Biography

Mark Crawford Williams is a singer / songwriter currently residing in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Mark has been playing in front of live audiences up and down the eastern seaboard for over 20 years now. As a songwriter, he has written and produced projects in several different genres over the years. He has opened for many National acts including Robert Earl Keen, Leon Russell, Driving and Crying, and Robin Trower.

He released a somewhat “ bare bones acoustic” Americana LP titled “Tryin’ Man” in 2011 that eventually got the attention of Nashville producer Gary Sadker (President of Red Ridge Entertainment). Gary was about to launch an independent record label, “Magenta Records”, and was interested in taking Mark’s music to the next level. After hours on the phone and a “summit” in music city, they decided to produce a full length project that would be Mark’s Nashville recording debut. “Sing A Song”, consisting of nine tracks, is fully Americana with a blend of acoustic folk, blues, and country sounds. After years of honing his craft as a performer and a songwriter, Mark has found his voice in this music.

Mark is a native of Eastern NC comes from a very musical family. With a smile he credits his older brother and sister indirectly for his influences. “Their album collections were my secret world to escape to. They did not take their album collections to college with them so I could sit in my parent’s living room where the turn table was and listen to songwriters like Jim Croce, Jackson Browne, Paul Simon, James Taylor, The Eagles, America, and many more over and over again. I taught myself how to play guitar while listening to those records and it would be impossible for those sounds not to influence mine. There are many contemporary songwriters that I listen to as well but there is something about the music you listen to while you are learning to play that stays with you. Still, for me, it took quite some time to figure out what my sound was supposed to be…and I suppose that process continues. I do believe that the music I am writing now is that combination of what I love and what I sound best doing, my proverbial sweet spot.”