Carolyn Mark

View high-res photo British Columbia

Carolyn Mark’s first foray into performing happened in elementary school when she took to the stage as Templeton the Rat. Fortunately for listeners everywhere, she decided that musicians are more fun to hang out with than actors. In the early 1990s she formed the all-girl band The Vinaigrettes, which survived for seven years, six CDs and many roster changes. Mark notes the band toured “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.” 

She grew up on a dairy farm in Sicamous, BC where her dad taught her to play piano at an early age. Visitors would be treated to duets by Mark and her violin-playing father. After her stint with The Vinaigrettes, Mark bounced between Hat Head, The Fixin’s, The Show Business Giants, The Metronome Cowboys, The Corn Sisters (with label-mate Neko Case), Monster Tweety, and Klugman before finally embarking on a solo career in 2000 with her first solo release, Party Girl. Most recently she released her sixth Mint album, Nothing is Free, which was recorded at Beaver Point Hall on Saltspring Island, lending credence to her description of it as “woodsy and introspective music that conjures up a Sunday evening spent playing instruments and singing songs on the back porch of the cabin.” Metromix New York said, “Mark’s music is so authentic in its back porch vibe, it seems to come with its own direct link to Loretta Lynn’s ’60s heyday.” Appearing with Mark this weekend is Kingston-based singer-songwriter, country-punk-folk troubadour, Luther Wright. 

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