Episode 44: Mark Simos (The Other Side of Complexity)

Welcome to Get Up in the Cool: Old Time Music with Cameron DeWhitt and Friends! This week’s friend is Mark Simos, fiddler and professor at Berklee College of Music. I visited him in his home back in February when I took my Boston trip. I didn’t know Mark at all prior to our session, but both Mark Kilianski and Adam Hurt recommended him, so my expectations were high. And I wasn’t disappointed! Mark’s a fantastic fiddler and he has a lot of ideas about what music is and why it’s important; traditional music especially. So, basically the perfect Get Up in the Cool guest. It was nice to not feel like I was being self-indulgent when I wanted to wax philosophical about fiddle tunes, he was right there with me. But, don’t get the wrong idea, this is by no means an overly talky episode. Mark curated a great jam of great versions of great tunes, with an emphasis on effective, intentional simplicity. I’m really excited for you to hear it! Tunes we’ll play: Old Aunt Jenny With Her Nightcap On Old Billy Hell Poor Little Johnny’s Gone to the War Duck River Shaking Down the Acorns aking Down the ShAcorns Bonus Track: Run All Night Mark's CDs: https://store.cdbaby.com/Artist/MarkSimos http://www.5-string.com/ Mark's songwriting book, Songwriting Strategies: A 360º Approach (Berklee Press/Hal Leonard 2014) www.songwritingstrategies.com www.360songwriting.com - community site (w/book audio files) https://www.facebook.com/songwritingstrategies/ Mark's blog:  http://songwriterscompass.wordpress.com/ Mark’s artist/songwriter site www.devachan.com The Singer Songwriter Handbook, which features Mark's chapter, "The Performing Songwriter's Dilemma": http://www.bloomsbury.com/us/the-singer-songwriter-handbook-9781628920291/ Miles of Music camp: http://www.milesofmusiccamp.com/  Berklee’s Summer Songwriting Workshop (June 26 - 30): https://www.berklee.edu/summer/programs/songwriting California Coast Music Camp July 9 - 15: https://www.musiccamp.org/2017 Support Get Up in the Cool on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/getupinthecool That Radiolab episode I mentioned: http://www.radiolab.org/story/debatable/