Mark Bamber - Lead Guitar and Vocals
Mark spent his youth in northern California's "Valley of the Moon," where he was close enough to San Francisco to be able to attend many concerts at the Fillmore West, Winterland, Family Dog, and other famous venues in the late 60s and early 70's. Having been "up close and personal" with some famous San Francisco bands, he has lots of stories to tell. Mark began playing guitar at the age of 17, and was focused on blues guitar from the start. While attending college in Mexico City in 1969, he helped form the band, "La Casa Matriz." In the early 70's, he moved to southeast Alaska to work as a chef and to follow his love of fishing. He became a commercial salmon troller and worked in Alaska's fishing industry for 20 years. With his acoustic guitar always by his side, he honed his skills, rarely having the opportunity to play electric guitar or with other players. After moving to Seattle in the 80's, he played in several blues bands before moving to Camano Island in 1995. Through the decades, his love of classic rock and especially blues has held his interest and he is now very happy to be playing out in public more than he was previously able to. Mark has always been recognized for his distinctive vocals on many styles of music, especially the music of Van Morrison. Mark cites his major guitar influences to be Albert King, Peter Green, BB King, Robert Johnson, Johnny Winters, Mike Bloomfield, Danny Kirwan, Justin Hayward, and Jerry Garcia, to name a few. He enjoys playing both acoustic and electric styles of music, and his versatility in many styles of music makes him a welcome addition to Acoustic Detour.