Mark Iler's New CD: "It's About Time"
Purchase Information
CDs are $15.00 apiece or… 2 for $25.00
For purchases of 3 or more CDs, the cost is $10.00 per CD
Please add $2.00 for Postage and Handling.
Checks can be made out and sent to…
Humor & Heart Music
2401 Bristol Ct SW
Suite A103
Olympia, WA 98502
Musicians, Bands, Affiliations & Instruments…
Mark Iler (Grey Hawk Productions, Humor & Heart) - Hamilton Parlor 6 String, Martin 5-15 6 String Tenor, Taylor 514c 6 String, Ibanez 12 String, Harmonica & Vocals
All Songs Composed by Mark W. Iler
Humor & Heart Music © 2015
Recording & Mixing Engineer: David Lange
Nyburg Mastering Studio Mastering Engineer: Ross Nyburg
Graphics, Copy & Packaging…
Cover Photo - Julie Bennett
Watch Photo - Mark Iler
All Other Photos - Kit Cramer & Lisa Rickard
CD Graphics, Covers & Liner Notes, Layouts - Kit Cramer
Proof Reading - Maureen Maskew
The Songs & Musicians
Mark - Hamilton Guitar, Harmonica & Vocals
Orville - Dobro & Washboard
Paul - Upright Bass
Jess - Chorus Vocals
Though we’re no longer married, Elaine is still a dear friend and my Web Master. And, yes - she had a bit of a shopping habit at the time that I, quite frankly, did not discourage (we DID have fun!). No worries - she likes the song...
Caribbean Daydream (St. Somewhere)
Mark - Hamilton Guitar & Vocals
Steve - Clave
Obe - Steel Pan Drums
Greg H. - Electric 5 String Fretless Bass
Doug - Drums
I was sitting in my office one February, looking out my window as the rain melted the snow and started to think about Palm Trees and Sandy Beaches and the ability to wear my Flip-Flops. The only thing that prevented me from buying a fun ticket to Key West was the work I had already scheduled…
Mark - Hamilton Guitar (Lead & Rhythm), Harmonica & Vocals
Kevin - Dobro / Slide Guitar
Paul - Upright Bass
Steve - Drums
I received a bunch of musician jokes in the email. Question: “What does it say on a Blues Singers Tombstone?”
Answer: “I didn’t wake up this morning”
I thought... What a great opening line to a song!
**BLUES DISCLAIMER! This is NOT a real Blues song. This is a song written in the Blues Style. Let’s be real here folks… I have no right to sing the blues. I live with a beautiful woman in a lovely home with all the modern technical trappings like Cell Phone, Computer, a Big Screen for watching Movies, a Nice Car, Chickens and Ducks in the yard for fresh eggs as well as lovely Vegetable & Flower Gardens - plus I have a great job. I have nothing to sing the blues about. I just like to write goofy songs…
Mark - Hamilton Guitar, Martin 5-15 Terz Guitar & Vocals
Barbara - Fiddle
David - Accordion
Steve - Triangle
Greg Hendrickson - Electric 5 String Fretless Bass
Doug - Drums
It’s amazing what a cold sloppy winter day in the Northwest can bring out. I actually got to go there on an Audio job in 2001. I had planned on extending my stay by about a week so that I could really check the place out (I had never been there), but had to have an emergency Appendectomy 2 days before the job. My doctor said I could still go only if I didn’t have to lift anything more than a dinner fork - and only if I came home as soon as the job was done. At least my hotel was on Bourbon Street, but that’s all I saw. I need to get back there…
Mark - Hamilton Guitar, Martin 5-15 Terz Guitar, Harmonica & Vocals
Jess - Harmony Vocals
Kevin - Electric Guitar
Paul - Upright Bass
Steve Smith - Drums
Back in the late 80’s I was working for a production company in Michigan and was traveling a LOT! Even now when I’m on the road without Jess, I really look forward to seeing her smiling face when I get home. She tells me that I have one foot out the door, but I remind her that I have the other foot firmly planted at Camp Olympia (the nickname for our Log Cabin Home).
Mark - Hamilton Guitar & Vocals
Obe - Steel Pan Drums
Steve - Conga
Greg Hendrickson - Electric 5 String Fretless Bass
Doug - Drums
I attended a Jimmy Buffett “Parrotheads” Convention in Key West with some friends and I got inspired. This is about that. When I say Duvall, I’m talking about Duvall Street in Key West - The street where you’ll find most of the Bars, Restaurants and Tourist Shops in town. Fond memories indeed. Mix yourself a Boat Drink and get ready for some island time!
Mark - Taylor 514 Guitar, Vocals
Jess - Irish Whistle & Chorus Vocals
Hank - Martin Guitar & Chorus Vocals
Steve Ackerman - Mandolin
David - Accordion
Matt - Upright Bass
Kevin - Chorus Vocals
Julie - Bodhran
A true account of the Great White Hurricane of 1913 that affected the Great Lakes surrounding Michigan. I wrote this for my Great Grandfather Walter Cole Iler (In his voice) who was the Captain of the George G. Crawford, a Great Lakes Ore Freighter and one of the longest Ore Boats on the Lakes at the time. Over 25 ships were lost over 3 days on the Great Lakes and his was 1 of only 2 that survived on Lake Huron that day. It was storms like this, I’m sure, that added many years to my Great Grandmother’s life in just a few days. This song originally appeared on a CD by Hank Cramer and Constellation’s Crew called “Back To Sea”… an excellent CD to have in your collection! I updated the song by replacing the fiddle part with Jess’s whistle part (apologies to David Hakala who is a wonderful fiddle player), re-singing the main Vocals and adding Kevin Jones to the Chorus Vocals.
Mark - Rhythm & Lead Hamilton Guitar, Harmonica & Vocals
Orville - Dobro
Jess - Chorus Vocals
Greg Hill - Electric 5 String Fretless Bass
Steve Smith - Drums
Mark - Hamilton Guitar, Martin 5-15 Terz Guitar & Vocals
Jess - Chorus Vocals
Tye - Banjo
Paul - Upright Bass
Julie - Brushes on a Cardboard Box
Written for the 2013 Tumbleweed Folk Festival Songwriting Contest in Richland, WA. The theme was "Bridges”. I never entered a Songwriting Contest before and I got in as a finalist - I didn’t win, but Jess and I had a great time playing it!
Mark - Vocals, Hamilton Guitar & Harmonica
Written for the 2012 Tumbleweed Folk Festival Songwriting Contest in Richland, WA. The theme was “Crossroads”. Kit Cramer suggested that I Make it “Cross Roads” - meaning upset, mean, nasty, etc. I ended up having to work the weekend of the festival and never entered it in the contest. It pretty much sounds like this when I play it live - like it was recorded with 1 microphone ala early Bob Dylan. I like to think it won…
Mark - Ibanez 12 String Guitar, Harmonica & Vocals
Jess - Irish Whistle & Chorus Vocals
Paul - Upright Bass
Kevin - Chorus Vocals
Hank - Chorus Vocals
Julie - Bodhran
Back in the late 70’s, I found out that my Great Grandfather was the Captain of a Great Lakes Ore Freighter in the early 1900’s - then I thought of my Great Grandmother and what it must have been like to wait for him to come home. This one’s for her.
Mark - Ibanez 12 String Guitar, Hamilton Guitar (Capo 5), Harmonica & Vocals
David - Piano
Jess - Lead & Harmony Vocals
Paul - Upright Bass
Steve - Drums
Written back in the early 80’s for a friend’s wedding. I ended up playing this for quite a few weddings back then. Jess and I share the Lead Vocals on this one. Though I didn’t write this for us in particular, it certainly applies!
Mark - Martin 5-15 Terz Guitar
Paul - Upright Bass
Steve - Egg Shaker
Written while waiting for 5 hours at the San Francisco Airport for my flight to Frankfurt, Germany. I was flying there to see my friend Phil (Bags) Belfiori and go for a bicycle ride along the Main & Rhine Rivers. I played it for him when I got there and mentioned that I couldn’t come up with a good name for the piece. He said, “Why don’t you call it “Bags Of Friends”?”. My first thought was “Perfect!”. Thanks Bags!