Biography
Music entered Mark May’s world during childhood, shaped by his brother’s collaboration with Pure Prairie League’s Craig Fuller and his mother’s affection for country and bluegrass sounds. Born in Ohio, the blues guitarist first picked up the instrument at age five and spent his teenage years performing in multiple local groups. By sixteen he had already completed the earliest of countless paid engagements. After moving to Houston in the early 1980s, he continued working with various country acts before shifting toward rock ensembles, although the blues remained his central passion. A friend’s introduction to Albert Collins’s style sparked a deeper commitment, prompting May to assemble his own blues-rock outfit that featured saxophonist Eric Dimmer, drummer Danny Goza, and singer-bassist “Fretless” Dan Cooper. When Dimmer departed to join Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, singer and harpist Dave Nevling took his place. Performing as May and the Agitators, the Houston unit entered the studio to record the demo You Can Call on the Blues. Within weeks, Icehouse/Priority Records executive Johnny Philips offered the band a contract. Following the label’s release of Call on the Blues, guitarist Billy Wells and drummer Greg Grubbs replaced Goza and Nevling. Icehouse issued the group’s second album, Telephone Road Houston, Texas, in 1997, which included appearances by former saxophonist Dimmer along with Alan Haynes, Larry McCray, and the Memphis Horns. Two years afterward, May received the Houston Press Musician of the Year designation; earlier he had been a finalist in the city’s Best Guitar Contest. The lineup later stabilized with May handling vocals and guitar, Clyde Dempsey on drums, Kirk McKim contributing guitar and vocals, and Cooper remaining on bass.
Albums
