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​​Mark Chadbourne is an American composer, recording artist, multi-instrumentalist, producer and artist.​

"Intelligent, emotional, brutal, beautiful: "Broken Meats" showcases basic alternative/pop rock developed out of traditional rock, pop, gospel, classical, folk, jazz, blues, world music and avante garde approaches. It is apparent that Chadbourne knows what he wants and knows how to get it across. There is more than a good tune in these songs. Chadbourne exhibits a philosophy behind his music, lyrics and arrangements which broadens the meaning of popular music.

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Melody, harmonics and atmosphere are cleverly developed so that the music has a familiarity without being trite or cliche. Curiously fresh, Chadbourne's sense of melody is remarkable for its ability to stay with the listener. Lyrics are playful, intelligent and have a brutal emotional and intellecutal honesty, with wit and insight in a humorous sense. The rhythmic sensibilities range from primal pounding to a fluidity that delights and suprises at the least expected moment.
 

REPERTOIRE
Chadbourne's catalog is a showcase of the history of pop music presented in a fresh, intimate way. Listeners describe Chadbourne's music as "intensely intimate" and as an "exposed inner private world shared without reservation".

Chadbourne's influences spans the entire spectrum of music:  Gospel, Classics, Jazz, Pop, Rock.  He acknowledges his earliest influences with notable information on Ron Dante, Burton Cummings and the Guess Who, Robert Lamm, Elton John, Tony Banks, David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, David Byrne, New Order, The Cure and his deep admiration for the works of Morrissey.


"Broken Meats" has produced an incredible 8 number one tracks and several cross over hits. Spanning genres, the singles "Love Has Sinned Against Me", "Widow Walk", "It Only Hurts When You Laugh", "Cross My Heart And Hope To" , "Graveyard","At Loggerheads", "Brutalities" and"Trash It!" have spent over an incredible combined total of 600 weeks at Number One and the cd have been downloaded from over 110 different countries so far.

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"Tinglegroove" showcased Chadbourne's diversity with new compositions and up-dated versions of some of his past works with Tent Sleeps 4 and BLA.  Chadbourne's range is especially evident - with West African master drumming and post punk production, New Funk, jazzpunk, and even a song in a style associated with Children's music.

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"Love Me, Love My Latest Crisis" celebrates the 20th Anniversary of the original work by BLA.  Chadbourne  develops variations on several tracks, while highlighting raw demos of some of the hits off the album.   There is experimentation - and a featured

track of Chadbourne's "Area Sets" composition technique, which he developed while in music school.

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In true to style form, Chadbourne does an immediate about face on his next release "Hymn 39".  The album is a return to roots tribute to favorite church music he grew up with - hymns, gospels, spiritual favorites of his parents that he learned as a child.   The tracks are instrumentals - meant to be accompaniments to sing a-long to in a simple, modern style.

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"September the Eleventh: A Bitter Suite" continues with a step further into Chadbourne's musical experience.  A three movement Sonata in classical form - using sound concrete and other 20th Century avante-garde compositional techniques.   Using three different themes - one being the b side of a single, "Heaven Only Moved Once Yesterday" by The Guess Who woven into the main theme of Dmitri Shostakovich's 5th Symphony, with re-appropriated sound samples of audio occurring at Ground Zero in NYC on September the 11th.  The effect is chilling and deeply moving on many levels.

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In 2011, Chadbourne completes his repetoire trilogy cycle by re-presenting several live performances by Tent Sleeps 4 and as a solo performance artist.  "On Off" , the last of the four live albums released, features Chadbourne alone with his devices and peddles on a stage in Kent Ohio in 1985 - nearly 16 years to the day of  the 9/11 Attacks.   Playing with timbre, tonalities, rhythms, radio waves, even a bicycle wheel - Chadbourne's performance moves through mundane and repetition to a hypnotic drone that leads to a burst of straight out rock n roll rebellion.

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​Chadbourne's next release is due out in April of 2013.

"Carpe Cardia" comes after a forced hiatus due to a series of cardiac events.  The title - a tongue in cheek reference to those events translates to "Seize the heart".  In the albums' final moments, Chadbourne chants in falsetto "ecce homo, occupare cor, carpe cardia" - a phrase with two distinct meanings "see the humanity,  abide the heart, enjoy the heart" as well as "behold the man, occupy the core, seize the heart."​

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​BIO

Based out of Northeast Ohio, Chadbourne's opened for major recording acts and many acts that have opened for Chadbourne have gone on to their own successes.
 

Born in Southern Illinois, Chadbourne moved around the country as a child of minster - living in Atlanta, Georgia, Corinna, Westbrook, Cheabeague Island, Portland, Kittery Maine, Rome New York, Kent & Cleveland Ohio and now in Lakewood Ohio.

Chadbourne started writing songs at the early age of 9 years old. At age 13, he had his first published song with "Everywhen". Performing as "Mark Mars", Chadbourne was frontman of bands "Godspeed", and then later with gospel group "All God's Children", "The Kerouacs","Tent Sleeps 4" and "Bla". Chadbourne holds two degrees in music. Chadbourne graduated from Rome Free Academy, received a Bachelor of Music Theory/Composition degree from Houghton College where he minored in Creative Writing.  He went on to Kent State University with a fellowship in the Music Department where he studied Ethnomusicology. 

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Along with his work as a recording and performance artist, Chadbourne has scored for TV, films, commercials and won several awards for his compositions. Works have been featured on cable and national TVnetworks. Chadbourne's video art piece "You Too Can Win Over Depression and Have a Happy Marriage" was showcased on PBS's "Live Off Center". Chadbourne has been awarded twice in "Who's Who Among American Composers and Musicians". He was commissioned by the Cleveland Orchestra in 1988 and his fixed harpsichord sonata "Area Sets" was lauded as a break through compostion by critics around the country.

Music hasn't been Chadbourne's only vocation.  Chadbourne has worked for  US Intelligence and Reconnassiance, as the manager of the famous "Jerry's Diner" in Kent Ohio, as a merchandiser for the famous Higbees Department Store,  in social service positions and even as a lobsterman.  In additon, Chadbourne wrote the weekly column "Artspeak", and his paintings and soundscapes installation pieces have been displayed in galleries and spaces and featured in shows at the Cleveland Institute of Art.

Trivia: Eugene Chadbourne of Shockabilly is a distant cousin. The two met by accident in 1986 playing the same venue and discovered that they were related.