MARK CALHOUN
Though he has studied under different teachers over the years, for the most part Mark is a self-taught performer of many aspects of the guitar including lead, rhythm, alternate tunings and slide. You name it, and there's a good chance he can do it. This is particularly the case with Lead guitar where he has the gift of making the difficult look easy. His ear for music is absolutely uncanny which allows him to pick up on music instantly whether he has heard it before or not. It's definitely a skill that comes in handy when playing with the Ramblers since most of their sets are unplanned and no one really knows what's going to happen next. Basically, the guy lives, eats and breathes music at all hours of the day. With Mark, if the music isn't moving forward or changing in some way then it's just not happening. It's that mentality that has contributed to the continued growth of The Coal Mountain Ramblers over the years.
Initially, the CMR involved Andrew Luttrell doing all the singing with some of the material dating back to 1999 when Mark and Andy first played together. But in 2005, after a few well placed kicks in the pants, Mark began to contribute his own lead vocals to the mix including some of his own original songs. His deep, low and melodic singing offers the perfect Yin to the Yang of Andy's vocals. The entire group has been stepping into an entirely new realm of musical possibilities since Mark discovered the microphone and started contributing to the writing and arrangement of the material. If that's not enough, in 2003 he discovered the Banjo with help of the Custer family. Whether on guitar, banjo, vocals or percussion, whatever the music calls for Mark always looks to serve the music.
To sum it up, we've noticed that wherever the band plays to an audience, people inevitably approach Mark to say "Man, you're an incredible guitar player. You should do it professionally". Well, what can we say? We all feel the exact same way playing with him.
Mark "Mud Dog" Calhoun is the founding father of The Coal Mountain Ramblers. It all started on the historic Calhoun Family Farm years ago with music sessions he steered and inspired with fellow Rambler co-founder and close friend Andrew Luttrell. Pre-dating the birth of collaborations between Andy and himself, Mark had been a true lover/adorer of music for his entire life, on every possible level: mentally, spiritually, and emotionally.
