mandalay

let it seep in slowly

about two and a half years ago, i participated in the open-mic night put on by the Plan II honors program at UT. it was for the release of their literary magazine in one of the 3rd floor union suites and people who had been published in it along with other people read poetry, played songs and did some performance art. there were about 30 pieces in all. toward the very end, a rather unassuming but attractive guy with longish brown hair and glasses was asked to perform, introduced as mark ashworth, and he went up to the front with his guitar, sat down and began to play. i, along with everyone else in the room, was floored. he had this warm and luxurious voice that just washed over you. and his lyrics were really good. the first song he did was called "beautiful girl." i was even further astounded when he asked if he could do one on piano and moved across the room into the corner. it was phenomenal. "let it seep in slowly" was this amazing modulating song that swept you along entirely and i almost felt like i was on a merry-go-round. everyone screamed and applauded furiously when he finished. and that was it. i heard later that he had to drink quite a bit before he performed because he had such stage fright. so besides being amazingly talented, he was able to more than adequately carry a tune while drunk. i went to another open-mic night the next semester where we got live cds from the first night. but i didn't get to hear mark again.

here's the thing: this guy was amazing. i tried e-mailing him once to see if he was still writing or performing and never heard back from him. the prospect of going the rest of my life without hearing this guy sing again pains me. i would seriously take demos to every club in town- hell, i would make them myself - if it meant that he would get the recognition and opportunity he deserves and the rest of the world might get to hear him. he was that good. in fact, when i was thinking about it last year, i realized that this is probably how some people end up becoming managers - they find themselves faced with a talent that's undeniable, and if no one else is going to make it happen, it might as well be them.

update: in response to this entry, ilan posted the song on his site, visit and you can hear what i'm talking about.

posted by amanda @ 8:11 AM