Music Style Traditional Country, Folk

Musical Influences Lucinda Williams, Showbiz Giants, Johnny Cash, Young Fresh Fellows

Similar Artists Go on and take a listen!

Artist History I grew up on a dairy farm in Sicamous, BC with my Austrian father, my English mother and my Canadian brother. My father, an accomplished violinist, taught me how to play the piano when I was very young. He liked nothing better than to play duets with me for any visitors that happened by. Paying no heed to the musical tastes of the times or our guests, my father would perform for his hostages, launching into a favourite Dvorak or Chopin, poking me in the back with his bow if I appeared forgetful, shy or unenthused. Mortified, I longed for giant flames to eat the piano and my father. I have since developed a more light-hearted relationship with music. My first band was The Vinaigrettes. We started as an all-girl foursome from Victoria and played together, in spite of a dizzying number of line-up changes, for seven years. We toured our pop - surf - punk - art - country - rock asses across Canada several times, but then, after a few years, Brigette, the smart one of the group, consulted an atlas and we started venturing South when we realized that Los Angeles was closer to Victoria than Edmonton - and the swimming was better! The Vinaigrettes recorded six albums, achieving a modest amount of obscurity, and broke up in 1998 due to "nervous indifference" and "creative exhaustion," vowing to "sue the industry for abandonment," and leaving dozens of fans mildly disappointed. Exhausted and emotionally crushed by the failure of my first band and the ensuing two year bender, I attempted to find solace in the rehearsal spaces of other bands such as: Hat Head, The Fixin's, The Show Business Giants, The Metronome Cowboys, The Corn Sisters (a duo with label-mate Miss Neko Case), Monster Tweety, and Klugman. But eventually, while hiding under the bed at one of our neverending house parties, I decided to use my own name when I played. So far it's been a good idea - I'm not married to any one style of music, I can play solo or with a band depending on the money or my mood, and it's almost impossible for me to break up with myself. Last year I went across Canada, mostly with my band The Room-mates (yes, they are really) -Garth Johnson (drums), and Tolan McNeil (guitar) - and made a record called Party Girl. We recorded one song in each willing city and encouraged local players to join us. Special guests on the record include: Greg Keelor (Blue Rodeo), Don Kerr (Ron Sexsmith, Rheostatics), Brian Connelly (Shadowy Men...), Ford Pier, Ian Blurton (Change of Heart), The Molestics, Dottie Cormier (Heartbreak Hill), Ray Condo, Tom Stewart (Furnaceface), Sarah Harmer (Weeping Tile), Oh Susanna, and Rick and Tara White (Elevator Through) to name a few. So now Mint Records is "putting out" Party Girl and I am grateful and excited. Those curious about my "sound" will just have to listen to the record I guess. If you are a newspaper sort who doesn't know what to say, I've never had a problem with the words "lovely and talented." Well, it's Sunday night and I'm off to the Hootenanny. I play at The Old Bailey every Sunday at 9:30pm here in Victoria. Thank-you and goodnight

Group Members Tolan Mcneil, Garth Johnson

Instruments Vocals, Guitar, Carolyn...Vocals, Guitar, Tolan.... Vocals, Drums, Garth

Albums Party Girl (2000), At Home On Tour (1999)

Press Reviews 05,18,00 Eye MAgazine Toronto by Micheal Barclay There are three important reasons why Party Girl, the first solo album by Victoria, B.C.'s Carolyn Mark, is an automatic qualifier for Canadian album of the year. The first is that its great, old-timey country songs show off Mark's pure vocals, melodic gifts and flair for witty lyrics that are on the right side of clever. The second is that, after toiling in obscurity in the wonderful Victoria band the Vinaigrettes, Mark released Party Girl on Mint Records -- home of Neko Case, with whom she comprises the Corn Sisters -- and it should therefore find a larger audience. The third and most obvious reason is the all-star Canadian cast that colours Party Girl, which was recorded in eight Canadian cities. Besides band members Garth Johnson and Tolan McNeil, the guest list includes Sarah Harmer, Dottie Cormier (Heartbreak Hill), Greg Keelor, Don Kerr, Tom Stewart (Furnaceface), Brian Connelly (Shadowy Men), Ian Blurton, Oh Susanna, Elevator to Hell, Ray Condo, Mike McDonald (Jr. Gone Wild) and many more. It seems like a perfect pan-Canadian project, one that might have been commissioned by the CBC. "Well, I'll tell you, I had those thoughts myself," sighs the infectiously hilarious Mark. "FACTOR said I was 'unmarketable,' and the Canada Council said they had nothing for me. I said, 'I'm going to record one song in every city in Canada, using Canadian people, and I wrote all the songs and I'm a Canadian.' And they said, 'I don't think we have anything for something like that.' "But then I thought, 'I don't really like the government, so does it matter if the government doesn't like me?' No. So it's better in a way, because this way I'm sure I wanted to do something," instead of being commissioned. The best song is "Edmonton," in which the narrator tries to impress a fellow musician by detailing their tenuous connections over the years: "Hey hey, remember me? Yeah, we've met before/ I used to know the drummer who's not with you anymore/ And I saw you play at the Railway Club before anyone knew who you were/ I was your opening act in Edmonton but I left before you played/ Everyone said it was really good and I wished I had stayed." It's a heartfelt song about aging camaraderie that could very well apply to any of Mark's collaborators, but she insists the song is "a pastiche -- a melange, if you will." Mark's stellar stable of collaborators was assembled on her cross-country tour last summer. "A lot of stalking was involved," she says with a laugh. "I met a lot of people when I went to Toronto with Neko the year before; she's really good at introducing people. But then, she's met a lot of people through me, too. But, you know, it's just drinkin' and talkin' -- the same way you meet anybody." The Vinaigrettes were tour-hounds back in their day, and Mark is no stranger to the Trans-Canada. But Party Girl seems to have changed her fortunes considerably, based on her modest expectations. Of her recent Western jaunt, she says, "It was the best tour I've ever been on. The van didn't break down, not once; we all got along; people came to see us play; and we got paid after! I'd only heard of these things before. I feel like an anvil is going to fall on my head any second." After tomorrow's show at Ted's, Mark will stick around for central Canadian dates and a NXNE show, then she plans to head out east in August. For all the album's pan-Canadianism, she has never ventured out to the East Coast, and Newfoundland is high on her priority list

Location Victoria, B.C. - Canada

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