Biography
Berthmark, is the persona of Irish Singer Songwriter Mark Joseph Parsons. A multi instrumentalist , Fun Loving Romantic writer of Folk/Rock and Blues told through a story telling Tongue.
You got to tell a story, don’t you.? , he says.
During his school days, he learned how to play the thin whistle and bodhran and over the years that followed, he went on to teach himself other instruments.
The guitar took his heart, but writing short stories was a huge passion of his from a young age and as soon as music took center stage in his life, he began turning his stories into songs, bringing them to life.
This particular method was the perfect fit for him, as he found his feet and he has been writing this way ever since .
At the age of 16, he saw an add in a local newsletter about an act looking for members for a Folk group. He applied and later was invited to join that Senior folk group in his local church.
They played regularly at mass sittings and it was there that he gained valuable experience with the more experienced musicians, while mastering his own unique style of playing.
A few years later he set up his own junior folk group and taught other younger kids how to play and sing, This is something that is very close to his heart and he still continues to this very day. As a youth worker through Foroige he encourages, supports, advises and produces all kinds of music for kids.
Previously he had played on the live circuit, Fronting many bands in different styles of music, One of his bands, had a record label interested and his 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 music industry.
It was around this time, that he found himself struggling both physically and mentally, fighting the inner demons that affect so many artists, as he felt his life was set in stone. But it was to be cracked over and over, by the heavy pounding of each step of his life and the life of some close to him.
With every twist and bend, he found himself in a darkness, that seemed to feed a monstrous danger, a danger to himself and a danger to his family.
Leaving him no choice, but to come off the road and leave his dreams aside for a while, to take full custody of his children and raise them alone, but that's a story for another day.
He kept writing from a far, away from the public and It was his Music and writing that kept him going through this period. These life happenings inspired him and they can be heard in many of his songs, seeping through like a cry for help.
“Music and writing is in my bloodstream and it has always been my lifeline”, he says.
He took the time needed to recuperate and he is back with music, some that are like his wounds of that war, he feels he had lost .
He classes himself as a writer of indie and singer/songwriter music, but he tends to write how he feels,which in turn leaves him producing music in a vast array of gen era's.
.” R.I.P In Loving Memory.” Is a Acoustic/Electronic song about a woman’s heart ache at the powers up above for taking her love away, after her husbands long struggle with Alzheimer’s
This is a strong personal writing subject for him and with it Berthmark shows, just how he can create a story and tells it with heart to bring it to life with soulful acoustic music.
He puts his heart into his writing and it seems the more personal he gets, the more of his heart comes through his work. This is so clear in a song he penned for his son , who was born with a disability.
"Matthew" is a dark Acoustic Blues/Rock song, one that brings us into the mind of this artist. The pains he had felt over his son , at that dark time of his birth, but then realizing the light at the other end. This is sure to make the listener, think deeper into their own lives.
While searching for subject matter, this writer also finds inspiration in the happening of the world. In a song called "Like Christy Does"
One he dedicates to the great Irish song smith Christy Moore.
A Folk/Rock song about the dangers, that the people of the world found themselves faced with, during the demise of the twin towers in New York that one September. A closer look into a world in the hands of the corrupt and greedy Governments and of Ireland's own struggle in particular, to grab its own hold, Shows how this writer can also take real day to day topics that effect us all and try and reason with the human physic around our thoughts on these matters. www.berthmarkmusic.com
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