MARK ‘N THE BLUES
Let Mark’s passion for the blues take you on a journey to the deep south where the Delta blues was born, through the ages and styles from past to present. In his show Mark incorporates instruments such as the Resonator guitar with slide, Cigar Box guitar and a stomp box to keep the beat.
Mark has always had a deep seated passion and love for the acoustic blues. This passion was cultivated when he met John Morris (Brother John) from the Blues Preachers, who developed in him a love for songs from Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Manse Lipscombe and many others from the era.
Mark has now put together his new solo act, ‘Mark ‘N the Blues’, where he uses the acoustic guitar and resonator to punch out classic delta and country blues in a unique picking style he learnt from Brother John.
Mark Bishop was born and bred in Sydney. He started learning guitar at the age of 14 from well respected jazz musician, Dennis King, who in his younger days played the infamous Trocadero in Sydney. After starting out in a couple of bands at school, playing classics from Cream and Deep Purple, Mark went on to play bass and rhythm guitar for various rock and country bands around clubs in West Sydney and the country areas.
As a guitarist and vocalist Mark has performed around the Sydney club circuit now for over 30 years. He is also now branching out to perform at several blues, folk and country festivals around Australia including the Katoomba Blues and Roots festival.
The Mark ‘N The Blues show has appeared at venues around Sydney including Mr Falcon’s at Glebe; Macquarie Arms Windsor; Rozelle Markets; Cat & Fiddle Balmain; The Bridge Hotel Rozelle; Collector Hotel Parramatta and the iconic Brass Monkey in Cronulla to name a few.
Mark’s influences have been many and varied but his greatest influence probably comes from Eric Clapton. Mark aspires to play Clapton’s songs with some credibility.
Mark also plays as a duo and a trio. Joining him on harmonica is Mal Gillies and on washboard David Rowlands
Mal Gillies has been an avid blues harmonica player based in Sydney for over 30 years and has immersed himself in all aspects of the ‘blues harp’ and it’s immense history.
Having started out in a rough and ready backyard outfit calling themselves ‘The Brungle Train Cats’ made up of a bunch of surfing friends in the 1980’s and securing a live gig at an inner city venue for a short time, Mal’s gone onto play many other gigs lending harp in supporting roles including at the old iconic Basement Restaurant near Sydney’s Circular Quay.
More recently Mal was the resident harp player for the well respected local Northern Beaches pub rock band The Chickenstones from 2015 to 2019 and added harp in a studio recording for the band’s latest album Mystery Train recorded in 2019.
Mal’s love of the harmonica has allowed him to explore and play many styles of blues music including the Chicago style of amplified blues, through to acoustic style Delta Blues, Folk and Country.
David Rowlands has played drums for many decades. He has played with the likes of Phil Jones and The Unknown Blues, Wiley Reed Band, Ugly Graham and The Pretty Boys, Skinner, Doug Ford’s Blue Fords, Hollow Tree and Bonnie Kay Trio, as well as Alchemy
Dave became a blues fan in the early 1960s. He was the drummer and a founding member of The
Unknown Blues, the first Australian blues band to have a hit record in 1967. The band had an
extensive repertoire courtesy of the famed Sun Records generous donation of around 300
records. The band played songs by Leadbelly, Howling Wolf, Louisiana Red, Bukka White, Muddy
Waters and Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Dave’s passion for early blues music lead him to the
washboard. He was discovered by Mark playing with another band. A chance message lead to
Dave’s first performance in Mark ‘N The Blues at a blues festival in 2016. After that, Dave became
a permanent member of the trio.
Musical Influences: Eric Clapton; Arlo Guthrie; Muddy Waters; Robert Johnson; Cat Stevens; James Taylor.
Mission Statement: To revive, nurture and showcase the era and story of the Delta Blues and educate audiences on the origins of the genre.
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