Fresno Famous

Saturday February 5th

Audie's Olympic Tavern 4th Anniversary Show:

A Celebration of California Originals:

Lonesome Jem & the Lunatics, Mark Growden and Lance Canales - $5

Features Fromer Fresnan Mark Growden
(E is for Elephant)

What makes Mark Growden unique is his approach to music-making. He doesn’t like to use a microphone, and he often doesn’t need one. He records his CD’s in live studio takes, with little or no overdubbing. His ability to powerfully connect with his music and audiences has earned him a solid fan base in San Francisco’s Bay area, as well as across the country.  Growden began his musical career scoring instrumental pieces for dance and theater companies including Joe Goode Performance Group and The Crucible. His work with Alonzo King’s LINES Contemporary Ballet won the Isadora Duncan Award for Best Original Score for a New Dance Piece. “I am first and foremost trained as an avant garde saxophonist and as a composer,” explains Growden. “My job is to take traditions and turn them on their heads - to break the traditions and to innovate.”  Growden’s musical influences are broad: Motown, church choir, school band, death rock and alternative music, in his early years; contemporary classical, jazz and Alan Lomax field recordings, currently.  His primary instruments are accordion, banjo, voice, and bicycle handlebars he plays like a flute. Growden’s lyrics - inspired by Joni Mitchell, Townes van Zandt and Rumi and honed into well-crafted poetry – have been compared to Leonard Cohen and Kurt Weill.  Growden has released several critically acclaimed albums and performed at venues such as the Fillmore and Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, and Tonic and The Knitting Factory in New York. Musical ensembles in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Tucson play with Growden in live concerts, as well as studio recordings.

Press Quotes:

"Growden's voice is bigger than a 10-story building, and when he clacks his cowboy boots on a hollow patch of floor along to some of his tunes, the sound seems to reverberate across the globe." - Laura Casey, Contra Costa Times

“Fiery, earthy and sublimely sensual.” – Comet Magazine

“A sight and sound you don’t want to miss.” – S.F. Bay Guardian

“Theatrical, dark and sexy.” – West Coast Performer

“Mark Growden has to be on of California’s most colorful and intriguing musicians…. Growden is a genius.” – Albuquerque Alibi

“Torrid lyricism and fierce accordion rascality. His live shows are becoming the stuff of legend.” – East Bay Express