ABOUT
Mesmerizing and Endlessly Surprising - a songwriter's songwriter. Playfully prodding the human condition through an idiosyncratic pop ingrained with folk and NOLA jazz instincts, the singer/guitarist/pianist tosses off tunes with that a mixture of simplicity and gravity." - Austin Chronicle
"Tone poems - a cure for auto-tune" - no depression
"A prolific singer-songwriter who draws heavily upon jazz overtones, Marks makes music that is refreshingly all over the map" - Austin American Statesman
Wilson Marks studied jazz in the city of New Orleans, destitution in Portland, a two hour layover in Honolulu and tacos in Austin TX. His songs often feature word play, alliterative turns of phrase, and furry chords. They veer from irreverence and fancy (Ethel and the Merman, Big Box Store) to the personal (I Hope the Healing has Begun, Waltz Until We Break the Seams). He writes songs of hope and longing amidst a handful of swinging tunes that sound like they sashayed in from Tin Pan Alley still wet with the rain.
When not playing front-man for his own trio, most often comprising Daniel Durham (bass) and Aaron Parks (percussion), he plays as a side-man for a variety of other projects including The Love Leighs, McMercy family Band, Matt the Electrician, The Aaron Parks Project, Sarah Sharp, The Love Leighs, Datri Bean Band and others. His multi-instrumentalist work can heard on The Sparrowmakers "Lost Cities," several of J Wagner's albums and others. Other projects of late include P1nkbox (psychedelic reinterpretations from Bizet to Bowie) and an alternate trio with Jan Flemming (accordion Grupo Masa, Nakia) and Dennis Ludiker (award winning fiddler from Asleep at the Wheel).
Peregrine, the newest collection of original tunes, was engineered by Grant Johnson at Good Danny's in Lockhart,- and came out in spring of 2018. The cover features a photo taken by his grandfather around WWII. Largely tracked straight to tape, it features a handful of piano songs and is a more electric-based endeavor than 2015's "What Was Made for Weathering," which featured the talents of Janie Cowan and Aaron Parks - An inbetween song collection, Gifts of a Magpie, was the product of writing for a weekly songwriter's group - that batch of tunes is only available on bandcamp.
UPCOMING EVENTS
