I was pretty damn stoked when Mark Brown hit me up to let me know that he was dropping a new album. Easily one of the very best singer-songwriters in the Hudson Valley, Brown hadn’t released anything since his great 2005 album Uncle Buckle (Jeez, has it really been 10 years?). And, like his other fans (anyone else out there remember “Bucket Truck”?), I’ve been waiting eagerly. Now the wait is over, as Brown, who plays the Rosendale Cafe on June 26, delivers unto us Skin and Bone this month.
Brown digs the dark side, citing John Prine as a major influence, as well as Johnny Cash and Tom Waits; I’ve always heard some Dylan in there, too. Hard to go wrong with any of those guys as your source. There doesn’t seem to be much of Brown on YouTube, but here’s a glimpse of him and violinist Wayne Montecalvo playing an early version of “Pony,” one the new album’s tunes, at said venue in 2010:
Mark Brown and band will perform at the Rosendale Cafe in Rosendale, New York, on June 26 at 8pm. Admission is $10. For more information, call (845) 658-9048 or visit http://www.rosendalecafe.com/.
This article appears in June 2015.
