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Hot Press - Singles review - 22.02.2005 Ghosts Mark Geary had a decent 2004. His second album Ghosts was well received by fans and critics and a successful Irish tour saw him established as one of our most promising songwriters. 2005 should be just as busy. In March he begins a US tour with The Frames, but not before the release of a remix of the album’s title song. Karl Odlum is on remix duties though it’s difficult to note the difference from the album version. ‘Ghosts’ is a decent song, though Geary has better on the album. Steve Cummins
Hollywood Report - January 2005 Loggerheads The conflicts in "Loggerheads" are oh-so-carefully and quietly modulated. Even in sharp exchanges -- and these are rare -- no one raises his or her voice. The story takes place in communities, where people try to keep personal matters far from public view so when things do boil to the surface it's a slow, managed boil. Kirkman's strategy is to interweave three stories, each set in a different year on a Mother's Day weekend in North Carolina, Kirkman's home state. Unfortunately, the different time frames are not immediately apparent so audiences may become understandably confused. Grace (Bonnie Hunt) returns to her hometown following a suicide attempt to stay awhile with her mother (Michael Learned). She finally decides to begin a search for the baby boy she was forced by her mother to give up for adoption so many years earlier. Mark (Kip Pardue), a young man clearly adrift in life, comes to a small beach town with the goal of helping to save the endangered loggerhead turtles. George (Michael Kelly), a motel owner who is attracted to him, offers Mark a room in his less-than-successful establishment. Mark's admission that he is HIV positive puts a momentary damper on the sexual side to their relationship, but the two grow closer as Mark opens up about the demons that haunt him. A minister's wife (Tess Harper) must confront a changing society where homosexuality is in the open and the fact their son, who is gay, ran away from home since he was unable to find acceptance in a home dominated by the rigid if not bigoted sense of morality of her husband (Chris Sarandon). Audiences will quickly realize the connection among the three stories. They can just as quickly guess what is at the root of everyone's dilemma for there is a bit too much Psychology 101 here. The film never really digs deep enough. Similarly, the twin villains of small-town conformity and religious intolerance, while valid, are more than a little tired. The drama enters much firmer ground when it moves into the area of adoption rights and people's desire to reach out and restore severed ties. Here the film is quite touching. Cinematographer Oliver Bokelberg shoots in muted colors that create beautiful landscapes where you can almost feel the regret and loss. Mark Geary's soft music is used minimally as Kirkman often prefers a country song or two. LOGGERHEADS Credits: Cast:
CD Baby - "Ghosts"
During his time in New York Geary released his debut album but things only started moving when a couple of years later a strange twist of fate saw him hooking up with movie producer Gill Holland. Gill thought Mark was a huge international star when a friend played him Geary's songs, it turned out that Mark was actually the bartender in The Scratcher, Gills local. Gill only found out when Mark walked out on stage. Mark also hooked up with former Tom Tom Club member Mark Roule who'd opened a recording studio in Barbados. Holland began managing Mark, forming his own Sona-blast label to release the forthcoming album whist visiting Ireland in the hope of gaining a release. Mark in the meantime was busy in Barbados with Roule putting the finishing touches to an album which encompassed his whole songwriting life. It took in the beauty of 'Songs My Mother Taught Me', the taut almost rock of 'Gingerman' (you can feel the demons in there) and 'Suzanne', Marks most succinct three minute pop song to date. So the album got finished and became 33 1/3 Grand Street. Independent Records in Ireland saw him supporting Josh Ritter and were blown away. Sona-Blast and Independent hooked up and hey presto! Mark became Independents 37th release and first to hit the Irish top Forty albums chart. Along the way, Mark began gaining daytime radio play all over Ireland as well as notching up his first TV appearances on The Late Late Show, The View and No Disco. Since then Mark has returned to the US., playing the South By South West Festival in Texas (on the Eighteenth floor of a hotel no less) followed by a couple of shows in Barbados before his first headlining tour of Ireland in May. Vulnerable yet forceful, on recent live shows he's been spitting out 'America' whilst watching in awe as audiences sing along to 'Suzanne' and catchy as hell new pop song 'The Only Girl In Town.' As usual he songs are accompanied by his trademark nervous humour and a genuine humility. "When you talk to Mark Geary for half an hour you see the real thing: real hurt, real on-the-edge fragility, real drive and a real intensity that has to share a border with a dark shade of obsession. Unlike the adolescent temperaments of some of his many Dublin singer songwriter peers, Geary's overbearing intensity is not an act, it is a carefully glossed over reality." - Matthew McGee, Sunday Tribune.
campus.ie - "Ghosts"
Recorded in New York, France and Dublin, Ghosts was made over the course of a bruising and traumatic year of solid touring. With debut album 33 1/3 Grand Street as his calling card Geary took to the road touring constantly in the U.S. and Ireland and squeezing in recording sessions wherever possible - with Justin Quip in New York and the Odlum brothers in France's Black Box studios as well as snatching a couple of quick recording sessions in the Odlum house in Dublin. Geary grabbed friends he had met along the way (including Glen Hansard and Josh Ritter) for vocals and advice before taking it all back to Black Box for a final mix. "Black Box was kind of like living in a space station, Dave (Odlum) would be mixing a song and Karl (Odlum) and I would be in another room recording a song that had just been written - the excitement was always there; you're working and sleeping at such odd hours - working 18 hours and then sleeping for ten, waking at dinner time to have breakfast and then head straight into the studio." "Ghosts was written and in some part recorded in the mists of a madness in Up-State New York when I was walking on a broken ankle for three days before I was finally convinced that something was not right. Black and blue and purple though my leg was, it was the smell that finally convinced me. These songs had been in my head and scribbled on the back of beer mats (coasters!!!) bits of paper, motel stationary. From New York to L.A to Dublin and France and then back to New York...little bits of family time...friendships and hugs...At times I wanted to record and play for ever, then I'd crawl away swearing: "I'm done!!!" "This album has been just about the greatest fun I've ever had - the irony is not lost on me that a lot of what I seem to write about is sad and thoughtful, a little freaked out and melancholy. The truth is I'm only just learning how to be okay with whatever comes...Playing music, recording these songs with Karl and Dave Odlum, having Glen Hansard and Josh Ritter to call on during recording taught me not to be precious about these songs. "Fighting for your right to fail" a line from the title track sums up a lot of what I think I'm about. Don't miss your chance to see Mark Geary live, he's playing the following dates:
Saturday 13th November - The Village, Dublin
Signature Sounds - "Ghosts"
Geary arrived in New York City in 1992, a confused teen who had just poured his savings into a one-way plane ticket. He had chosen Manhattan mostly in order to be close to his older brother Karl, who had moved to the States and co-founded the renowned Sin-é. “It was the classic getaway,” Mark reminisces. “I had to get the hell out of Dublin. My brother had set up the Sin-é café. At the time, I didn’t really understand the connotations of this—if he had been living in Addis Ababa, I probably would have moved there. I just needed a place to run to.” For a rookie singer-songwriter, landing at Sin-é in the early ’90s was akin to an aspiring wit stumbling upon the Algonquin table. The young Geary quickly sensed that he was out of his league. “It was a huge amount of pressure,” explains the singer, who had had no prior experience playing in front of a live audience. “I walked in and saw Jeff Buckley, Katell Keineg, Sinead O’Connor…. Meanwhile, most of the time I wasn’t even sure whether or not my guitar was in tune! It was just too painful.” Humbled, Geary put nepotism aside, packed up his guitar, and began seeking out gigs at less exalted local spots. He built a reputation playing at Sidewalk Café and won a regular slot at Pink Pony. Eventually, Geary worked his way back to Sin-é, where he found himself on a regular bill sandwiched between Keineg and Buckley. “It became a very special night,” Mark says. “I was intimidated at first—until I realized that the people I admired admired me right back. I loved Jeff and learned so much from him. Watching him, I realized that the best work I could do would be very lyrical and straight from the heart. It wasn’t going to be about rock & roll swagger or stargazing. I started staying awake all night and writing. I became absolutely monk-like—but it gave me so much pleasure. Nothing else really mattered too much. That’s what I learned from Jeff.” Geary steadily built his repertoire, specializing in lonesome, character-driven songs. In 2002, he released his proper debut album, 33 1/3 Grand Street, on New York’s sonaBLAST! Records. A hushed, mournful affair recorded in the wake of his father’s death, the album won comparisons to Nick Drake and Elliott Smith. Its critical success sent the singer out on the road for a seemingly endless string of live dates, which brought about the fuller sound one can hear on Ghosts. “The songs on Grand Street were written as lullabies,” Geary says. “I’d been hiding them away and singing them to myself. There was a lack of belief that anybody would actually hear them—and you can sense that in the record. Ghosts is much more confident. If you’re writing and playing night after night, you can’t help but get more focused.” The album began life in Barbados, where Mark had arrived during MTV Spring Break. “The whole thing was like an acid trip gone horribly, horribly awry,” he says, without laughing. Not surprisingly, little from the tropical sessions made the final album; more successful were recording dates in rural France, lower Manhattan and Dublin. These locales bleed into the record. The song “Whisper,” for one, was conceived in the Dublin house of co-conspirator Karl Odlum, whose mother was downstairs watching television and singing along while the pair worked. “We kept having to go downstairs and ask his mum to quiet down,” Geary says. “I think that the joy of having me in the house started to diminish around 11 o’clock.” The bulk of the album, however, was recorded in upstate New York—a region that every fan of Dylan and the Band knows to be rich with rural rock flavour. It was here that Geary conceived Ghosts’ masterstroke, “Beautiful,” which was written and recorded in a single day. “I was upstate twiddling my thumbs,” says the musician, a committed city-dweller. “I have a very Woody Allen–notion about nature. I feel like I should be out there like Johnny Outdoorsguy or Mr. Woodsman. But it creeps me out. I had heard enough of the coyotes at night and was getting bored. So I started writing this song. It just poured out of me, and we recorded it that very day.” Of course, one song may well be conceived in a day—but it takes years to obtain this sort of spontaneity. With Ghosts, Mark Geary has arrived at such impulsiveness. The ghosts one hears drifting through the album belong to hundreds of performances across the globe; to MTV revellers in the tropics; to hotshot songwriters wowing their peers at the old Sin-é; and to a young Dubliner, fresh off the plane from Ireland, taking in New York City with naught but a guitar in his hand and a brilliant mind full of songs to come. For more info visit www.markgeary.com
cluas.com - "Ghosts"
The CLUAS Verdict? 6.5 out of 10 Full review: Through the eleven tracks (and one hidden song) a darker side to the singer/songwriter is revealed alongside his usual cheerful folksy persona. This darker or serious edge is the result of a more professional approach to recording this album with a backing band aiding the songwriter’s quest. While the opening track ‘Beautiful’ is stunningly charming, it might’ve been better served as a stripped down acoustic number. Things only get better with Josh Ritter making a cameo appearance on the mystical ballad ‘Ghosts’. Glen Hansard adds that little bit more to the alluring ‘You’re The Only Girl’, to the infectious ‘Mid-nite Sun’ & to the bewitching softness of ‘Hold Tight’. The backing band introduce some welcome flavour to the album’s sound with Karl Odlum contributing with some great guitar work. The best thing about Mark Geary is that he writes songs which all have the ability to become a personal favourite to anyone who hears them. Of the new songs, ‘Morphine’, with its almost eerie atmosphere, ‘Fanfare’, the upbeat sing-along track which was nearly named 'Grandpa’s Balls', and the quivering ‘I Fell’ all stand out. The finely tuned and sometimes ethereal backing vocals by Ann Scott on ‘A Prayer For St. Rita’ and ‘Hold Tight’ work really well with Geary’s singing. The drums, guitars, shakers and additional vocals all make a significant difference to his sound but it is still the songwriter who retains the listener’s attention. This album is not a leap but a steady step forward. Fans of his previous work will discover songs of the similar character but there are also some tracks that will surprise many. He has overcome the ‘difficult second album’ syndrome but something lingers in the songs warning the listener that more is to come. Gareth Maher
Fish Records - "Ghosts"
The pace for the album is set by the opening track 'Beautiful', it's sparsely presented but with strong vocals and an excellent melody, and this song starts off a chain of 6 tracks that includes the highlight 'Ghosts' (with Ritter on vocals) that make up a memorable sequence covering a broad range of styles that all showcase Geary's writing skills. While the link to Ritter is obvious, his writing and delivery is closer to Ron Sexsmith and he has the same accessibility and immediacy that makes this material appealing to a wide range of people. 'Ghosts' is an accomplished collection of 11 songs (plus 1 uncredited track), it's considered and intense affair, but one which rewards the listener on many levels. Highly recommended.
RTÉ Entertainment - September 9 2004 Mark Geary - Ghosts 'Ghosts' is more complete than its predecessor and, at times, haunts just as much as its title would suggest. Geary now has the pleasure/burden of being just as good at writing happy songs as he is at wringing his heart out - the feelgood 'Fanfare' deserves to be big, while 'I Fell' builds up to a great overwrought finale. What he needs to avoid, however, is straying too close to the territory The Frames have made their own, the songs 'Mid-nite Sun' and 'Whispers' are the most obvious examples and Glen Hansard also appears on the album. A lure for many, undoubtedly, but at his best Geary doesn't need comparisons - or guests. Harry Guerin, 3/5
cluas.com - September 17 2003 Red Room, Limerick
Sorted Magazine - July 2003 Zen and the art of making music "Irish emigrant Mark Geary discusses his apprenticeship on New York's mean streets, competing for an audience with a homeless man, and the reaction he received when he returned to Dublin." Read the interview
Hot Press - Lisdoonvarna '03 MARK GEARY It takes a certain something to stand out from the general flotsam of songwriters, yet whatever it is, Mark Geary has it in spades. Sure, the set-up is largely typical – one mike, one guitar, one wedding suit, plenty of cameos (Josh Ritter, Nina Hynes and Glen Hansard), yet the performance is special. The audience is hugely appreciative, becoming one with the singer during ‘Gingerman’, ‘Suzanne’ and ‘Volunteer’. Where to from here is a good question – but for now Mark Geary is indisputably on the right track. Geary’s songwriting, perhaps influenced by his bohemian existence, is disarmingly honest and highly perceptive, and loaded with charm and humility – not to mention a gloriously undiluted Dublin accent. Even his onstage banter is more Oirish than that of those who stuck around (he regales us with tales of running through orchards from a fiddly Father Flanagan in his youth while tuning up). TS
campus.ie - "33 1/3 Grand Street"
Mark's Irish tour will be followed by a tour of the East coast of America together with a show at this year's South By South West Conference. He has also been confirmed to play the MTV Spring Break in Barbados in the middle of March and later the same week features as part of the Holder Season Festival, which is the biggest arts celebration in the Caribbean. The story of Mark Geary could easily be called "Fairytale of New York" [but that's already taken] as once upon a time a musician went to New York on a one way ticket, $100 and a green card. He got recognition and was soon opening for Elvis Costello, The Pretenders and The Frames and has played with Josh Ritter and Glen Hansard. With this his debut album will it be happily ever after? Opening track "Gingerman" is a simple beautiful track and gives good hope for the rest of the album think early Coldplay or David Gray. This is the sort of music that you will probably hear in the background on Dawson's Creek or some other angst drama. "Suzanne" and "Adam & Eve" are most likely future singles and would sit quite easy with the likes of David Kitt, Mundy, Gemma Hayes or any other of the new age mellow singers immerging in recent years. There is a definite emigrant nostalgia influence in songs such as "Songs My Mother Taught Me", "Not Like Home" or "America". The lush mellow feel is good for easy reading and daydreaming but a full album can be too much could do with a bit of a lifter near the end. Great music and a great voice, but it may not to everyone's taste or mood. This tale is definitely still only the beginning. Shane McGinley
Hot Press - "33 1/3 Grand Street"
"Geary comes across as a slightly less wordy Elliot Smith or a gentler Ryan Adams, charmed by hazy echoes of Nick Drake and touched with innate similarities of The Frames' sound, which can only have eased his hearty welcome into Uncle Glen's fold. It's a warm bath of an album, awash with rich earthy instrumentation, easy swaying rhythms, touching personal stories and, on tracks like "Songs My Mother Taught Me", the loveliest of tunes. You'd be forgiven for supposing that songs like "Volunteer" and "America" were inspired by post Sept.11th sentiments, but as far as I know these appeared on Geary's 1999 debut (which missed out on major release). Whatever about it, the songs have certainly taken on a new resonance, and the re-recorded versions show a more organic approach, dropping a lot of doubtless fashionable but ultimately unnecessary electronic elements of his earlier recordings. With its luxuriant crop of sadly beautiful songs like "Adam & Eve" and "Not Like Home" the album gets progressively more intimate in tone, drifting into close, whispery production values in its final tracks, close to perfection." March '03
entertainment.ie - Mark Geary Irish born but New York based Mark Geary released his debut album, 33 1/3 Grand Street, in Ireland back in February and now's he's back again in his country of birth again this month to take in an extensive Irish tour. This comes hot on the heels of his triumphant set at the Lisdoonvarna festival which saw a packed Stage II witness him perform duets with Nina Hynes, Josh Ritter and Glen Hansard. Vulnerable yet forceful, on recent live shows he's been spitting out 'America' whilst watching in awe as audiences sing along to 'Suzanne' and the new catchy song 'The Only Girl In Town'. His upcoming Dublin shows include a three-night run at Whelan's.
Billy Manes, Orlando Weekly Time out New York Album Description About the Artist Booker Paul Krasner calls Geary "possibly the best opening act in the North-East." After being one of the last performers to play at the WTC as part of New York’s popular Summer Stage concert series, Geary and actor Dennis Leary co-hosted a very successful star-studded 9-11 fundraiser at Arlene’s Grocery. His songs have been featured in many independent films and a much anticipated debut album was supposed to have been released in 1999 by the now-defunct Paradigm Records. This debut will now be released November 10, 2002 on Gill Holland’s start-up imprint sonaBLAST! Records. Time Out Magazine calls him "an engaging singer/songwriter…(who) writes delicate songs about love and defiance…(and) recalls performers such as Richard Thompson and John Lennon." The Irish Voice hails his remarkable stage presence and calls him "a stand-out… popular among the downtown crowds...sounding a bit like Billy Bragg without the politics." The Orlando Weekly says "the buzz is building…prepare to be turned on."
Mark Geary - artistdirect.com
Stanton Swihart, All Music Guide
Mark Geary - local.ie review - 2000 MARK GEARY ‘MARK GEARY’ (PARADIGM RECORDS)
What he does tell you in the course of ten tracks is more like tales and stories of life after relocating to New York, the differences, new sights, sounds and people. There’s a real sense of place on tracks like ‘Christmas Biscuits’ and ‘America’, but possessing a balance of sadness and joy. Geary is one of the many talented singers that learned his trade in the legendary Sin é café in New York. During the late 80s and early 90s thousands of singers, songwriters and poets passed through the venue, and this obviously had a positive effect on the young Dublin man. ‘Sombrero’ and ‘Watertight’ illustrate his more curious side, here he mixes his acoustic playing with catchy backing tracks. It’s these touches that make this debut more distinctive than many others of a similar genre, let’s hope that there are plenty more to come from this chap. Daniel Hegarty
Mark Geary - ink19.com review Paradigm "Electronic folk, as practiced by the likes of Beck ( Mutations ) and others, is a hard road to hoe. Get too excessive on the electronic end, and you end up cluttering your sound with meaningless squeaks and blips. Too much folk, and you veer into mush. Mark Geary mixes elements of both artfully on this self-titled release. He shows himself to be a clever wordsmith, as on "Adam and Eve": "And god doesn't know me/Or answer my calls/He doesn't know me from Adam/Or Eve at all." Which, if you think about it, is a pretty deep concept. Musically, dreadnought guitars ride on drum loops in a calm but eclectic manner, creating a sound that won't overwhelm you, but engages you in subtle ways. Give this one a few spins -- it will grow on you." James Mann Paradigm Associated, 67 Irving Place, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10003
The Lobby Bar profile THE LOBBY WEDNESDAY 5TH AND THURSDAY 6TH MARCH After being one of the last performers to play at the WTC as part of New York's popular Summer Stage concert series, Geary and actor Dennis Leary co-hosted a very successful star-studded 9-11 fundraiser at Arlene's Grocery. His songs have been featured in many independent films and a much anticipated debut album was supposed to have been released in 1999 by the now-defunct Paradigm Records. Two years later, film/TV producer Gill Holland became so enamoured of Mark's music (not realizing until a live show that Mark Geary was NOT a famous Dublin resident, but in fact, Gill's local bartender) that he started to put Mark in the studio and recorded a debut record which was released in the U.S. on November 10, 2002. Mark started touring Ireland with Glen Hansard and Josh Ritter, sewing up a deal with Independent Records in the process.
RTÉ - Mark Geary - 33 1/3 Grand Street
cluas.com - Mark Geary live An Grianan, Letterkenny, 29 January 2003 It was the first time I'd ever seen Mr Geary, I wasn't sure what to expect, but he was truly sublime. His crowd interaction was excellent and with him encouraging the crowd to participate in the singing of certain choruses here and there, he was immediately taken to the hearts of the often discerning Letterkenny music fans. It was very apparent to everyone that this guy was exceptionally talented, his self-penned songs, such as "Gingerman", "Volunteer", and "America" revealed a deep thinking and sensitive nature, but his little on-stage anecdotes, showed him to be very humble and untainted by his musical gifts. At one stage he explained that he was having an ongoing dare with Glen that every night they had to sing a song that they "just weren't sure about". So that he did, with the help of a young lady from the front row, I believe was called Christine, who held the lyrics for him, he sang a song that it transpired he had just penned in the dressing room. Truth be told, he performed it like he had played it a million times and his performance was as natural anything else in his dazzling repertoire. It was very impressive. He played for a little over an hour, and were it not that we all had come first and foremost to see Glen Hansard, the whole crowd could have listened to him all night. Glen came on stage almost unannounced and immediately the packed out crowd fell silent, such was his presence. He sang 'Plateau', slow and gentle, it was listened to in perfect silence. From that gentle beginning, his playlist fluctuated from anthems like 'God Bless Mom', to a performance of 'Star-Star' on his knees, as the crowd sang the chorus back to him, in a semi-perfect harmony. It was by know well apparent that Glen was really up for this gig. Legendary are the anecdotes of Glen Hansard, sometimes I feel that he must have lived ten lives, one moment he's in Chicago listening to birds sing, the next he's on a motorbike outside Bray, listening to the sound the helmet is making with the wind, and it appears that all these things have been thrown together into his tuneful mind to produce his masterpieces. One song after the next he explains that his songs are about a variety of universal emotions, from a child loving his mother, to loving a friend maybe a bit more than you should. You could see people nodding and smiling a familiar smile as if inside Glen was a little part of all of them. Perhaps that's his real genius, his universal appeal. He played for two hours and received a standing ovation, came back for an encore and once again left the stage with the crowd reeling with excitement. As most of them poured out, he returned to pick up his coat and decided to do an impromptu few tunes for his die-hard fans that were still there, he began by playing 'Revelate', his signature tune, for them. From there he played on for another half an hour without any microphones or amps along with Mark Geary. When they did a cover of 'Debaser' by The Pixies it was like the icing on the cake of an already amazing night. What a fitting way to end what must have been a memorable tour. Glen Hansard and Mark Geary, we salute you. Mark Monaghan
epinions.com - Mark Geary - Sep.2000 Mark Geary is a singer/songwriter from Dun Laoghaire, Ireland who is making his way in the big city of New York. I cannot testify to the ex-pat condition (I’m American-Irish). Geary certainly can, and much of this album is a highly personal account of his recent life. His word play though, can make them universal for the listener. My impression: His songs walk the dividing line between the experiences of living in America and the emotional lure and hunger for home and family. His album, Mark Geary, came out in 1999 on Paradigm Records and it’s a fine introduction to his talents. He has a comforting voice and tone, and a sincerity in his songs that carries an emotional tug. He also has a gift for newer urban arrangements and choice of instrumentation.
Radar Report - Mark Geary - 4/1999 "First I got sober and I quit taking drugs, and that was after a real battle with it," says Geary. "I was able to sit down, in earnest, and it became very serene and sober just to sing to myself. I learned Beatles harmonies and listened to Nick Drake and Van Morrison. It's amazing to me how diligent I was without any real reason other than that it brought me joy. I realized I had a voice. I realized I could say something. It really started happening and I got better. The whole 90% perspiration thing. I started working at it and nothing else really mattered." As Geary began to focus on his craft, the creative dam broke and the stories began to flow. Although many songs on Geary's album deal with highly-emotional subject matter, he says that his best songs were the ones that snuck up on him: "A lot of the really great songs happen when you're really not taking yourself so seriously. Because you're not looking for the most earnest quality, thinking "this will make them weep." Geary will be in good company when he joins Elvis Costello, Lucinda Williams, Richard Thompson, Luka Bloom, Martin Sexton and other fine singer/songwriters at this year's Guinness Fleadh Festival in New York City in June. | ||
Singer/songwriter Mark Geary went to NYC in 1993 with a one-way ticket from Dublin, $100 in his pocket, and a green card. He soon became recognized as one of the East Villages favourite performers, starting out playing with Jeff Buckley at the legendary Sin E cafe which his brother had opened. He soon came to open for the likes of Elvis Costello, The Pretenders, Joe Strummer, Tindersticks and regular New York visitors The Frames. By a strange slight of hand, Mark would later be introduced to Irish audiences by playing dates here with The Frames Glen Hansard and Idaho-born Josh Ritter.
Mark Geary
"The only real hint of Mark Geary's Irish roots on his eponymous debut CD is the slight betrayal of his Dublin brogue. The music, however, is more evocative of and tied to American roots musics, such as country, folk-rock, and even touches of bluegrass, ocassionally melded with Caribbean influences, such as the reggae rhythms that act as the underpinning for "America." Musically, much of the album lopes by sleepily and slightly droney, but only occasionally does it seem sluggish. Songs such as "Adam & Eve" and "By the Time" barely maintain a walking pace, but the guitars shimmer like rain and give a pretty, crystalline exterior to the music that perfectly fits Geary's heartbroken vocals. Geary's voice is not a virtuosic instrument by any means, but it entirely makes up for its lack of range with warmth and a weathered expressiveness that gives his tales an emotional core and authenticity. It also ties him to both Ireland and America. Though six years in New York, many of Geary's Irish concerns do surface lyrically, from family to Catholic guilt to personal disappointments, and even when he is not singing explicitely about his native land or about experiences grounded there, there is a certain desolation and bleakness inherent in both the lyrics and the music. That is not to say that Mark Geary is necessarily a bleak listen. The sunny, country-picked "Sombrero" outwardly smiles for its entire three-and-a-half minutes like so many Tom Petty ballads have in the past, and "Watertight" locks into a moderate bass groove, across which noodly electric guitar and toy piano skip. "You're Not My Friend" is propelled forward by an incessant, aggressive beat. Beneath it all, Geary sounds ultimately thankful and joyous, and this thoughtful, promising album bears out a man who, even with his demons and regrets, firmly holds onto his experiences as good ones. He has more fine albums in him."
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