Guys With Guitars

Mark Wayne Glasmire was just 10 years old when his parents gave him a guitar as a Christmas present. Although now residing in Arlington, TX, Mark was born and raised in Bethlehem, PA. “I always wanted to be a rock star,” he told me. A child of the 60’s, Mark grew up listening to the singer-songwriters of the day like James Taylor and Cat Stevens.

“I took on the guitar at a young age, but didn’t really take it seriously right away,” he said. “My parents provided me with guitar lessons for a couple months, but realized I wasn’t practicing, I ended up losing interest. I just walked away from it for a while.”

But Mark had picked up enough of the basics that when he did pick it back up in high school and later on in college the ability to play came pretty quickly. “I figured out that girls love guys with guitars, and I was a pretty shy kid, so my guitar became my outlet.”

Mark went on to play open mic nights and then to small clubs and coffee houses. “That’s eventually how I ended up paying my way through college,” he said. After earning his degree, Mark went to work for his father’s construction company during the day, and commuting an hour and a half one way into the Village in New York to play music in the evenings. “I’d come home at 2:30 or 3:00 in the morning, get up at 6:30 and go back to work,” he recalled.

He was also playing locally in Pennsylvania where he got to know Sonny Ochs, sister of the late folk legend Phil Ochs. Sonny hired Mark and his friend Pat Troiani to perform at the historic Greenwich Village venue Gerde’s Folk City. Mark eventually found himself in Nashville working on his songwriting chops. He’s since received numerous awards for his efforts.

Mark’s latest CD, Can’t Be Denied, chocked full of his original songs, was released mid-October to early praises.

To find out more, visit
www.markwayneglasmire.com