Mark Spoelstra

Following Bob Dylan's rapid ascent during the first years of the 1960s, numerous folk performers in a comparable vein emerged, among them the singer and guitarist Mark Spoelstra. He entered the world on June 30, 1940, in Kansas City, MO, grew up in California, and later moved to New York City, where he performed regularly in coffeehouses and clubs, frequently sharing bills as a duo with Dylan. Early in the decade, Folkways Records secured his signature and put out two 1963 albums: Mark Spoelstra Recorded at Club 47 Inc. and Songs of Mark Spoelstra with a Twelve-String Guitar.

The year 1965 brought further activity when he joined Elektra and delivered his next collection, Five & Twenty Questions, while also appearing at the Newport Folk Festival. One additional Elektra title, 1966's State of Mind, preceded a period of military service that interrupted his recording career.

Once his obligations to the U.S. military ended, Spoelstra resumed work with a self-titled Columbia Records album in 1969 and undertook tours across the United States, Canada, England, and Holland. Mainstream recognition nevertheless remained out of reach. Needing to provide for his family, he stepped away from music entirely and devoted himself to religious pursuits. In 1974 he entered the Two Year Discovery Art Guild Internship Program of Intensive Bible Study at Peninsula Bible Church in Palo Alto, CA, which led to his role as a minister of music. He soon returned to recording, issuing gospel-oriented projects such as the 1976 album Somehow, I Always Knew and several others. Spoelstra died on February 24, 2007, after a brief struggle with cancer.