PRESS
"Gravity is an unabashedly brilliant collection of music…a record for musicians, for lyric-lovers, and for seekers of eclectic storytelling…A theatrical, cinematic experience from start to finish. Lyrically brilliant, melodically excellent...could make even the most tenured session players jealous…Paul Mark is critically acclaimed for very good reason."
"...An American music jamboree…Mark dazzles the listener with both his musical prowess and scintillating lyrics…Mark’s piano descends back and forth, creating a vibe of cheery demolition… Oh, so cool."
"A brilliant album…It stands up to [Mark’s] former releases dating all the way back to 'Go Big or Go Home'…'Forever' is a fantastic ballad…A great songwriter."
"Astonishing…an awesome album…there’s no losing the plot anywhere along the line once the way he sings grabs your attention and doesn’t let go for the entire ride…a highly recommended new release."
"Freewheeling and cockeyed…A level of individuality all its own…'Heart Full of Soul' features some of [Mark’s] best guitar work…One of 2020’s best albums in any genre."
"...Superb production value here… In a dozen decadently melodic tunes, Mark reminds us that Americana is far from dead… definitely one of my favorite new LPs..."
"What a wordsmith!...It’s as if [Mark]’s shaking his head, shrugging his shoulders and bemoaning, `Anyone else see what’s really going on?`…All the tracks on `Gravity` are exceptional."
"...Mark’s sense of storytelling is second to none…A jazzy backdrop that could fit in yesteryear or a bizarre Twilight Zone episode…Mark’s take on it all is just a remarkably fun and Twain-like perception."
"...Mark’s exceptional piano skills and ingenious lyrics give each song a uniqueness...the listener is warped into this melodious, parlor-like atmosphere…Wonderfully-crafted “I Spin You Grin” is the result of a musician that has complete control over his art…Quite the musician and more importantly, a true artistic story teller."
“...Soundtracks just waiting for films...["Gravity"] will bring nothing less than Oscar-worthy characters and scenarios to your gratefully-ignited imagination...Utterly original..."Gravity" is a musical tent revival..."
"...An old-timey soundtrack to a Nickelodeon…A play-by-play to the absurd state of affairs…`Con Man VIP’ steals the show…the stuff Arlo Guthrie started…Mark takes the baton and amplifies it… an important voice in the music scene.”
"...The epitome of cool…a voice that could stop a moving train…full to the brim with flavor and characters…Hauntingly beautiful. "
“’Heart Full of Soul’ is a must hear…Mark is clearly a virtuoso musician and a maestro producer…Similarities with Leon Russell, Willie Nelson...even Bob Dylan… it even tends to remind of Bruce Springsteen…[an] enormously satisfying musical statement.”
"Ageless piano prowess…You can hear the experience in Paul Mark’s voice…A gem hiding from the mainstream…One of the best holiday songs I’ve heard so far this year"
“Compelling...Lyrics that are smart, gritty and so specific that they become a short story all on their own…A composition that oozes tender nostalgia.”
“One of the most eclectic and avant-garde artists on the contemporary scene...Bittersweet, honest, and humorous.”
"A stand-out single…Paul Mark has a gift… It is not every day that you run across such talent."
"Magnificent…With decades behind him as a touring musician and band leader, Paul Mark has done it all and lived to tell about it…A terrific piece of music.”
“A dazzling cover… Mark’s weather–worn, brooding vocal gives the song an edge that the original doesn’t have...Mark makes it his own.”
“A highly original artist...Exceptional production…Adds layers of brooding to the original and successfully straddles the past and the present.”
“A cool re-vamping of the Yardbirds 1965 single…Blues-meets-Ennio-Morricone…A must-hear.”
"Positively Vaudevillian…Mark [on Stowaways] seems entrapped in his storytelling, as if he is an indentured servant of the piano…As thoroughly dark Americana as something from the murky depths of a Lomax compilation."
Stowaways, #7 on list of 50 Best Albums of 2016
"[Stowaways is] so spot-on beautiful, so cockeyed and true...Mark is a master storyteller so insightful and empathetic you'd swear he has been reading your mail."
"[Stowaways] is definitely one you're going to have to sit down and listen to… Aimed for the brain and heart… With letter perfect form and atmosphere, no overkill, no understatement…Nothing but draughtsman-like precision…Stowaways [is] one of the best of 2015… a missed masterpiece… That needs to change."
"Brings to mind a risqué, rabble-rousing vaudeville theater performance, with Mark bellowing his biting lyrics like a bawdy burlesque actor…On Stowaways, Mark again displays his knack for making retro music sound ravishing."
“You are in for the discovery of a lifetime…One listen to [Stowaways] and you’ll recognize more truth in a single song than in most other artist’s entire catalogues…Brave, bold, mysterious and so worth exploring.”
"Stowaways is an unflinching album from an uncompromising artist."
"…A beautifully packaged album… [on Stowaways] you feel the grit and pollution in [Mark's] songs and you know in your heart he speaks the truth…It works its way into you, and you’ll find yourself listening to it again and again."
“Mark creates his own sardonic cabaret on Stowaways…Walking into a bar with a piano player in the corner, ignoring him at first until his songs start creeping into your consciousness and you find yourself paying more attention to him than drinks and conversation…Mark is that fantasy come to life.”
“Mark sinks his teeth into another body of work and, vampire-like, comes at us fully refreshed. The multi-talented multi-instrumentalist ...sidesteps from the rock’n’roll/blues stage and thrusts us into a Victorian-era music hall ...The highlight is his fascinating version of the “Ballad of Mack the Knife,” in which he uses a 1976 translation...
[Smartest Man in the Room]...Educated, insightful, engaged and enraged…A mercilessly ironic takedown… Attention must be paid, my friends."
[Smartest Man in the Room]...Educated, insightful, engaged and enraged…A mercilessly ironic takedown… Attention must be paid, my friends."
"[Smartest Man in the Room]... A singer, songwriter and guitarist extraordinaire…a house of blues for a thousand corpses…a witch’s brew…gritty, sparse, terse and honest, but with levity and hope to spare."
[Smartest Man in the Room]..."Mark's a Dickensian conglomerate of honked-off preacher, university professor turned spooky drunkard…Infectious as a virus..Shake it ‘til you fall down."
"Hard-nosed blues power from one of the genre's most acute observers, [Smartest Man in the Room] is dripping with urban attitude...Uncompromising. In every sense of the word."
Smartest Man in the Room]…Excites you about buying new blues/rock music… Perceptive intelligence and abundant wit… A liberating experience."
"Educated, insightful, engaged and enraged, Mark turns up the heat… [Smatest Man in the Room is] a bluesy, relentless, organ-drenched blitzkrieg...”
[Smartest Man in the Room]..."Literally bristles with raw energy... Mark’s gravelly vocals and reverberating guitar power every track... Impressive stuff indeed!"
[Mirage Cartography] is...a museum piece of what the acoustic guitar was invented for."
"There is real warmth in Paul Mark’s playing and real passion for what he is crafting ...Every [Mirage Cartography] track has a sound of its own, almost a sense of personality...an integrity that many instrumental records just can’t access...[an] extremely talented musician and wonderful composer ...Beautiful work."
"Mark paid attention to all aspects of [Mirage Cartography]... One has to admire Mark for making such a huge stylistic switch...His abilities as a guitar player allow him to make each composition interesting...This is the disc you’d want to play on that night where all you want to do is...
"[Blood & Treasure] is about as diverse and entertaining a record as you'll hear this year"
Blood & Treasure takes rhythm & blues back home...Paul Mark and his trusty band absolutely nail it with playing that's distinctive and gritty... a positive musical encyclopedia of roots music that sounds and feels contemporary yet somehow sounds from another era...quite an album."
Mark is one of my favorite songwriters..Blood & Treasure [is] another slice of Mark's hipster wit and storied lyrics swimming in a bluesy swamp… his songs are so well written and personal, they stand alone.”
Mark is one of those rare songwriters whose lyrics will certainly make you think… [Blood & Treasure] can't be pigeonholed into any one category or style, which is a huge part of its appeal. You never know what you might hear or in what style it might be played …a...
“Paul Mark has the best consecutive lyrics for an entire CD of any one I have heard since… well, when was the last really great lyrical record?... Everything about the CD, Blood and Treasure; the music, the lyrics, and the artwork. Everything is good."
“[Blood & Treasure] is the sort of music I always wished to hell the J. Geils Group would have made, gutsy, full-blooded, funky, and virile…Lotta Things to Say swings like a bottle of bourbon in a rolling earthquake...This guy's an interesting character.”
“Some great music…[Blood & Treasure] was truly a great find for me.”
“Ear candy worth seeking out: Lotta Things to Say …Southeast Texas/Louisiana flavors flirt with my ears...the main thing is you have to hear the punch lines for yourself!”
"A great disk, Blood & Treasure is an early favorite for a year- ending “Best of 2009” column. I highly encourage multiple purchases of the record..”
“[Mark’s] music is so diverse and hard to pigeon-hole…finely crafted songs, all beautifully played.”
“[Blood & Treasure] is an unexpectedly exhilarating ruckus-raising ride…Superb.”
"Mark has a musical vision that extends far beyond his home in New York City. His songwriting ably blends a critical view of life with irreverent humor…Mark has the vocal chops…and his guitar work elevates the proceedings…[Blood & Treasure] should gain some well-deserved attention"
"Blood & Treasure...Electrifying...Exceptional musicianship, witty songwriting, and a unique sound rooted in blues."
“Tough, gritty sound and songwriting that’s a cut above the standard … Blood & Treasure is another winner from Paul Mark.”
"Sensational...If Trick Fiction has so far gone unnoticed outside the northeastern and eastern United States, that needs to quickly be corrected..."
"Fritos, BBQ & Scotch, the searing opening track of Paul Mark & the Van Dorens' Trick Fiction, calls to mind the late, great Albert King, and grabs your attention...lt shows Mark to be a gifted songwriter and guitarist, with the right gritty voice to carry it all off "
"Trick Fiction, recorded in Memphis at Ardent Studios, is jam-packed with killer guitar and some of the coolest lyrics we've heard in quite some time!...A definite breath of fresh air on the blues scene, Paul Mark and the Van Dorens have hit it big with Trick Fiction."
"…A bluesy R&B set that feels as funky and spontaneous as [Memphis’] finest music… the performances [on Trick Fiction] are consistently inspired…Mark’s lyrics go places other blues-based artists just don't try... Mark knows his way around the guitar, and his understated approach is unusual for a six-string frontman.”
"[Trick Fiction] is Blues/Roots at its best...The first track, Fritos, BBQ, & Scotch is even better sounding than its title...Paul Mark brings honest, gut-driven vocals to his original tunes and the Van Dorens stand behind him as solid as proverbial diamonds with a cutting edge to boot."
"[Mark] reminds me of Frank Zappa...One of the best songs I ever heard about paranoia is “Conspiracy"...might be my favorite track on [Trick Fiction]...Mark and the whole band rock on the instrumental Stake Out...I will be on the lookout for this band"
"Trick Fiction exemplifies what's good with modern Blues…a smoking, fine little platter from NYC…It churns and grooves and drives like a NY taxi driver on a mission"
"[Trick Fiction] is one grooving, rocking recording from start to finish."
"On Trick Fiction Mark brings the heat...Mark and his group have always swung sexy...but what sets them apart on this record are Mark's stories, hipster view and turn of phrase."
"Trick Fiction is roots rock with that deep soul vibe...While the Van Dorens play rough, ragged and relentless music that will get you on your feet, the real attraction is the wit and wisdom of singer/guitarist Paul Mark, who definitely mines seldom-explored veins with his original lyrics."
"...There is an arsenal of styles and stories from this road warrior. Mark’s storytelling lyrics hog the ear as does the meaty music, which ranges from rock/blues, rockin’ boogie, with a few ballads for good balance. Overall this is good rockin’ music without trite lyrics, from a guy with a...
"Main man Paul Mark is a cerebral blues rocker with real songwriting skills. Modern blues for the new millennium is what trips my trigger and these guys have .44-caliber ammo. Totally immersed in modern life with a wry (almost smirking) twist of a devious mind pretty much explains Paul Mark,...
"On IndigoVertigo, careful attention to songwriting meets power-trio blues. New York's PM&VDs shy away from clichés and come up instead with compelling character studies and situational snapshots backed by contemporary, funky blues...Exciting vocals and big grooves complete the picture. Mark puts a fresh stamp on roots music."
"The blues has become too derivative. It's a lampoon. But Paul Mark isn't mad about that, he's just a little sick and tired..."
"Mark's fans will do a double-take after hearing "Roadside Americana." Then they'll play it again...Reflective and introspective, [it's] clearly a labor of love. Those missing the ride will be doing themselves a disservice."