Mark Dvorak is a modern day troubadour who has never stopped performing, writing and recording. He has been called "a folk singer's folk singer" with an "encyclopedic knowledge of traditional songs." His song writing has been called "wondrous" and "profound."
Since 1981, Mark has performed in nearly all the United States, and has visited several countries in Europe. Though he often appears on festival stages and in theaters, he is also at home in a more intimate setting.
His concerts are a mix of the familiar and the new, traditional folk and standards from the American songbook. He plays authentic country blues guitar and picks great old-time banjo. Mark enjoys involving his audiences in sing-along songs, just like The Weavers used to do, and he mixes in his own well-crafted and often poignant originals.
Mark has a refreshing, down-to-earth stage presence, and is a very engaging performer. He likes to joke around with the folks who attend his shows and throughout the program he'll interject personal anecdotes and add a touch of history or social context.
His roots are in Chicago, but for thirty years he has been crisscrossing the country, performing, teaching and learning all the while. He's visited big citiies where his concerts and recordings have been hailed as, "a refreshing portrait of the living folk tradition," and he's traveled many a back road to some little town or out-of-the-way place where the sounds and songs of the American experience seem more deeply rooted; here his performance comes across like a friendly converstation with neighbors.
Dvorak spent thirty-one years as integral member of the faculty at Chicago's venerable Old Town School of Folk Music. Since 1986, thousands of music students have passed through his classes. He has helped many a beginner get through their first chords and strums, and has hosted a catalogue of master classes and workshops on a range of subjects from old time banjo picking to the legacy of the great Lead Belly, to just about every other topic related to the study of the American folk song.
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