Mark Brine

Mark Brine, a country singer and songwriter, spent his childhood years in Cambridge, Massachusetts, launching his musical pursuits at age thirteen. He took the lead guitar role in the rock band Trans-Atlantic Subway, which landed a contract with the local Lightfoot Records label and issued the single "Servant of the People." After six years alongside the group he stepped away to perform folk material throughout New England during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Growing drawn to the classic country styles of Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams, he relocated to Nashville in the winter of 1974 in hopes of building a country career. Though he found little common ground with prevailing country fashions, Door Knob Records eventually granted him publishing and recording deals, resulting in three 1978 singles: "Hello Lady," "Coming Home to Love," and a cover of the Bee Gees' "Words." He moved to Society Records in 1979, where the label released the singles "The Carol (aka The Christmas Carol No One Listens For)" and "My Folks Were Like Ma and Pa Kettle." Having left Nashville for Baltimore by 1985, he anticipated an emerging musical direction with his KJK Records debut Return to Americana; the same label followed with American Pieces in 1988. Resigned Records issued the single "New Blue Yodel" in 1992, prompting Hank Snow to invite the singer onstage with him at the Grand Ole Opry. The album A New Blue Yodel appeared in 1995. Brine rejoined KJK for the politically edged folk-blues collection American Bleak House in 1999; later that year Wild Oats Records put out Real Special Feelin'. Sweden's Sound Asleep Records released Back in the Country in 2000. Wild Oats issued For Karrie in April 2003, while KJK released the limited-edition children's album Songs & Stories from Mrs. Alexander's Farm the same year. Shut Eye Records brought out the compilation Fortunes: The Best of Mark Brine in April 2004. His 2005 induction into the National Traditional Country Music Association Hall of Fame led Door Knob to assemble the promotional CD I'm Not Anyone: The Nashville Sessions, pairing his earliest recordings with previously unissued material from that period, which was offered free with purchases of his other CDs through www.markbrine.com.