Music
Press
“Growden’s voice is bigger than a 10-story building, and when he clacks his cowboy boots on a hollow patch of floor along to some of his tunes, the sound seems to reverberate across the globe.” – Laura Casey, Contra Costa Times
“Fiery, earthy and sublimely sensual.” – Comet Magazine
“A sight and sound you don’t want to miss.” – S.F. Bay Guardian
“An unusual and voracious talent.” – Willamette Week
“Mark Growden has to be on of California’s most colorful and intriguing musicians…. Growden is a genius.” – Albuquerque Alibi
“He writes songs that pusle with drama, songs that slide with grace.” – Tucson Weekly
“Part singer-songwriter, part bluesman, part avant-gardist, he’s an avatar of bohemian weirdness on a par with Tom Waits or Joe Henry.” – Fort Worth Weekly
“Torrid lyricism and fierce accordion rascality. His live shows are becoming the stuff of legend.” – East Bay Express - Various
Discography
Mark Growden Saint Judas (National Release - March 2010)
Mark Growden Island of the Gondoliers (soon to be released)
Mark Growden Blood Tea and Red String (2005)
Mark Growden Live at the Casbah San Diego (2004)
Mark Growden Live at the Odeon (2003)
Mark Growdens Electric Pinata Inside Beneath Behind (2001)
Mark Growden Downstairs Karaoke (1999)
Mark Growden This Piggy (1997)
Mark Growden Dont wanna Go Back (1996)
Numerous tracks have received radio airlplay.
Photos
Bio
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 Crucibles Fire Oddyssey, and Alonzo Kings 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.
Growdens newest album, Saint Judas, is his first studio album of songs in eight years. Recorded live in the studio, 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's draws his infuence from a wide range of musical artists, such as: Igor Stravinsky, John Coltrane, Claude Debussy, Eric Dolphy, Maurice Ravel, Charles Mingus, Henry Threadgill, Lomax field recordings especially of prison work songs from the American South, Amalia Rodriguez, Diamanda Galas, Erik Satie, Aaron Copeland, Meredith Monk, Al Green, Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, Bessie Jones, Nina Simone, Blind Willie Johnson, Bluitt Baritone Nation, David Bowie, Howlin' Wolf, Los Lobos, Latin Playboys, Joni Mitchell, Tom Waits, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Hildegard von Bingen, Steve Reich
Here's what the press has to say:
Growdens voice is bigger than a 10-story building, and when he clacks his cowboy boots on a hollow patch of floor along to some of his tunes, the sound seems to reverberate across the globe. Laura Casey, Contra Costa Times
Fiery, earthy and sublimely sensual. Comet Magazine
A sight and sound you dont want to miss. S.F. Bay Guardian
An unusual and voracious talent. Willamette Week
Mark Growden has to be on of Californias most colorful and intriguing musicians . Growden is a genius. Albuquerque Alibi
He writes songs that pusle with drama, songs that slide with grace. Tucson Weekly
Part singer-songwriter, part bluesman, part avant-gardist, hes an avatar of bohemian weirdness on a par with Tom Waits or Joe Henry. Fort Worth Weekly
Torrid lyricism and fierce accordion rascality. His live shows are becoming the stuff of legend. East Bay Express
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