Bustle at the Boneyard!

To say that Mark McCausland has had an incredibly busy year so far would be an understatement.

Not only has the Omagh guitarist, songwriter and author of the UH column, ‘The Boneyard’, toured across Europe as part of multiple bands, he is on the precipice of releasing a new single ahead of a brand new album… Oh, and he is also writing a horror film!

Mark spent June touring with a group of musicians who were backing celebrated American songstress, Jolie Holland. The band rocked stages in a whopping 13 countries in just 26 days; jumping across Europe before ending their nearly month-long journey with a sold-out show in London.

However, the touring did not stop for Mark, who then hopped on the final two shows of a tour with American band, ‘Giant Sand’, who are fronted by long-time friend and collaborator, Howe Gelb.

‘INSPIRED TO MAKE MUSIC’

Mark, rather poetically, described the touring as ‘exhausting’ – but ‘energising’.

“The tour with Jolie was brilliant,” Mark reflected. “It was how we used to tour when we were in our twenties: We were just a group of musicians in a van traveling from place-to-place.

“It was non-stop and exhausting, but after the tour was done, it made me feel re-energised and inspired to work on my music.”

Earlier on this year, too, Mark joined up with American singer-songwriter, M. Ward of the band, She and Him and Monsters of Folk on a tour around the Emerald Isle.

Mark described the escapade as more of a ‘holiday’ than a busy scheduled tour; making musical memories galore as he played several shows throughout Ireland in smaller towns and more intimate venues.

“M. Ward wanted to travel to places he had never been before,” Mark said. “So, in between shows, we would take three days off, and play golf and go to bars and visit small towns. It was a very nice experience.”

Mark even got the chance to jam with his musical hero, the iconic Smiths guitarist, Jonny Marr, before his headline performance at Sea Sessions in Bundoran.

HIGHLY-EXPERIMENTAL

And despite the endless travelling, touring and performing, Mark has also been recording new music.

His latest musical helping will be released next week, under his ‘Mark McCowski’ moniker. It is to be the first single of an album that he has produced and written alongside the keyboard player, Nick Power, of Indie rock band, The Coral.

This album, titled ‘Throat’, is inspired by 1970 and 1980 horror movie soundtracks and it is highly-experimental.

All the tracks were recorded remotely with snippets of songs sent over the internet.

Mark told the Tyrone Herald, “I have known Nick for more than 20 years, and we always send each other music.

“Recently, it has all been of a horror theme, so we decided to make this project ‘Throat’.

“It all came out of lockdown, and really expresses how everyone was feeling at that time.

“Each track on the ‘Throat’ album will be accompanied by a number of videos that all fit together to create a narrative.”

Mark added, “We will be releasing our first single off the album this week then two more in August and one in September when the album will also be released.

“The album is on record label, Deltasonic record, and will be available in all good record shops and streaming services.”

Mark also played Stendhal Festival recently with his four-piece group, ‘Dead Goat’; made up of songwriters all from the six counties. Alongside Mark, it includes Stevie Scullion (of Malojian); Decky McManus (of The Basement); and Matt McGinn.

NEW HORROR MOVIE

The busy musician is also part of the writing team behind a new
horror movie, which begins its production next week, in collaboration with Texan director, Geoff Marslett.

One of Geoff’s most recent flms was ‘Quantum Cowboys’, which starred Lilly Gladstone of Killers of The Flower Moon fame and David Arquette – a popular Sci-Fi movie which saw Mark appear on the credits, as he helped to write the soundtrack!

In his closing words, the musical maestro said that, while he loves working on multiple projects in different media all at once, it may be time for a (well-earned) break too!

“It is great to have so many pokers in the fire – but it has been exhausting,” he said. “So, for the rest of the year, I don’t have much touring planned. However, as always, I will see where things go.”

l To keep up-to-date with Mark, follow him on Instagram at mark_mckowski, and his music is also available on all streaming services.