- Mark Gillespie (English singer)
-
For the Scottish singer of the same name, see Mark Gillespie (Scottish singer).
Mark Gillespie (left) and Tom (Thomas) Drost, Kiliansplatz Heilbronn, 2008
Mark Gillespie, (born 17 November 1970, in Stockport, England) is a singer, songwriter, currently living and touring in Germany, where he has built himself a substantial fanbase, and has recently toured with Jethro Tull, Meat Loaf, Lisa Stansfield, Fool's Garden and Chris De Burgh.
Contents
How it began
Mark Gillespie and his friend Jonathan Mansfield went to Mile End school in stockport "where they were the only ones being heterosexual" (like Gillespie said in the "Supersonic Wednesday DVD). The teachers always told them that it would be very helpful to gain experience of life if they wanted to become successful actors. To gain experience of life they decided to hitch-hike through europe, which they financed by busking. They named the new formed band "The Blue Jars" and toured through countries like Belgium, Germany, Norway, Sweden or finally Israel, where Mansfield stayed. After Gillespie came back from Israel he mainly toured in Germany and one day he was busking in the Lower Saxonian town Göttingen, where Peter Herrmann, who is the owner of a recording studio in Gießen, saw him. Being quite impressed by him, he offered Gillespie to record a CD that he could sell in the pedestrian zones while busking. Gillespie, the first time ever being in such a studio sang his songs with some musicians he didn't know before (Peter Herrmann organized them). After the CD was done, it was sold very well and the people asked for a concert with the band. SO they decided to do a CD release Concert (with Mark Gillespie as singer and guitarist, Peter Herrmann as bassist, Markus Leukel as drummer and Thomas Dill as Lead-guitarist). As the audience and the band were that enthusiastic, they decided to give another concert and finally to form a band, the Mark Gillespie Band.
The Mark Gillespie Band today
Today the members of the Band are Gillespie, Herrmann, Leukel, Oliver Jäger (Keyboards), Gerd Stein (electric guitar), who replaced Dill (Dill left the band in the February of 2008), and Thomas Drost (flute), whom he got to know during a street music festival and with whom he also gives "duo"-gigs. Sometimes there are also some guest musicians playing for the band, for example José Cortijo ("Percussion and all kinds of strange things"), Miriam Pfaff and Tess Wiley (Backing Vocals).
Fans of the band especially appreciate Gillespie's humor, spontaneity and talent for improvisation.
References
- DVD: "Supersonic Wednesday Live" by Mark Gillespie Band, Documentary
- Mark Gillespie Band Website
- Newsletter of the Mark Gillespie Band
External links
This biographical article about a British singer is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
