blog post Mark Perry’s West latest from prolific B.C. songwriter

One of the great voices of northern B.C. has just released a new album. No, it’s not Alex Cuba, Dan Mangan, or Tobin Frank from Spirit of the West. It’s Mark Perry. You may not have heard of him, but West is the prolific singer-songwriter’s eighth album.

Perry recorded his first album, Dreams of the Highway, in 1990 with a West Coast hero of his, Roy Forbes. Perry’s latest album is produced by renowned producer, engineer and musician Joby Baker of Baker Studios in Victoria, B.C, who calls Perry an amazing storyteller.

“I would often find myself sitting at my console completely lost in his stories, forgetting that I was supposed to be producing a record,” said Baker. “Mark is the real deal.”

Baker isn’t the only fine West Coast musician on West. Cuba and Frank, who play on the album, are from the same hometown as Perry, Smithers, B.C. – maybe it’s something in the water. West also features Steve Dawson and Rick May.

The album is filled with songs about everyday life and stories about adventures, laughs, tragedies and the folks that live them. Shari Ulrich is quoted as saying on Perry’s website, "Mark writes the kind of songs other writers wish they'd written."

A couple of my favourite tunes on this album are Broken Tractor and Dance Alone. Check ‘em out and let me know if you agree.

Wanna know more?

Mark was in studio recently with Sheryl Mackay of CBC’s North By North West. He chatted about writing tunes, the West Coast music scene, and about the only song he has ever re-recorded. 

audio

The interview starts with Mark’s title track West. That’s the fabulous Steve Dawson on the Weissenborn.