Mark Bowers first began playing piano at the age of six. Mark's father instilled the basics of music theory and piano technique, and encouraged daily practice. Public performance began at the age of thirteen at his father's church, and his skill blossomed. The church's resident pianist was often ill, thus forcing Mark to play "at the drop of a hat." The occasional offertory became the weekly prelude, offertory and special music. Then congregational accompaniment for evening services. Eventually he was responsible for nearly all piano performance, including choir accompanist.
During his teen years Mark received very little formal training, though he was taught for a year by Henry "Will" Wilczynski, the former piano teacher of The Carpenters. Mr. Will strongly encouraged technique drills to complement Mark's already strong skills at playing by ear. While Mark had been composing songs all his life, it was during this brief time of instruction that his songs began to catch the ears of others.
College was where everything just seemed to fall into place. It was only a week or two before Mark had a strong following of fans. A second place finish in the freshman talent show firmly ensconced him as the romantic piano player on campus. Mark continued to use his talents at church, and also began playing for a campus music ministry as well. Four years of college gave him four opportunities to tour all over New England and the Pennsylvania-Ohio areas. He also performed at campus coffee houses and other talent shows.
Mark's fans constantly requested an album. After college he had few funds, so instead just made copies of original compositions onto cassette tapes and distributed them. Through a series of "coincidences" that can only be described as fully Providential directives, it became abundantly clear that God wanted him to record a CD. One Day is the fulfillment of a two-decade dream, and God's obvious will.
Now Mark has begun work on CD #2. Although he had wanted to begin recording earlier in 2008, he became bogged down by work, stuff at home... essentially the chaos of life. Ironically, literature about Mark's music is littered with references about how his music is an "escape from the chaos of life". Since Mark was so bogged down with work, God decided to pull the same stunt that He used to get me to record One Day, which was to remove the distraction of a job. So here I am, no employment other than composing and recording my sophomore project, Rejuvenation.
To give you an idea of what it will sound like, I've posted a rough cut of the first track, Rejuvenation's Overture, which will eventually feature guitar, synth, and possibly some other instruments. This project is turning into more of a collaboration rather than a solo album, so you should be surprised to find a richer fuller sound than One Day. Stay tuned...
For more information, check out Mark's FaceBook, MySpace or GarageBand.com.