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PROFESSIONAL PROFILE:

Multi-instrumentalist with emphasis on string bass and clawhammer banjo, composer, producer, dancer with emphasis on Southern Appalachian step dance.

Mark is a central figure in the Bluegrass and New Acoustic music world. His recording credits include projects with Bela Fleck, Tony Rice, Jerry Douglas, Tim O'Brien, Mark O’Connor, and John Hartford. Mark released his own solo recording on Rounder Records in May of 1995 which features his original compositions and clawhammer banjo work. He is currently touring full time with Nickel Creek, acts as Musical Director and Road Manager for Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble, is doing selected dates with his own band, Mark Schatz and Friends, which features his banjo work, and he continues to freelance on the upright bass.


AWARDS:

-1994, 1995 IBMA's Bass Player of the Year award
-1992 IBMA's Instrumental Recording of the Year for Jerry Douglas's Slide Rule
-1991 International Bluegrass Music Association's Album of the Year Award for Bluegrass Album Band – Volume V
-1986, 1987 Frets Readers Poll Award as best Bluegrass Bass Player


WORK EXPERIENCE:

-Nickel Creek (bass), 4/03 to Present
-Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble(formerly the Fiddle Puppet Dancers):
Musical Director, 1993 to Present
Road Manager, 1993 to Present
Musician (banjo, guitar, mandolin, bass), 1989 to Present
Dancer, 1989 to Present
Produced and edited SoleMates and Crossing videos
-John Hartford (bass), 1999-2000
-Tim O’Brien and the O’Boys (string bass, banjo, harmony vocals, S Appalachian Clogging) 1990-1998
-The Tony Rice Unit (string bass, harmony vocals, and road manager) 1985-1989
-Freelance work in Nashville TN (mostly on electric bass) including club work, recording sessions, touring and producing, 1982-1984
_Spectrum (Bass and Clogging), 1980-1981
-Tasty Licks (Bass), 1979
-Mandala Folk Dance Ensemble (bass, mandolin, banjo, trumpet, hammered dulcimer) 1975-1976
-Has also performed with Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, Jonathan Edwards, Peter Rowan, Pam Tillis, Maura O’Connell


SOME SIGNIFICANT RECORDING PROJECTS:

-Tasty Licks: Anchored to the Shore
-Spectrum: Opening Roll, It's Too Hot For Words, Live in Japan
-Bela Fleck: Crossing the Tracks, Natural Bridge, Double Time (banjo duet), Inroads, Drive, Tales From the Acoustic Planet, Vol II, the Bluegrass Sessions
-Maura O'Connell: Just In Time
-Jerry Douglas: Fluxedo, Slide Rule, The Great Dobro Sessions (Grammy winner)
-Tony Rice: Me and My Guitar, Native American, The Bluegrass Album Band-Volume V, Tony Rice Plays and Sings Bluegrass
-John Hartford: Good Old Boys
-Mark O’Connor: The New Nashville Cats, Liberty, ReelTime (Wynton Marsalis)
-Tim O'Brien: Odd Man In, Oh boy, O'Boy, Rock in My Shoe (#1 on Americana charts for five weeks in summer of '95), Red on Blond (Grammy nominee), The Crossing
-Mark Schatz: Brand New Old Tyme Way, Steppin in the Boiler House
-Nickel Creek: Why Should The Fire Die

TEACHING EXPERIENCE:

-Has two instructional bass videos on Homespun Tapes and Videos
-Taught banjo at Rocky Grass Academy 1998, 1999, 2001
-Taught bass at Augusta Heritage Arts Festival, Elkins, WV 1983, 1990-1995, 2000
-Taught bass and banjo at Common Ground on the Hill, Westminster, Md, 2000-2002
-Taught bass and banjo at NashCamp, 1998
-Taught bass at Rocky Grass Academy 1996, 1997
-Taught bass youth seminar at IBMA Convention 1995
-Taught bass at Telluride Bluegrass Academy 1993, 1994
-Taught bass and banjo at California Coast Music Camp 1992


PRODUCER CREDITS:

-Ginny Mitchell: Burning a Hole in My Heart
-Robyn Helzner: Clap Your Hands, A Fire Burns
-Slavek Hanzlik: Spring in the Old Country, Summer Solstice, Fall of
My Dreams
-The Fiddle Puppet Dancers: Lift up Your Wings
-Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble: Footworks Live
-Carla Gover: Hush My Restless Soul
-Special Consensus: Roads and Rails, Strong Enough to Bend, Our Little Town, 25th Anniversary
-Critton Hollow: Cowboys and Indians
-Scruj McDuhk: The Road to Canso (Juno nominated)
-The Duhks: Your Daughters and Your Sons (Juno nominated)
-Kristin Andreassen: Jump Start (Release date: Winter 2006)


EDUCATION:

-BA in Music Theory and Composition from Haverford College
-One year of study completed at Berklee College of Music in Boston




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