Pop/folk
singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist
Mark Paffrath has been charming audiences
for over 25 years. From the concert and
festival stage to your local bar and grill
or coffeehouse, his thoughtfully chosen
interpretations and well crafted
original music are as much about his
history as where he would like to be;
as much about how the world is, as
the way he’d like to see it.
His observations, repartee and humor
are self-deprecating but keen, quirky
and refreshing. His command of vocal
and instrumental skills is well honed
from years of performing. Artists
of his genuine sensitivity and caring
are rare
and often alienated or discouraged by
the music business - but this is all
he ’s ever wanted to do - and he’s
doing it!
While he’s not fond of
comparisons, his vocals have been
called reminiscent of Kenny Loggins,
Dwight Yoakam, John Denver and Lyle
Lovett. (That’s some kind of hybrid!) And
whether he’s flat-picking, finger-picking, or soloing,
his rolling and percussive “big” guitar sound is
not only due to the vintage Gibson
he is so attached to but also to
his many years as a drummer and mandolin
player.
A performance by Mark Paffrath
may leave listeners a little more
aware of the foibles of the human condition,
the ironies that life is made of,
the difficulties and joys of living
in this world, but may also leave them
feeling just a little bit better about
their part in all of it - and this
alone is well worth the price of admission.
Not too long
out of high school
and still performing with a band
formed during that period, Mark got
an offer he couldn’t refuse - to be part of a tour (of undetermined
length) of folk clubs and festivals
in Germany with friend and Racine,
WI native Don Owens. That was 1976,
and he has been a full or
part-time performer/musician
ever since. After coincidently
spending the 4th of July in a still “cold war” East
Germany, and most of the U.S.A.’s bicentennial out of the
country, he was beginning to long for
all things American. So, somewhat
reluctantly, he left the castles, autobahns,
and the land of his forbearers behind
to return stateside. Mark and Don released
two recordings together (“In The Doorway” and “The
Minstrelsinger”).
Over the
next eight years, through the mid-1980s,
Mark performed full time with the duo Paffrath & Dykhuis, releasing
two recordings (“Everybody Knows” and “Listen”)
and garnering a WAMI (Wisconsin
Area Music Industry) award
for “Best Folk Artists.” During
this time he was also the drummer
for the regionally popular
R & B band Marvin & The Dogs, releasing one recording.
During the end of the 1980s
he performed with Julie Schroeder
in the duo Moulin Rouge and
released one recording (“Moulin
Rouge”). For a short stint, in the early
1990s, he performed as a duo
with Milwaukee's Willy Porter
and occasionally with Willy’s band.
Mark and
longtime friend and music collaborator
Richard Holly performed on and off
as a duo beginning in the
early 1990s. In 1999 they released
the CD "Rainbeat" which won
the award for “Best CD” in a (Racine) Journal
Times readers poll. They
were also nominated for a
WAMI in 2000 as “Best Folk Artists”. Mark
has also been picked "Best
String Player” for
several years running in
the (Racine) Journal Times
poll.
From 1997
until 2000 Mark performed as mandolin,
fiddle, acoustic and electric guitar
player, as well as percussionist and
vocalist in the Milwaukee based Zydeco
band, Big Nick and the Cydecos. The
band released two recordings during
his tenure with them (“Honey Bee” and “Born
Half Wild”).
Currently
Mark is performing as a solo act, singing
and playing guitar and
mandolin. In the fall
of 2001 he released an award winning
CD called "Retrofix - Life's Journey With Musical
Friends." It features
music, original and borrowed, from
many of the different groups he has
performed with, plus one new original
song produced by Joe
Puerta of the group Ambrosia. In 2002
Mark "swept" his hometown music
awards, winning the categories
for “Best CD”
("Retrofix"), “Best Song” ("Forest
Green Beret"), “Best Songwriter”, “Best
Male Vocalist”,
and “Best
String Player."
Mark got
another nice surprise in 2003
when he received the
honor of being voted “Best
Musician” in
the “Best of Racine County” poll.
In early
2004 Mark completed his first solo
release of all new material
called “Soothe”.
The CD (already receiving
glowing reviews)
features original
material as well
as thoughtfully chosen,
time tested material
from his live shows
including songs by
other songwriter
pals and several favorite standards.
When
not making music,
Mark was the former coordinator and
director of Racine County
Project Emergency
(now the Racine County Food
Bank) for over
10 years (1986
- 1996). This organization is a United
Way agency that provides emergency
food to Racine area
food pantries. He was also the
past managing director
of the Prairie Performing Arts Center
Entertainment Series at the Prairie
School in Racine
from 1990-2002
and has his own
music booking, management and
publishing operation,
New Leaf Music Enterprise.
His interest in
the area of human
service also includes being
a long-time founding
board member of the Racine Emergency
Shelter Task Force
(REST) and a part
time member of the formerly Racine, WI based
Tim Hansen Project,
a musical fundraising
and hunger awareness
endeavor. He also
serves as a founding
member of the "Thoughts for Food™" organizing
committee which
annually produces
Wisconsin’s largest one-night music
extravaganza featuring
local musicians
in several near
Northside and downtown
Racine, WI establishments.
The event raises
funds and collects
food for the Racine County Food Bank.
Mark
and his wife
Amanda now focus their time on their
latest creation
- raising their son Wesley. The
remainder of
their time is spent on Mark’s music career (www.markpaffrath.com)
and Amanda’s retail bead store and
art gallery,
Funky Hannah’s (www.funkyhannahs.com),
based in downtown
Racine in the
building that
they renovated
- oh, and on
having some fun in any time left over!
Mark also collects
vintage watches,
loves James
Bond movies, TV Land,
Karmann Ghias,
Studebakers,
old Chryslers, stuff from
the 1950s and
60s, time off and
Dean Martin.
His favorite color is green.
He and his
wife and son love summer and
each other,
have two cats, three
fish and a
dog and live on the West coast
of Lake Michigan
in Racine, Wisconsin.