Skin & Bone Review
Four star review from R2 Magazine - Simon Hughes
An intriguing character, Mark Brown has certainly been around. Since growing up in Maryland he’s spent time farming, working as a mechanic, commercial fishing in the northern Pacific and working as a carpenter in the north-eastern United States. ‘See you Next Time’ opens an album of fourteen eclectic, rough and humorous songs that sound like they’ve been hauled out of a wooden cabin, given a stiff drink and let loose on a wary community. ‘Smashed’ tells the tale of a man fighting, unsuccessfully, to avoid getting drunk again.
Typically with Brown, he has a lot of fun along the way. ‘When the Time Comes’ is a bellyful of soul, with gorgeous Hammond organ accompaniment. The humorous ballad ‘Pony’ tells a tale of unrequited love, where our hero loses out to a milky eyed, skinny pony. (‘I love a girl, but she loves a pony/ I want this girl, but she loves him only’.)
Skin & Bone is produced by Grammy Award-winning Dean Jones and features Ken McGloin on Guitar, John Parker on bass, Dean Sharp on Drums, Guy ‘Fooch’ Fichetti on pedal steel and Jones on everything else, with a few guest appearances thrown in for good measure. It’s pitched somewhere between Johnny Cash, Nick Cave and Tom Waits, with a refreshing dose of raw honesty and sly humor. Pour a drink, pull up a chair and treat yourself.