Mark Zaden - Press

Musician happiest at home sweet home

Howard Cohen - The Beat
The Herald, Friday, August 13, 1999

It's a tough realization for any struggling musician to come to, but it's not far from the truth. You are there to sell beer.

Draw a crowd, keep 'em com-ing and clubs will book you. Fail to do so and, barring independent wealth, you had better consider another career pronto.

So far, Fort Lauderdale born sing-er/song--writer Mark Zaden is doing OK.
"I don't have everybody's undivided attention, but until I'm signed I feel my job is to sell beer and liquor. But it makes me a living."

And it gives him topics to sing about. Zaden is one of the more talented songwriters in South Florida. The proof is there among the nine tracks on his debut CD, Six Is Fine, an intro-spective gem laden with melody and incisive lyrics.

If this were 1974, Zaden's folk-based pop album would compete favorably with those from Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, America and James Taylor. It's the '90s, of course, and the hottest trend in pop right now is the far more abrasive merging of rap with hard rock (Limp Bizkit, Kid Rock, Red Hot Chili Peppers et al.)

But with CSN&Y set for a high-ly-anticipated reunion tour and new CD later this year (if the finicky Neil Young ever OKs the finished project), and Taylor and America perennial draws on the touring circuit, Zaden could lure a devoted fan base. He already has ongoing gigs in Fort Lauderdale: From 8:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m Fridays and Saturdays, Zaden performs at Himmarshee Bar & Grill (210 SW Second St.); he does the same time frame Wednesdays at Treasure Trove (2933 SE Fifth St.) and from 6 to 10 p.m. Thursdays he sings at each Place (17 South Atlantic Blvd.).

"Knock on wood, I've always been fortunate to find gigs," Zaden, 32, says. "If I don't do business for [the clubs] I have no business being [there.]"

After graduating from the University of Alabama with a bachelor's in English, Zaden decided on a musical career.

"I was at a crossroads in my life," he recalls. "I decided not to pursue a career in dentistry." [His father is retired Wilton Manors dentist Joseph Zaden, who once harbored similar musical ambitions but chose the more stable careen. "I knew I wanted to do, music but I felt locked in here."

After a successful stint per-forming at a Colorado hot spot in the early-'90s, Zaden eventu-ally migrated to New York "to see how I fell into the hierarchy of singer/songwriters. What's my place in the world?"

The answer was "a rude awak-ening," he says. "I went from working six nights a week being a local favorite to waiting tables and playing maybe three to four times a month and the gigs didn't pay that much."

Coming home just felt right. "My idea is to stay here and keep this as my base but travel to where I need to go. Still, the New York/Green-wich Village atmosphere added nuance to Six Is Fine. The CD, available at Peaches in Fort Lauderdale and at his concerts, has sold about 1,000 copies. Zaden is also the featured artist on Direct TV's Music Choice unsigned artist's program. The satellite and digital cable system reaches a potential 10 million listeners nationwide.

"We selected him because we thought he was a sensitive song-writer," says Lou Simon, senior vice president for Pennsylva-nia-based Music Choice. "We loved the production on his CD, it's very rootsy and organic. His lyrics are right up front in the mix and he stood out as a qual-ity songwriter."

Zaden's newest song, Journey-man Nature, featured in his live performances, came to him almost whole in a dream. "It's about a troubadour who travels from town to town making peo-ple forget their troubles." Art imitating life? "It's an extension of my psyche," Zaden says, laughing.