Folk troubadour heads home for the holidays with EP release November 26
CHICAGO IL - Singer songwriter and recording artist Mark Dvorak will release a digital EP “December Songs” to support Music & Potlucks, a 501(c)(3) non-profit community organization that presents cultural arts programs to benefit area agencies who serve those in need.
“December Songs,” has been on my mind for a long, long while,” said the singer who will be debuting two new songs on the release. Over the course of the pandemic I spent a lot of time working on my instruments, singing and recording technique. I wrote a bunch of new songs as well and two of them happened to have a winter / holiday theme. I set in to work on recording a collection of songs I’ve sung each season when the dark days come, the holiday lights go up and the year is at an end.”
“December Songs” is a four-song digital EP and is free to anyone who makes a free-will donation to Music & Potlucks, a community organization now in its fifth year.
“We’ve presented over sixty-five events so far,” said Stephanie Schrodt of River Forest, co-director of Music & Potlucks. “Mark has been an integral part of evolution and music programming. We’re proud to have him on board as our resident artist.”
Music & Potlucks will present the seventh Acoustic Neighbors Live Stream Showcase on Friday, November 26 at 7:00 pm CST. Dvorak will host the event which includes a half-dozen other performers.
“Home made music is so essential,” said Dvorak. “Since I started out, I’ve been looking for ways to use music - folk music - community music - whatever you call it - as a way for people to find each other. We’re looking for each other. Good songs give us a common platform where we can begin to agree with one another. The holidays are all about coming home and the old songs of the season are part of that.”
The digital release features four songs: a treatment of Bob Dylan’s “On a Night Like This,” first released in 1974, and two Dvorak originals, “A December Waltz,” and the newly penned “Under Mistletoe.”
I struggled with “Mistletoe” for like ten years” said Dvorak. “I wound up lifting a couple of chord changes from Hoagy Carmichael’s timeless classic, ‘The Nearness of You,’ and the tune and lyrics finally began to tumble into place.”
The set concludes with a treatment of The Weavers’ classic reworking of the traditional English carol, “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”
To preview the tracks and for more information on Mark Dvorak visit www.markdvorak.com.
The four high-quality mp3 tracks and liner notes are free with a donation of any amount to Music & Potlucks beginning November 26 through the end of the year. To make a donation visit www.musicandpotlucks.org.