Mo Mack: Journey Through American Roots Music

 My two older brothers, Mike and Bill, introduced me to American roots music at an early age. Bill was closest to me in age, and he coached me in my guitar playing which I started around the age of 14. He was playing mandolin and banjo mostly while I provided the rhythm guitar. The first style we worked on was Bluegrass and Gospel, and the flat pick has been my choice for sound production ever since, though I do finger pick with my two other fingers as I hold the pick.

I started writing songs a few years later. I liked performing, and did it often. It was the sixties.  I really liked all the blues styles, Chicago, Delta, Zydeco, etc. I was also drawn to Honky-Tonk music, which was country music played in bars in the late 40’s and 50’s when country music was being introduced to electric instruments. Also, in the sixties, I must add that my fave-rave band was the Lovin’ Spoonful. I listened to all the pop music that was coming out of the radio back then, you know, Beatles, Stones, Motown, all that good stuff.  I appreciated social values in the music of the day. 

I graduated in 1976 with a bachelor’s from UC Santa Cruz, my 6th college. I had gone there for the self-directed major they offered in “Aesthetic Studies,” with for me was a study of the music business and the history of Country & Western music. By this time I was married, and my wife and I moved to LA with the intent to be a professional songwriter.

By 1982, I had built a recording studio in my basement, and a friend of mine, Lewis Ross, and I recorded an album called “A Collection of Favorite Christmas Carols.” Lewis played all the parts and we called him the “New American Guitar Ensemble.” It was the start of a business that came to be called the Revere-Lifedance Company. This delightful Christmas album sold well enough for me to start a record label and a distribution company. We introduced the idea of playing music in a non-record retail store which the store would carry for sale. It came to be called “In-Store Play & Sell” marketing. It was a good run through the late 80’s and early 90’s, but then the internet began to happen, and the music business changed. Besides, I was selling primarily instrumental music, and where had my song-writing dreams gone? When the opportunity was offered by my partners to buy me out, it made sense.

In 1988, my family and I had moved to Portland, OR. By the early 90’s I had joined the choir of the First Unitarian Church of Portland, and I was enriched by this experience that lasted well into the 2000’s. I learned so much as a singer and a performer.

By 2000, I was finally able to complete my first album entitled “New & Used Tunes” and began to use the stage name of Mo Mack. In 2014, I released my second album, called “New & Used Tunes, Vol. 2: Dancing in the Light.” You can listen to these albums by clicking here: Recordings. I think I have another album in me, so stay tuned.

Now I play around Portland, OR, where ever they’ll have me. To see where and when that might be, click on Upcoming Events.