Mark Eitzel
b. 30 January 1959, Walnut Creek, California, USA. Widely acclaimed songwriter Mark Eitzel, the leader of American Music Club, recorded his first solo studio album in 1996 (a live set recorded at London's Borderline had been released at the start of the decade). 60 Watt Silver Lining departed a little from Eitzel's established reputation as a despondent writer, offering instead his most optimistic suite of lyrics in a career that has received almost universal adoration. Released on Virgin Records, it featured long-standing American Music Club contributor Bruce Kaphan (pedal steel guitar/piano), drummer Simone White (of Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy and Spearhead fame) and renowned soundtrack composer Mark Isham on trumpet. Alongside a cover version of Carole King's "No Easy Way Down" were typically detailed narratives such as "Some Bartenders Have The Gift Of Pardon" and "Southend On Sea', a song documenting the time Eitzel spent in England during his youth. The following year's West was a startling departure with Eitzel by now sounding positively upbeat. The fuller sound was enriched by the participation of R.E.M.'s Peter Buck and the Screaming Trees' Barrett Martin. The clumsily-titled Caught In A Trap And I Can't Back Out "Cause I Love You Too Much, Baby (1998) was a largely acoustic affair, featuring material written before Eitzel's collaboration with Buck.
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Albums
Top Tracks
- No Easy Way Down
- Firefly
- If I Had a Gun
- Sacred Heart
- Stunned & Frozen
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