Born in 1965 in Rochester, New York, USA, Mark was brought up on Rock 'n' Roll. Very early influences being Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash. His family moved back to the UK in the mid 1970's by which time he was playing the drums to all styles of music but 50's Rock 'n' Roll was still his main influence. Although Elvis was still his favourite entertainer, Eddie Cochran, Buddy Holly and Cliff Richard were directing the way he was going to go.
He was playing as a fully professional drummer in Portsmouth Rock 'n' Roll bands but encouraged by a friend 'Rick McKay' who was the frontman/guitarist in one of the bands he played in, Mark quickly went onto the guitar. He bought himself a Gretsch guitar and never looked back.
Pretty soon he was working as a drummer and as a guitar soloist but in the end the bands had to go as the solo work was taking over and the next 3 years was taken up using just a guitar with no backing tracks, working pubs, clubs and holiday camps. "Backing tracks hadn't really taken hold at that point, you used just a guitar for the pubs and clubs and had 'dots' written for caberet at the holiday camps which employed resident bands".
"Working solo was great for a while, I could do more or less what I liked. But when karaoke & backing tracks really took hold, things were a bit different for all live musicians and you would find that the holiday camps wouldn't book an act unless they had backing tracks. The resident bands that we would use were being fazed out and karaoke took over.
I didn't want to go down the backing track route so it was back to the bands again except this time I stayed on guitar. I met up with an old acquaintance 'Ivor Coleman' who was getting a band together and between us we formed 'Original Cool'."
Some specialty acts stick to one particular circuit but Original Cool would play any venue which gave them a broad spectrum of audiences and they soon developed a wide fan base and in the end they could chose where they wanted to play.
When the band finally ended, Mark went back to being a soloist and went with his family to Benidorm, Spain.
Mark did a five year stint in Benidorm's top night spot 'The Western Saloon' as well as top of the bill at Benidorm's 'Rock and Roll House' and he was also a regular at 'The Heartbreak Hotel' on Benidorm's beach front. These venues are frequented by people who specifically go there to be entertained and demand a high standard and if they don't get that standard they move onto the next bar, which obviously doesn't make the venue owners very happy. So only the very best entertainers get to stay in the higher paid nightspots.
He is still flown out to Spain by the owners of 'The Western Saloon' to perform for fiestas and other special occasions.
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Present day, to sum up.
All in all, Mark has been rocking for more years than he cares to remember. Working mostly in Europe, in all types of venues, playing as an Elvis Tribute, guitar soloist, as a duo and in bands, he has worked with many named artists such as 'The Searchers', 'The Comets', 'Brenda Lee', 'Chris Montez' and 'The Dreamers' to name but a few.
He now plays 'live lead guitar' to backing tracks that he has made himself entirely with real instruments in a studio. Building the track by first laying down the drums and then adding acoustic guitar and bass. This gives a 'live' band sound with a real 50's influence.
You won't hear this sound anywhere else.
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For further information regarding the Elvis Tribute or Mark Curtis - Guitar Vocalist, bookings, pricing, availability etc contact Mark on:
Tel: 00 44 (0) 1329 310326
Mobile: 00 44 (0) 7887 530536
