www.berthmarkmusic.com Hi and Welcome. Berthmark is my persona name . My real name is Mark Joseph Parsons and I am a Irish, Dublin born Singer/Songwriter of Fun Loving Romantic Folk/Rock and Blues told with a story telling Tongue. "You got to tell a story, don’t you".? I have been writing and playing music for as long as I remember. Its who I am now. It all started back in school, when I learned to play the thin whistle and bodhran and over the years that followed, I went on to teach myself other instruments, while I wrote. Short stories was a huge passion of mine and when music took my heart, I began turning my stories into songs and bringing them to life. This particular method was the perfect fit for me and I have been writing this way ever since . When I was 16, I saw an add in the local newsletter about a church looking for members for a local Folk group. I applied and later was invited to join. They played regularly at mass and it was there I gained valuable experience with the more experienced musicians and mastering my own unique style of playing. A few years later I set up my own junior folk group and taught other younger kids how to play and sing,. This is something that I hold very close to my heart and I continued to this . Before Covid struck the world, I worked As a youth worker through a Foroige youth group. Encouraging, supporting their playing. And as a Producer, Producing all kinds of music, from the teens with a natural talent and ear for music. My experience also comes from playing on the live circuit with many bands that I had the pleasure to front. One of my bands, had a record label interested and the future seemed promising but life started to take its toll, with band bust ups and all that other stuff that comes with rock n roll and the industry. Around that time, I found myself struggling physically and mentally, Delving into mind bending toxins and fighting my inner demons that affect so many Musicians and Artists. A few years later, after clearing my mind a little, I then found myself raising a young family on my own, after the untimely death of my partner at the time.. Music and writing kept me going through this even dark period . “Music and writing is in my bloodstream and it has always been my lifeline”, I needed some time to recuperate, but the music had kept calling me from my Guitars hanging on my wall. Play me..Play me they would scream..Haha So.....Here I am, back with some New Music. I class myself as a writer of indie singer/songwriter stuff, being reared on the likes of the Dubliners and Christy Moore, Moving hearts and Planxty. So I thought I would have a go at writing a ballad or two. Like A song of mine called …. “Government A” ( about our then struggling Irish government under the bad leadership of Cowen and their bad choices and mishaps, a song most countries today can relate to today ) And a track called . ” R.I.P In Loving Memory.” (Is a song about a woman’s heart ache at the powers up above for taking her love away, after his long struggle with Alzheimer’s for years) this track takes a story and tells it with heart to bring it to life with soulful acoustic music.. Realistically, My original music is diverse, being a multi instrumentalist ( No computer driven music here) and covers a lot of different genre's, which also includes cover versions. But hay... I find at times I cant stop writing originals, and I have built up quite a back catalog of my own songs over the years. Some have being recorded as home demo's, which can be found on this beautiful site Drooble, Bandcamp, Soundcloud and some I have released out to the General public, through Spotify and Apple Music, among others . Feel free to check out some of his work, by visiting my home page at the top of this bio, where you will find all of the links. Thank you for listening. Berthmark.
Music has always been a life long friend of mine, Back when i was just a lad it helped me mature and turned me into who I was to be and as I got older it helped me understand life a bit better and helped me get through many bad moments.
I would rather stay awake and keep taking this long path that I have to date being taking, If you fall asleep at the wheel you will miss the good stuff.
Understanding, We cant really blame a language barrier in the world as nearly everyone can speak English now, But its the understanding of why a person believes in what they believe. One thing I found no matter how extreme something seems to us, who may be somewhat ignorant, there is always a valid reason... well.? Unless its a selfish one.
I got my mind set on you, by George Harrison. What a song. When i first heard that song as a teen, it touched me and it later got me into my favorite band of all time The Beatles.
See above...Lol
Back in school, I was taught how to play the thin whistle and Bodhran (Irish drum) and prior to that, I always loved to write stories. Making up characters and putting them into situations.. Then one day, I was outside messing about and I heard music coming from around the corner, when I got there I saw a friend of mine playing Guitar out on the street with his band and I thought ...That is cool. That is what i want to do, so I taught myself the guitar and started putting my stories to music and well..the rest is history.
Life is an open book and has many passages about many people doing many different things, some bad some good, and that is what I love to write about with my music. Unless its personal, then I become one of my subjects..
There are so many Artists now days making music,it has become too easy with computer technology. But the one thing that makes me different from them is, I started out not through making video's in the safety of my bedroom on social media, but playing live in front of people and I love the feeling of seeing peoples faces light up as soon as I hit that first nervous chord, then I am in my element. Then reaching out to them afterwards, talking with them about how they felt...Music is an art form and people should get to experience it first hand, not from a computer screen.
First of all, If you want to be a musician, you should at least learn to understand music first by learning to play an instrument, not just push a few buttons on a computer keyboard or click a mouse, that is lazy...
Honestly, I dont know much about you guys, but I do like what you are trying to do for music and for musicians like myself. We need all the platforms we can get.
Being over shadowed by greed and untalented individuals that I believe do'nt deserve their success. They didnt put in the work, They Just happened to be in the right place at the right time, selling a product that a backer knew they could make money from, the art form has gone. Before a musician moved you and worked hard to get to a certain level and blew your mind with their music...Now days they just blow your ears.
I am in many forums, for guitarists and Songwriters and Every time I hear a song and it moves me, I try and help them the best I can by connected with them and sharing their music with my followers. I also run a music club for kids aged 11- 18, where I try and hone in on their skills and give them pointers...Id like to change music back to where it all started, real people playing real instruments and this is how I am trying to change it, through our youth... Your welcome. lol
Just understand it and if you have a real story to tell try and tell it...It is so easy to write a love song, That is why there are so many nowdays, but to actually move someone with your music with a real topic...That is the art.?
There is a young man from Canada , Called Dan Schonski. Who I have got to know. In my opinion he has everything going for him and is going to be big, if he is not over shadowed by the tripe fueling our airwaves at the moment. https://soundcloud.com/dan-schonski