MK BIO
Since 1998, Mark
has been touring with the extended "Grateful Dead family"
(The Other Ones, Mickey Hart's Planet Drum, Phil Lesh &
Friends and Bob Weir & RatDog). He has held the lead guitar
slot in RatDog for the last eight years, touring year-round.
Before crossing over into the land of the Dead, Mark worked
his guitar voodoo for the likes of Dave Mason, Delaney Bramlett,
the Rembrandts, Paul Carrack, Huey Lewis, Jesse Colin Young
and Sophie B. Hawkins.
In recent years,
Mark has performed with Little Feat, Spearhead, New Monsoon,
Galactic, String Cheese Incident, Particle, New Riders of
the Purple Sage and numerous others in the jamband community.
Mark has toured
Europe, playing the Montreaux Jazz Festival, and has played
both the Mt. Fuji Jazz Festival and Fuji Rock Festivals in
Japan. For the past ten years Mark has extensively toured
in nearly every state in the US. He has made TV appearances
on Austin City Limits, VH1 Classic's All Star Jams, Late Night
with Conan O'Brien, Late Late Night with Craig Kilborn, Today
Show and Regis & Kathy Lee. Mark has done extensive recording
for records, film and television, and is in demand as a studio
musician and producer.
When Mark takes
a break from life on the road with RatDog, what does he do
for fun? He seeks his own muse. Whether with his band, "Jemimah
Puddleduck" or one of the many combinations of stellar
musical talent, we've taken to calling "Mark Karan's
Buds", Mark brings his soulful blues-based vocal stylings
and inspired guitar work to some of the tastiest tunes around…
a passionately delivered mix of rock meets R&B, with flashes
of folk, blues, reggae, jazz and whatever other muse might
pay a visit in the moment… often surprising… always
"the real deal".
You can hear why
his fanbase is growing on his band's live CDs, including Live
at the Fillmore, Live at the Great American Music Hall, and
Live at the Sweetwater (available at markkaran.com). In addition
to his original songs like "Time Will Tell", "Rock
Your Papa", and "Leave a Light On", as well
as those of songwriter friends Susan Sheller ("Memphis
Radio"), and Alex Call ("Annie Don't Lie"),
Mark also covers a range of eclectic songs like Johnny "Guitar"
Watson's "You Can Stay (But the Noize Must Go)",
and Peter Tosh's "Don't Look Back". Whether it's
funk, reggae, country, or soul- his unique choices in music
are the hallmark of every show, and are evident on his studio
album (currently in production-2007). Other recordings featuring
Mark on guitar include RatDog's "Live At Roseland"
(2001) and "Evening Moods" (2000), and The Other
Ones' "Only The Strange Remain" (1999) - all on
Grateful Dead Records (gdstore.com).
For more info on
Mark's ever-evolving fascination with gear, see markkaran.com.
