Mark S. Moody

Background:  Mark began playing guitar at the age of eight years,  studying  with teachers ranging from classical to country and rock. He also  studied classically on the piano and woodwinds, specifically clarinet  and  saxophone.  At 17, he formed and successfully managed  his first band, the  "Aggravations", in North Africa and the Mediterranean area.  While  in the Navy, he began to play folk clubs in Memphis, Tenn., and  Norfolk,  Virginia and the surrounding areas, developing a penchant  for blues, as well as  folk and rock. Returning to Taos, NM after  the Navy, Mark worked clubs in  Northern New Mexico for a few years,  mainly as a solo, and then moved to  Houston, Texas, where after  a short while, he began playing with Mickey Gilley  in Pasadena,  Texas as a backup lead player and rhythm player for a few months,  leaving to form his own band "The Moody Brothers" with Don Driskill,  a talented  drummer from Oklahoma. This group was very successful  in and around the Houston  area for many years, even after Don  passed away in a car accident. In the mid  '70s, Mark began to  write music in earnest, working and playing around such  notables  in the Houston area as Shake Russell, Michael Marcouliaux, and Robert  McCann. At this point, after a brief stint with Frenchy Burke,  at the Winchester  Club in Houston, Mark began to explore his solo  career, again. Finally, in the  early '80's, Mark returned to New  Mexico to find the atmosphere and support to  continue writing  and playing, from a less commercial standpoint. Today, some  three  albums later and countless 45's done, Mark is continuing to play  all over  the country, and continue his writing and producing.  Sometime this year (2004),  Mark will be coming out with his second  major original offering entitled Onward,  with the same sort of  eclectic mix that he has enjoyed.