GuitarPixel

PERSONAL HISTORY


	MARK NEWSTETTER BIOGRAPHY [CHRONOLOGY] Born June 10, 1957 New York City I began my life as a working musician in 1975 when, at the age of 17, I stepped into Mills Tavern on Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village and landed my first paid gig. I played once a week from 9 to midnight for almost a year, in addition to putting in a lot of time as a street musician - sometimes accumulating in as much as $40 in my open guitar case after a couple of hours. During that period I picked up a few other steady gigs in and around the Village at such clubs as the Dugout, and The Village Corner, finding myself among many older more experienced musicians I learned as much as I could by watching, listening and hanging out. I had already been playing guitar for almost 8 years by then, but it's a different story when your audience consists of strangers in a bar and not just your friends and family. I mostly did traditional folk songs and covers of folk-rock standards, and would throw in a few originals when I felt the crowd was willing to accept something unfamiliar. It was an ego boost when someone would ask me who wrote a certain song, thinking it might be something they had heard on the radio, and I could tell them it was one of mine. For approximately six months in 1976 I was the co-proprietor of an underground coffee-house called the Hummingbird Cafe, located at 7½ Bleecker Street, literally in the shadow of the soon to be legendary CBGB. In its brief existence The Hummingbird featured (along with a vegetarian menu) such local luminaries as Jack Hardy, David Massengill and others. A fire in the kitchen would snuff out the Hummingbird too soon. My time as a New York native was also to come to an end in less than a year from the demise of the Hummingbird when, for reasons too complex to explain here, I found myself riding a Greyhound bus three thousand miles to begin a life on a distant shore. Arriving in Los Angeles in 1977 I was fully confident in my ability to entertain audiences as a solo performer and set my sights on higher goals. I began to make the rounds at the record labels. I also enrolled in extension classes at UCLA to study record production and music theory. It was in the record production class, taught by Nik Venet, that I met Danny Faupel, with whom I would form a band which would achieve the goal of airplay on a major radio station with the song 'High Time to Legalize', a reggae styled plea for the legalization of marijuana with lyrics by our drummer, Chuck Grieder, and lead vocals by yours truly. Finally, the L.A. scene was not really for me. A combination of youthful restlessness, naivete, arrogance and stupidity on my part messed up what could have been a deal to become a staff songwriter for a big time L.A. music publisher. Ask me about it and I'll tell you all the gory details.... By 1980 I found myself drawn toward the Bay Area, where I still reside. San Francisco offered the kind of club scene that I had left in New York. I quickly regained my footing as a solo performer, landing steady gigs at The Ghirardelli Wine Cellar, Lyle Tuttle's Tattoo Rose and The Old Spaghetti Factory in North Beach. At the same time an old friend from New York, Elliott Schneider, had also made his way to San Francisco and was ready to restart his version of the classic Rock And Roll band, which was to be called 'The Banned'. (Elliott and I had already worked together in N.Y. and L.A.). between 1982 and 1984 The Banned played at major rock venues in San Francisco such as The Stone, The Mabuhay and the Vis Club and recorded an album, 'Surreal Survivor' produced by Chris Halaby I continued working on my own material and recorded my own album in 1984, 'Planetessimals' at Canyon Studio with Neil J. Young producing. Two cuts from that album, 'Old Bel' and 'Carelessly' are availble on the sounds page. I became a father in 1986 and spent considerably less time in the subsequent years gig hunting. I opened a small guitar repair shop. During the 8 years I ran the shop (which had no name other than 'Guitar Repair') I developed not only my skills as a luthier, but my method as a teacher. It was in that shop that I built several prototype instruments, one of which was commissioned by the Persian singer/guitarist Aldoush. Since 2001 I've been teaching guitar, giving as many as five private lessons a day. I have also written three guitar method textbooks which I provide my students. The books are also available from Lulu Press where you can see excerpts. In January 2009 I opened Balboa Guitars, a store offering guitar lessons and repairs in the Richmond district of San Francisco. [ Updated April 2010 ] A CHRONOLOGY is found below; [back to top] First guitar; 1966, HiLo nylon string First gig; 1974, Mills Tavern, Bleecker Street, Greenwich Village, NYC First airplay; 1979, KROQ Los Angeles, High Time To Legalize w/The Pitts, Moderntone Records First television appearance; 1984, Hearst Cable, Newark, CA, Rockin By The Bay Instruments Guitar, Bass, Keyboard, Voice Current Status; Proprietor of Balboa Guitars, San Francisco, offering guitar and bass lessons and repairs. Available for gigs and recording. Previous Bands and Collaborations Guitarist for Pearl River Band (formerly Outband with Doug Stevens) Guitarist for singer Octavia Kuransky - Guitar Cherie Lebow Band - Bass & Backup Vocals Acoustica (with Bill Gonzales) - Bass The Hanks (with Steve Farzan) - Guitar & Vocals Jennie Reichman - Guitar & Vocal The Pitts - Guitar & Vocals Elliot Schneider Banned - Guitar & Backup Vocals Toxic Gnus (with Russell Donnellon and Jon Glanzberg ) - Guitar & Vocal [back to top] 1981 - Present, San Francisco, CA (As Mark Newstetter) Produced demos at; Canyon Studios, Canyon, CA Dragon Studios, Redwood City, CA Performed at; Bazaar Cafe Red Victorian Cafe Jacks on 24th Street Epicenter Cafe Cafe De La Presse Cafe Du Nord Donatello Hotel The Rite Spot The Stone Mabuhay Gardens The Chi Chi CLub Club 186 La Bodega The Vis Club The Albion The Sixteenth Note The Paradise Lounge Hotel Utah Cocodrie Nikos Chamelion Club Noe Valley Ministry Simple Pleasures Cafe Freight and Salvage Lyle Tuttles Tatto Rose Cafe (weekly, 1981 - 1983) The Ghirardelli Wine Cellar The Old Spaghetti Factory Munchkin's (weekly, 1982) Off Union Saloon Making Waves Music Festival International Cafe (weekly, 1998) Picaro Cafe (weekly, 1991) [back to top] 1978 - 1981 Los Angeles, CA (As Mark Newman) Studied Music theory at UCLA Studied Record Production with Nik Venet Recorded band demos at; Music Lab Present Time Recorders Program Studios Performed at; Gatsby's, Venice, CA The White House Sweetwaters Numerous backyard parties w/The Pitts [back to top] 1974 - 1977 New York City (As Mark Newman) Performed at; The Dugout (weekly, 1976) Mills Tavern (weekly, 1975) Folk City The Other End The VIllage Corner The Hummingbird Cafe The Cockroach Art Cafe Vaselka The Crow And Coon Cafe Blase Speakeasy [back to top] 1968 - Playing my first guitar. Mom is at the top right. 1961 Dad, me, mom, Shelly and Jeff. Other info available on request mark@guitarpixel.com 415 - 221 - 3920