Dallas Morning News, Oct 1, 2012
Local Music Connection: Frisco-based country singer-songwriter Mark David Manders By Mario Tarradell / Music Critic
mtarradell@dallasnews.com
6:50 pm on October 1, 2012 | Permalink

Manders went back to basics during the recording of "The Greenhouse Sessions." (Blind Nello Records)
It took Mark David Manders six years to make another album of his original songs. The Greenhouse Sessions, released last month on Blind Nello Records, finds Manders, 49, at the peak of his storytelling prowess. He spins yarns both true and fictionalized — songs such as “The General,” “April’s Fool,” “The Murphy Store” and “Nickel Creek Cafe” — that transport listeners to another time, place and mindset. Somewhere along the way Manders slips in a love song (“My World”) and a mournful goodbye (“I Know That Rain”). It is a homespun, completely acoustic disc with support from great musicians such as Milo Deering, Dave Perez and Anson Funderburgh. The genesis of The Greenhouse Sessions is Songwriters Anonymous, a local tunesmith workshop group Manders started 19 months ago. Manders, who lives in Frisco with wife Kathryn and their 14-year-old triplets Justin, James and Jessica, hopped on the phone with me to talk about The Greenhouse Sessions, Songwriters Anonymous, the Texas country music scene and more.
Click here for the entire article : popcultureblog.dallasnews.com/2012/10/local-music-connection-a-conversation-with-frisco-based-country-singer-songwriter-mark-david-manders.html
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It took Mark David Manders six years to make another album of his original songs. The Greenhouse Sessions, released last month on Blind Nello Records, finds Manders, 49, at the peak of his storytelling prowess. He spins yarns both true and fictionalized — songs such as “The General,” “April’s Fool,” “The Murphy Store” and “Nickel Creek Cafe” — that transport listeners to another time, place and mindset. Somewhere along the way Manders slips in a love song (“My World”) and a mournful goodbye (“I Know That Rain”). It is a homespun, completely acoustic disc with support from great musicians such as Milo Deering, Dave Perez and Anson Funderburgh. The genesis of The Greenhouse Sessions is Songwriters Anonymous, a local tunesmith workshop group Manders started 19 months ago. Manders, who lives in Frisco with wife Kathryn and their 14-year-old triplets Justin, James and Jessica, hopped on the phone with me to talk about The Greenhouse Sessions, Songwriters Anonymous, the Texas country music scene and more.
Click here for the entire article : popcultureblog.dallasnews.com/2012/10/local-music-connection-a-conversation-with-frisco-based-country-singer-songwriter-mark-david-manders.html
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Saturday, September 8, 2012, 8:42 AM
Charles Walker's cabin, Oxford Mississippi
So, by the time we finished the first set we had developed a stretegy- play three or four originals and then a cover. Waylon, Haggard, just about any song I could remember from my youth seemed to work. If they knew half the words they were happy and the dance floor filled. If at any time during the performance we thought the crowd was slipping away Clayton would fiddle a few bars of "Dixie" and all present gave a rebel yell, followed by a misty-eyed, distant stare beyond the stage as if recalling some fond memory of their youth. It was a beautiful tactic and I'm sure we'll employ it again tonight.
But there is so much more here that defies definition: a magical whisper in the air, a chorus of a million oak trees swaying in the wind, leaves rubbing against leaves, a loon calling in the distance, the occasional passing of a truck on the blacktop road not quite visible from the cabin. I have been sitting in this rocking chair in silence for God knows how long just listening. I was so into the zone a few moments ago that, when an acorn dropped from the large oak next to the cabin and landed on the aluminum roof of the porch, I jumped a good twelve inched out of my rocking chair. That "zone" I am describing is a place few people speak of and even fewer venture near. A beautiful creature dwells within that mystical place. Her name is Creativity, and if you'll listen closely, with a little luck she'll tell you a story.
Sunday, September 2, 2012
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Sunday Night- Rockin' the Ranch with a little help from BTG!!!
I can't tell you how much fun we had in San Angelo Sunday night. It was just like old times when Blacktop Gypsy joined us on stage. Heather's incredible fiddle and all three girls' harmonies blew me away. From L to R: Andie Kay Joyner, Darcy Starcher, Heather Stalling, Mark Lafon, and yours truly! Not only did we have a great time, we raised a huge sum of money for the West Texas Boys Ranch.
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