Mark Reitenga

Mark Reitenga was nominated for top Americana artist and top Americana song writer in the Detroit Music Awards. He's been performing since 1988 and sometimes tours with a larger ensemble of musicians similar to what you might find from Dave Matthews. You can find Mark Reitenga in the 2nd issue of Azur Magazine - ready for download around Oct. 18th . . .

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You can find Mark Reitenga's web site at www.markreitenga.com

Mark Reitenga has established a reputation in Detroit as a quality musician . . . plus jamming in the Singer Songwriter arena on reverbnation and other social networks. Take a quick browse on www.markreitenga.com for all sorts of goodies, tracks and videos for your listening and viewing pleasure. Mark started during a period when grunge rock bands were mellowing out and picking up acoustic instruments. Things were calming down as far as stage presence was concerned and many players began dealing with the digital age like gladiators ready for battle. Blogs began popping up and this mellow age of Americana began to prosper . . .People like Mark began getting the word out through virtual means and social media. The venues for this new set of music became cafes, restaurants and lounges . Amplifiers became smaller - equipped with plugs and tone controls for the average acoustic/electric jack cord. When needing a bigger sound, Mark hires a larger ensemble to bolster his sound . . . but he generally performs solo acoustically on stage or with a percussionist or complimentary lead instrument. I sat down with Mark Reitenga in late September - this is what he had to say . . . Azur Mag: How do you feel about Van Morrison? Mark: Ahh . . .he's one of my favorites.

Azur Mag: Alright . . . Of course when I think of Morrison . .I think of . .the lead singer from the Doors . so . .when ever I put Van Morrison and Morrison together . . I think of the Doors . . . he's totally a different guy . ..

Mark: Right . . .Jim Morrison is the doors . . and Van Morrison. . . was in a band in the 60's . . . called Them. . . .

Azur Mag: Ok . ..

Mark: Yeah . . .

Azur Mag: What made you decide to start performing in 1988?

Mark: Well . . .I performed prior to that . . .I guess I had to pick a year . . .um . . I graduated from college in 91' so . . .I played in college . .even in 1987 . . .You know . . I started playing guitar when I was about 13 . . .so. . .I've been performing, probably, since 1981. . . .so . .you know . .not getting paid for it . . .(laughs) . .maybe I started getting paid in 1987. . .

Azur Mag: So when did you first get your paying gig?

Mark: The first paying gig I played was a place called the South Lyon Hotel . . .when I was 18 . . .It was a former kind of biker bar . . .and . . .it changed hands and became more of a . . . .neighborhood bar. I . . had to borrow my neighbour’s equipment - her board and speakers . . . Azur Mag: Wow . . .ok . . .Why did you go the acoustic guitar route . . .instead of the alt. metal electrical guitar . . . .Now, . . . .I'm asking this question because I'm assuming you're an acoustic guitarist . . .but I did hear electric guitar on some of your recordings . . .

Mark: That's a very astute comment. I think I've always leaned toward the acoustic artist . . .but I kind of admired songs by the Beatles . . .and Paul Simon/Garfunkel and James Taylor . . .Crosby, Seals and Nash . Those were the musicians I admired as a teenager . .. And I use to borrow songs from the library . . .and . learn those kind of songs . . .It was easier for me to play the rhythm parts on an acoustic guitar . . .if that makes sense . . .but when you listen to those songs that you talked about on the recording . . .some of that is me on many of the electric guitar tracks on “Unsung”. So in the studio I use my Epiphone Sheraton electric guitars on many of the recordings .. .

Azur Mag: Oh . . .ok . . .How do you like Epiphone as compared to a regular Gibson?

Mark: You know, I, probably, would love to have a Gibson. . .but . . I was in a band that needed to have an electric guitar . . .so . . probably in my early thirties . . .and I owned more of a metal electric guitar . . and the guy in the band I was playing at the time talked me into buying his semi-electric . . .where it had F-Holes and . . .it reminded me more of the acoustic guitar . . .a little bit . . .so . .I just kind of lean towards it, It seems to fit my playing style a little better . . .. . .so . . I . . fell into like so many things in life . . . Right, Bill? But I'd love to have a Gibson, as well

Azur Mag: Yeah . . .well . .I use . .ahh . . .I've been using this other guitar maker (WHO?) . .and it's just wonderful . . .but . . .they make a lot of Gibson copies, as well . . .and everything . . .so . .I know Epiphone is really good for making Gibson copies . . .or . . they are Gibson, basically . . but. . .I mean . .

Mark: Sure my Epiphone . . it's actually a Gibson. . . .jazz guitar copy . . .I don't know the name. . .or make of the Gibson . . .but . . .I wouldn't mind playing a Les Paul, either, . . .so. . . .you can tell I kind of migrated into the acoustic field and and it just seems to fit my style . . .I've taken up the ukulele lately. . and I've become very proficient on that, as well . . .

Azur Mag: Oh . . .well what about . . .um. . .the name of the company I was trying to think of is called Rondo . . .Have you heard of them?

Mark: Rondo . . .yes, I think I have heard of them. . .Not certain, but I think I've heard of that name before . . .

Azur Mag: Yeah . . I mean . . .I use Rondo's equipment . . .and they're beautiful . . .I . .mean . . .I don't know if I ever had . . .played a Gibson, before . . . but. . .as far as, just, having a regular Gibson . . or a copy . . and everything. . .they're great . . . Epiphone is good, too . . .but I'll leave that , alone . .

Mark: It has to what you gravitate towards. . . .you know . . I'm definitely not a "techy" . . .so . .that's just what I ended up playing the instrument . . .and that's just what seemed to fit me . . .That's about as deep as it gets, unfortunately . . .I wish I was a little bit more in tune with . . instruments . . .but . . ahh . . . .I seem to be able to make them sound good . . so. . .(laughs . . ) . . . Azur Mag: What kind of acoustic guitar do you play?

Mark: You know . . .I play a Tacoma and it's a somewhat obscure brand. It's a Washington based guitar. I had been playing a Guild and I left it out at a gig in the rain . . .and . . .the next day it was horribly warped, I was forced to buy a guitar very quickly so I spent about $1,000 at my local guitar store the Music Castle and that was the one I picked . . .right off the wall. Out of all the ones I played . . I couldn't tell you the model . . .but it's a Tacoma cutaway with a really fine sound. So that's my primary performing instrument.

Azur Mag: Alright . . .excellent. . . .Do you like the music scene in Detroit? . . .

Mark: You know . . .I like some of it . . .If you said do I like the majority of it . . .I'd have to say . . no. . .but I have pockets of bands I do follow that are either friends or players I saw at festivals that I admire . . Does that make sense?

Azur Mag: Yeah . . .because we were talking about how . . .there was a few Americana acts and more hip hop . . .in . . .Detroit . . .right?

Mark: Right . .so I would say . . .in Detroit, Hip Hop and R&B kind of rule the land . . .and . . .you know . blues is pretty popular . . .plus . .the garage band sound is pretty big . . .

Azur Mag: Ok . . .What venues have you played?

Mark: Oh man, I've played all over Detroit . . .I've played . . .there's a couple out door venues that's pretty huge, here . . .in Detroit . . there's one called DTE Energy Festival . . .it use to be called Pine Knob . I've played the party deck, there . I've played the wine festival at Meadow Brook music festival . . - That's the other . . large out door venue . . There use to be a place called Memphis Smoke . . .all the big bands out of Detroit played there . . .I use to play there . . .I played all the local pubs. . . You know all the Irish pubs, .the Farmer's Markets and the Arts, Beats and Eats Festival that's in Royal Oak . . that's where I live . . .It's kind of a national festival. My joke, Bill, is I always say . . .I've played everywhere - once.

Azur Mag: (Laughs . . .)

Mark: (Laughs . . )

Azur Mag: That's really good . . .You said the DTE Music Festival. . . what was that, again. . . ?

Mark: I just mentioned it for the sheer size of it - DTE Energy Music Festival is where . . .Kid Rock comes to play . . .and Bob Seager and Eddie Money . . .and all the . . .touring musicians go to play . . .ahh .. I've never played their main stage . . .but I've played . . on their party deck . . .which is . . the place where they entertain the big companies that sponsor it. So I've played for their wine festival . . .That's kind of a big deal. Plus I play the big summer festival - the Arts, Beats and Eats fest in Royal Oak . . .They bring in four dates of . .national acts . . .and they have a lot of the local acts play there . . .So . . .Those are some of the bigs ones this summer I've performed in. . . .

Azur Mag: Oh excellent . . .ok . . .Didn't reverbnation lead to some kind of . . .reward or gig . . .or . . what happened there . . .?

Mark: Yeah . . I've never really gotten a gig through reverbnation.com . . .What I have gotten, though . is I've gotten leads on gigs. . .and . . helped me meet other musicians in town . . .and that's how I've gotten some other gigs. I've gotten referred by other musicians who saw me on the site . . I think that helped me achieve a Detroit Music Award nomination this last spring . . . So, I've never gotten any gigs formally, from it . but. . .more leads. . . .Does that make sense? . . .People saw my name and said . . and said hey, I book for this place . . .would you be interested in playing? So, I have gotten some of that. . . but nothing specifically tangible from reverbnation but indirectly I suppose!”

Azur Mag: Oh . . .ok . .You didn't win any awards . . .or anything . . .?

Mark: I didnt win. . . but, I was nominated for a Detroit Music award in two categories in the Americana genre. there was only five or six people in each category . . .you know . .I was nominated for top Americana artist and Americana song writer too . . . The other categories top Americana instrumentalist Americana vocalist and Americana Song . . .I was not nominated in those though.

Azur Mag: . .and . . .this was a reverbnation award . . ? or what was that, again . . .

Mark: No, I just think that I was able to get noticed by other musicians. . .The Detroit Music Awards . . .is nominated by fellow musicians and insiders. . . .so you have to be either a bar owner . . .a recording studio . . .or a music booker . . .somebody who. . .books entertainment or performs in the scene . . .people . .in the scene are staring to recognize me and reverbnation helps me to get to know musicians, better. . . People know my name a bit more I suspect.

Azur Mag: Oh . .alright . .gotcha. . .I'm sorry about that . . .

Mark: I can't corroborate that…I'm just saying, some people get notice through soundcloud . . .I'm not on soundcloud . . so I get some notice through reverbnation . . .and . . being on the scene . . .I've been on the scene. I'm forty seven and I’ve been playing out since I was eighteen . . .People have gotten to know me through clubs I’ve played right? . . .

Azur Mag: Right. . .

Mark: It's an evolution, I think . .really . . . .

Azur Mag: Ok . . .I remember you actually saying something about. . .you did win something . . .but . .

Mark: No . .I did not win. . .I was nominated. I wish I would have won . .That would have been great . . . Here in Detroit It's like being nominated for the local grammy awards I guess. I'm not a national act . I’m more of a local act . . .

Azur Mag: Alright . .I gotcha . . .No . .I mean. . .you just kept plugging away . . and now . .it seems like you're starting to benefit from all the . . .ahh . . .

Mark: I'm beginning to get some notice. The four people I competed against in that DMA category . . When I look at their facebook pages . . .They're always playing in England or at the Boston Conservatory . . neat places . . So the people I lost to are bigger names . . .or are at least touring acts . . .I'm not a touring act, yet . (laughs. . .)

Azur Mag: Yeah . . .well . .who is your percussionist?

Mark: You know . .. my percussionist name is Steve Adams . . .He's also my drummer . . .He's also the guy who has recorded all four songs on my reverbnation at his studio . . .

Azur Mag: Yeah. . .ok.. . um. . .Do you like performing your own material . . or . . .do you like doing covers . . .?

Mark: I do both. I would like to play more originals . .but. . in the Detroit scene . . it's very difficult to . . keep notice when you play your own music. . .I don't know why . .but it's a very tough scene . . . so I pick certain cover songs that work . .I do a great job at the song Hallelujah. . . Are you familiar with that?

Azur Mag: Hallelujah?. . .by who?

Mark: Jeff Buckley does the most famous version . . but the song is by Leonard Cohen . . .

Azur Mag: Ok . . .

Mark: Yeah . . I do a very good job on that song . . .I do a great “American Pie” . . .if you know that one. .

Azur Mag: Yeah . . I know that one. . .

Mark: Go figure . . right?

Azur Mag: No . .it's ok . . .I apologize for that, though. . .I'm not exactly . .into Americana. . but I like your songs . . .and I really like . .what you've been doing . . .

Mark: Well thank you . .I would say I'm a little bit more what you would call the acoustic rock genre . . but it just hasn't really taken off here in Detroit. A few of my influences would be what Crosby, Seals, and Nash use to do or James Taylor material and that kind of scene from the 70's. It's not really a scene now . But Dave Matthews for instance is essentially an acoustic rock act, I think really . . .

Azur Mag: Oh. . .Dave Matthews . . .so . .you plan to get. . .like a full band behind you . .at some point . . .at some time . .

Mark: Yes . . .in fact . .I do have a full band that I hire when finances enable me to do that!

Azur Mag: - Oh . . that's right . . .you do. . .

Mark: - when I can get the money . . .I do that, .but I just find in this scene the money has dropped so poorly since the recession in 2008 . . .I've been playing almost exclusively by myself. . .but when I do hire a band. . .I hire my buddies to play with me.

Azur Mag: Oh. . .ok . . .I think there was a performer . .Bob Mould from Husker Du . . .He actually went acoustic when . . .he had . .like a band . ..and just. .went acoustic . . after . . .a while . . .I mean . . .I forgot, exactly, why he did. . .

Mark: There's so many guys. I can name you ten guys. . .who started doing it . .It's so common, now . . It's very common . . .

Azur Mag: Ok . . .I noticed on reverb . . you have a band. . .and . .who are they . . .or. . .

Mark: Let me tell you who they are . . .My drummer. . .Steve Adams . . .is a very fine drummer playing primarily in the jazz community the last twenty years/ Pete Peltier plays Bass guitar/guitar is also a Detroit Music Award nominee for the last ten years but has inexplicably never won .believe it or not . . He's kind of a big name on the scene. Bret Lukas is a primary lead guitarist for me.. . .He tours in the Bettye LaVette Band . . .Have you ever heard of Bettye LaVette?

Azur Mag: No. . .but go ahead. . .

Mark: She's a Detroit Songtress that has toured all over the world . . . She has an American R&B sound. . . .you know . .rising from the ashes . . kind of sound . . .Jeff Reynolds plays bass guitar for me quite a bit . also plays in the jazz community. . .so . . .I have top notch musicians . I just don't have enough work for them to keep them going every week . . .so that they all play in different bands. . .does this make sense?

Azur Mag: Yeah . . . .you made . . .perfect sense . . .I was asking you about the Dave Matthews band. . .concept . . and realized you had a band in my next question. . .so I had totally forgotten you had incorporated. . .this band . . .but I guess times are rough. . .so you either use the band or you don't . . .but . .

Mark: Well . . .I'm not just like most perfoming guys. . .where . . .I have a full functioning working band . . I'm more like the guy. . .like you said . .from Husker Du.. .who use to have a band . .and now he just travels around playing acoustically . That'skind of what I do . . . I do have a band and played a decent gig with my band, recently. . . Again, I just don't think there's money in the Detroit scene . . . I'm not the kind of guy who would hire a band and pay them low pay . .myself. . .I'm not into that . . .I'd rather go play by myself for a more honest wage. . . Does that make sense . . .?

Azur Mag: Yeah . . ok . . .What were the Americana Artist Award and the Americana Songwriting Award about . . .Did you just describe those .. . .?

Mark: Yes, I did . . .There's not only one genre though in the Detroit Music Awards . . there's about ten of them . There's pop. . .which actually got pushed into rock . . .so that rock is the Pop category . . There's Jazz…Country. ..World Music . . .R&B. . .um . .Hip Hop . . .and finally Americana . . .I might be missing a few . .Classical . . .So each genre has five or six sub-categories. . .and . . I think it starts out with about a hundred musicians. . .and then. . .it gets weeded down to about five or six. I made that final five or six people and I actually went to the show for the first time this year. It was very cool to see my name on the gigantic screen when they announced the top Americana artist . .That was kind of neat . . These are local acts and not famous in these categories, but here are national categories where theree a large acts like Stevie Wonder .. .Aretha Franklin. . . . Kid Rock and .Jack White for instance . . .so Detroit-based national acts get recognized.

Azur Mag: Wow . . .alright. . . .um . . .so . . .any last words for your viewing audience? . . .

Mark: Yeah . . .I'm kind of an ever-changing song-writing artist here in Detroit. I'm very active in the church for instance and I write quite a bit of Christian based music, as well. My dream is to create a festival set where I can take it on the road and play anywhere in the world . . .You know . . .I'm working on that as part of my current act . . .

Azur Mag: That's good . . .Ok . .thanks . .and . .take care . . .

You can find Mark Retenga on the internet at www.reverbnation.com/markreitenga and also at www.markreitenga.com

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