hails from North Carolina and plays guitar, old- time banjo,
fiddle, and piano, but is best known as a singer and composer.
Thoroughly steeped in the Appalachian musical tradition, his
special interest lies in re-interpreting the un- accompanied
traditional ballads of North Carolina and Virginia for a modern
audience. His music has been highlighted on NPR's Thistle and
Shamrock, and he has recorded and/ or performed with Tony Ellis (Bill
Monroe), Alice Gerrard (Hazel and Alice), Carl Jones (Norman
Blake), Daithi Sproule (Altan), and Joe Adams (Johnny Paycheck). He has
taught master classes and in the Children's Program at the Irish Arts week in New York, at the
Swannanoa Gathering in North Carolina, and the Alaska Traditional Music
Camp, among others. A UPS driver for seven years, he now tours
professionally with Julee Glaub as the duet Little Windows. In
2000, he helped form the popular Stillhouse Bottom Band, a group that
has done a lot to rejuvenate old-time string band music in the Carolina
piedmont area by means of their musical diversity, creativity, high
energy, and entertaining stage performances. www.stillhousebottomband.com
In 2004, Mark and Alice Gerrard discovered their mutual interest in traditional country music and the Weems-Gerrard Band was born. Their 2005 recording, Foolish Lover's Waltz, contains several classic honky-tonk songs as well as seven new hard-edged harmony duet originals penned by Mark and Alice.
In
2005, Mark and Julee realized quickly that the harmonic blending of
their vocal tones was quite unique. Together they tour nationally
and abraod as the duet Little Windows, performing a mesmerizing blend
of traditional Irish, Scottish, and Appalachian song with a special
focus on unaccompanied ballads. Their first recording together,
released in 2006, Just Beyond Me,was
submitted for a Grammy in the traditional folk category, and has been
featured on NPR's Thistle and Shamrock. They also teach at music camps
around the country and have started their own traditional singing camps
called Camp Little Windows.
Mark
continues his love of Honky-Tonk music in his new country band -- Mark
Weems and the Cave Dwellers. This fun loving group plays Hank, Merle,
and lots of new originals by Mark and features piano, steel, fiddle,
guitar, bass and drums.
www.myspace.com/markweemsandthecavedwellers
Hand-made – The Stillhouse Bottom Band (2000)
Bustin' It Up – The Stillhouse Bottom Band (2002)
Without Guile – Solo Project (2004)
Thanks A Lot – The Stillhouse Bottom Band (2005)
Foolish Lover's Waltz – The Weems-Gerrard Band (2005)
Just Beyond Me – Mark Weems And Julee Glaub (2006)
Short Time Here, Long Time Gone - Mark Weems (2007)
Snowman's Waltz - Little Windows (2008)
What Folks Are Saying:
“Mark
Weems is an exceptionally talented interpreter of old-time vocal and instrumental tunes. He is also a gifted composer of timeless
music.” -- Sing Out! Magazine
"Mark's
elegant singing brings us closer to the ballad style that
carried these old songs through the generations. He has connected
with this lost tradition and recovered new beauty from it."
-- John Cohen (New Lost City Ramblers)
“Mark is totally immersed in his song and dance music tradition, and
this is reflected in his skillful playing and singing. He sings from the heart
and is plainly 'in tune' with the tradition. [His new record is] full of
atmosphere and beauty” – Irish Music Magazine
“Soulful and
heartfelt -two essential qualities that in my opinion, a singer must have. Mark has them to a T. He is a voice to be reckoned with.”
-- Alice Gerrard
"Mark
Weems combines a beautiful, unmistakable voice with a talent for
phrasing unlike anyone singing country music today. His original
numbers look to be the great old songs of the future."
--Joe Newberry (The
Original Red Clay Ramblers)
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 ,
a native of North Carolina, studied literature and music at Wake Forest
University, before following her longstanding interest in Irish culture
to work with the poor in Dublin. Her meaningful experiences with the
people of Ireland led her to a keener interest in the culture and in
particular to their traditional music. For nearly seven years, she
continued her work in Dublin while sitting at the feet of master
players and singers and absorbing everything. She credits the
combination of material from the Traditional Music Archives, from older
singers, and her experiences in working with poor and working people in
Dublin, as her major inspirations to her ballad singing.
Upon returning home, she became involved in the Irish
music scene here in the States and has quickly become recognized as a
leading interpreter of irish songs in America. She lived in the
Northeast for seven years in order to be closer to the heartbeat of
Irish music in America. Her first CD, Fields Faraway (2001), included
members of the band Séad whom she still performs with from time to
time...Brian Conway, Brendan Dolan, and Jerry O'Sullivan. More recently
she has expanded her interest to include traditional North Carolina
music and in 2004 released her second CD, Blue Waltz, a collection
which explores the connections between Irish and Appalachian music and
has been featured on Fiona Ritchie's Thistle and Shamrock. The
project was produced by Vermonter Pete Sutherland and highlights irish
guitarist, Dáithí Sproule, Randal Bays and others. Julee recently returned to North
Carolina to be closer to her roots and to join two worlds that are
deeply connected and part of her own soul as well. In
2005, Mark Weems and Julee realized quickly that the harmonic blending
of their vocal tones was quite unique and formed the duo Little Windows. They tour, teach, and perform together full-time both
nationally and abroad.
Julee's
approach to music downplays the entertainment aspect of music,
incorporates her view of nature and human experience, and focuses on
the spiritual and emotional wealth that traditional music has to offer
to the world. For more information, visit www.juleeglaub.com
Teaching: Julee
teaches traditional singing privately and publicly. She is in great
demand as a teacher and has been on the staff of the Irish Arts Week in
the Catskills of New York, the Alaska Fiddle Camp, the Schloss
Mittersill Arts Conference in Austria, the Swannanoa Gathering at
Warren Wilson College in N.C, Camp Little Windows and various camps
and festivals throughout the U.S.. She has developed her own
cultural enrichment programs for lower and middle school ages and
enjoys teaching all ages and passing on the torch of traditional
song. In 2007 she and Mark created a new week at the Swannanoa Gathering called
Traditional Song Week. Julee is the coordinator of what is for her a
dream come true. www.swangathering.comBack to top
Guest Artist on Mike Casey's The Pleasures of Hope (Wizmak, 1995)
Awakening Records Compilation II (Awakening, 1998)
Traditional Irish Song (1999)
Fields Faraway Solo Project (2001)
Guest Artist on Aoife Clancy's Silvery Moon (Appleseed, 2003)
Blue Waltz Solo Project (2004)
Best of Backporch Music WUNC - Volume VII (2004),
The Ulster Project of Atlanta Compilation (2005)
Just Beyond Me -- Mark Weems and Julee Glaub (2006)
Snowman's Waltz -- Little Windows (2008)
"Julee
Glaub's relaxed, thoughtful and at times contemplative delivery, is in
sharp contrast to the tremendous energy and dynamism she has applied to
the study of song on both sides of the Atlantic, and her long
apprenticeship in mastering styles and knowledge of the songs she
sings. We're all the better for hearing her, and she joins that select
group about whom I say, that if I were a song, I'd want Julee Glaub to
sing me."
– Aidan O'Hara, Ireland, Irish Music Magazine
" 'Songbird'
is a term that was often used in the 18th and 19th Centuries to
describe the rare female vocalist whose singing is as natural and
pleasing as the singing of a songbird. As I listen to Julee move
seamlessly from the Appalachian music of her native North Carolina to
the music of her Celtic roots, I realize she truly is a 'songbird'. "
– Bobby Horton, Birmingham, AL
"When
I first heard Julee Glaub sing, I was amazed at how her voice sounded
equally at home singing Celtic, Old Time or Gospel songs."
-– Robbie O'Connell, Boston, MA
"The
combination of the power that comes from having lived near the music's
sources and her clear, sweet but commanding voice stills audiences
whenever she sings. She possesses a reverence and passion for the music
and provides proof of the continuing viability of the tradition."
– Mardi Tuminaro, Irish Arts Center, NYC
"What
is interesting to me as a follower of Julee's music is the profound
influence her Southern origins have on her presentation and her
singing, which brings a subtle but unique quality to her artistry.
Julee's voice is unmistakable in a relatively vast arena of women's
voices presenting similar material. Her singing can move the most
veteran listener, bringing a new depth of feeling to the ballad
tradition. I remember the first time I heard Julee perform. She began
to sing a ballad, which started out in a predictable fashion, but her
phrasing and ornamentation left me moved and eager for more. I
celebrate Julee's place in Irish song not as a native Irish singer, but
rather, a Southern American with a rightful claim to interpret the
music of the Celts who settled and influenced the mountains and valleys
of her origin."
– Gene Hogan Bender, a voice from the audience
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