mark wright
biography
Mark Wright was born in Brighton, England on the 18th November 1972 and has spent the last seven years making a name for himself around the clubs and bars of London and the South East of England, becoming a mainstay at such notable venues as the 12-Bar Club, The Acoustic Café and The Kashmir Klub in London as well as playing many local venues along the coast.
Mark's first foray into popular music started at a very young age and his early performances consisted of him performing in the lounge of his parent's house alongside his brother Dan and next door neighbour Malcolm Berner; Mark was eight years old. His first band was entitled 'The Bashers' and their first, and only, composition was known simply as 'The Bashers'. However, due to the fact that none of the aforementioned members were able to play any actual musical instruments the sound was produced by using an upturned table for a drum kit and felt-tip pens for drum-sticks, a plastic guitar that produced no sound whatsoever and another instrument whose technical make-up has long since been forgotten. Their overall sound could, at best, be described as 'primative'. Due to the lack of musical compositions 'The Bashers' tenure in the music industry was shortlived; by the age of nine 'The Bashers' were no more and Mark was looking to expand his horizons...
It was through acting that Mark first aquired his taste for performing in front of a live audience and for many years he performed in many and varied roles in theatre productions across sussex before switching his attention to music in the summer of '88 after seeing Bruce Springsteen live in concert. As with many teenagers attempting to find their way in the music world Mark was invloved with several college bands as a teenager, but it was as a solo acoustic performer that he seemed to feel the most comfortable. At the age of just 17 years old Mark performed his first ever gig at the 'Bat & Ball' pub in Brighton, England for the princely sum of £25 and due his relative lack of repertoire performed a set consisting largely of Elvis Presley movie songs!
Learing his trade through performing hundreds of gigs throughout the south of England it was in 1999 that Mark decided to form the 'Band of Plenty'; a stripped down combo featuring piano, saxophone and congos as well as featuring lush textural harmonies that were becoming his trademark.
‘Time Out’magazine in London has described him as ‘an engaging and compelling performer’. The ‘Country Music Gazette’ has described his songwriting as, ‘a journey through life, the pleasures, the pain, and, above all, the sense of hope and possibility that we all carry within us…’
Mark’s love of performing the music of Bruce Springsteen also led to him being name-checked in the most recent biography on the American artist, ‘Springsteen:Point Blank’ by Christopher Sandford; an appreciation that also led to Mark’s decision to include a cover of the Springsteen song, ‘Two Hearts’, on his new album.
‘One Way Ticket’, Mark’s first album to be released on his own label, ‘Baggsong Records’, is the album that many of his critics have been clamouring for since his early days playing at the 12-Bar Club: an album that combines the intensity and wit of his live performances with the vocal dexterity and lush, soulful harmonies for which his best work is known. Accompanied on occasion by local artists Rob Alcroft and Ivor Potter, Mark has recorded an album that has been described by some quarters as, ‘a cross between Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Cat Stevens.’
