So Who Is Mark Brine?

Thursday night the opening act for Fishken and Groves is Mark Brine. Who is he? I'm still learning, but I grabbed the following off his website for a quick look:

AltCountryTab.com Carl Anders

There are probably more familiar names to most of you out there, but you've probably overlooked or ignored Mark Brine for far too long. Now's your chance to make amends.

Taking its title from the Ola Belle Reed track that opens the album, 'Fortunes' is a mix of a couple of rare and unreleased tracks along with some picked from Mark's more recent releases. Even though some of the tracks are as recent as 2001, probably the biggest compliment you can pay these songs is that they actually sound like lost classics from the 60's folk revival scene or of scratchy recordings from the 20's.

Its hard to think listening to these songs that most are from within a decade or so, you'd be forgiven for thinking that these were taken from albums from the era when Dylan, Townes and Clarke were first plying their trade. However, this isn't just a tribute to those times, Brine has set his career on continuing those traditions and on consistently writing country/folk/blues songs exactly how they were meant to sound.

Songs like Ukelele Yodelin' Blues prove the point. Simple, effective country blues of a traditional style that very few seem focused on keeping alive. But this has been Brine's trademark throughout his career. Leaving behind a career in Nashville as he grew increasingly frustrated with its commercialization and refusal to accept its own roots.

For some reason we lament that the likes of Townes and Clarke have never achieved a level of success befitting of their talents. But it's probably fair to say that as we roll our eyes at the uneducated masses who have never heard of either of them, we're as guilty for letting Brine pass us by.

Its quite right that Brine has a wealth of critical acclaim behind his recording career to date. Rather than being a standard best of, 'Fortunes' is more of a wake up call for us with the wallets and credit cards to finally take notice and timely reminder that Mark Brine is talent that we can no longer afford to ignore.

Finally in addition to gaining 17 songs that may take a long time to leave your stereo, a portion of the sale of every CD goes direct to benefit the children and their families of the Appalachia. Even more reason to buy 'Fortunes.'

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