown in number, expanding from a duo to a foursome.

Hart, an accomplished fingerstyle guitarist, now has two other players to help lay down the foundation for the music he and Blasutti have penned, Bret Higgins, who plays upright bass, and drummer Joshua Van Tassel.

Both are positive additions.

Stylistically the 10 songs Blasutti and Hart penned for New City Morning embrace many of the same folk, jazz, pop and blues influences their first record did.

But the sound here is cleaner, crisper, more defined.

Although the sound is more sophisticated and more polished than that of its predecessor, New City Morning is still a very personal and very inviting record.

There are songs of sweetness and light for the head and heart, but there also songs of grit and groove that make those little hairs on the back of your neck stand up and scream, “give me more of that.”

Is it working for them?

I believe so.

Morning Light Praying, the album’s opening track, was named best folk song of 2008 by Toronto Exclusive Magazine. It also made John Sakamoto’s ‘Anti-Hit List’ in the Toronto Star and was featured as a top five selection by Songwriter Universe Magazine.

I expect the accolades to continue for this record as it receives more exposure.

What’s not to love about handsomely crafted songs beautifully played with great vocal work and solid production values, the latter courtesy of Dave Orrett who, in addition to playing piano and adding percussion, also recorded, mixed and mastered the set.

Choice cuts on this indie release include Where You Live, Brilliant Blue, Still Rise, Song For Her and the aforementioned Morning Light Prayer. - The Guardian

SOUNDS LIKE: Sweet, soothing acoustic folk that makes you kind of forget about the world around you.

WHY/WHY NOT: Oh the sweet sound of acoustic folk, soothing my ears after a long day. Carly Blasutti's sweet, angelic voice backed by Mark Hart and band left a gentle ringing in my ear. Toronto/Waterloo based band Carly and Mark bring dreamy, beautiful music with their second album New City Morning.

Each song is better than the last. The album starts strong enough with "Morning Light Praying", a light, flowing tune that'll leave you swaying along. Blasutti's voice keeps the same soft tone throughout the album, while the music behind her changes from upbeat to gentle melodies. The added vocals by Hart every once in a while adds dramatic reinforcement to each song, like in "Tell Me That You're Mine", which finishes off the album perfectly.

Now I like fast, upbeat, rocking tunes, but sometimes it's nice to slow it down a bit and enjoy every minute of an album, down to the beauty in a woman's mellow voice. This album is great for that. - SoundProof Magazine

Childhood friends Carly and Mark have been earning reputable
success with their sound as an acoustic folk pop group that has
recently become a quartet. Their recent debut, New City Morning,
contained the smash hit “Morning Light Praying” which fastened
their place in the folk independent scene. Carly and Mark’s blend of folk, jazz, pop and blues music featuring Carly’s extraordinary vocals and Mark’s fingerstyle guitar has set them out against other bands of their genre. - Echo Weekly

Carly and Mark are a pleasure to have here at Maxwell's and always welcome back.
These days, everyone and anyone in a band hijacks the title musician, but Carly and Mark are in the very truest way musicians and talented songwriters. Their musical palette is diverse, drawing from a wide range of musical influences, which is refreshing in an age of musical homogeny. The only down side to this duo is that I expect they'll soon get too big to play our venue!! - Dave Mansell - Maxwell's Music House