The next CD by Paul Mark is in the recording stage and is scheduled for 2010 release. Planned as an all-instrumental solo collection of guitar-based originals, the new CD looks to be a continuation of the rootsy stylings of Mark's earlier solo guitar effort, Roadside Americana, released back in 1999.

"No title for it yet," Mark says, "But we're working on it. I'm back into that acoustic, rural sound. Private music. With lots of live miking of real guitars. Not really a Van Dorens record, but I know the folks who like the Americana element of our band will like the backporch attitude of this new record. A hand sliding up a guitar neck. Steel strings pressing against a fretboard. A foot tapping on the floor. Encoded messages, spiritual visions and tons of melody."

Tracking for the new CD has already begun, with recording sessions at Ardent Studios in Memphis and at Radiation Records in New York City. As with all Radiation Records releases, the music will be available from ITunes, CDBaby and a broad array of retailers and download sites.

These latest sessions have also included tracks for a new Van Dorens CD release as well. "We laid down several tracks with the full band while we were in Memphis, and they'll be part of the next Van Dorens CD. Some very raucous stuff, great rhythm tracks. The band keeps rolling forward like some horror movie beast. It can't really be stopped."

"I said get back in the van"...Paul Mark & the Van Dorens will be playing a series of festivals this summer. Aiming to disprove once and for all the rumors that they're a pack of closeted economists who spend most hours evalauating their friends' net worth, the band will once again be making a stand for live music and the paltry amount of cash that can be made playing it.

SEE THEM HERE.

Neverming the soulless drone of all those American Idol pretenders dancing across your flat-screen. Come out and hear a real band for a change. Pick up a copy of Blood & Treasure,...And by all means buy a Van Dorens t-shirt - they've been spotted on some of the laziest backs in Manhattan. Join the team...

Blood & Treasure, the brand new collection by Paul Mark & the Van Dorens, is now on sale throughout North America, both in brick-and-mortar stores as well as at Internet storefronts CDBaby , ITunes, and Amazon.com.

Cut in Memphis, Tennessee at legendary Ardent Studios, Blood & Treasure (RDTN 5901) was co-produced by Paul Mark and Jeff Powell (Big Star, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Afghan Whigs, B.B. King, The Bottle Rockets). This is Mark’s seventh CD on the NYC-based indie label Radiation Records.

Blood & Treasure is the highly-anticipated follow-up to Mark’s celebrated 2006 release Trick Fiction (RDTN 5899). The new release builds on Paul Mark’s growing word-of-mouth legacy with a live, no-holds-barred roots rock sound. This is emotional, thinking-person’s music that overlays a contemporary singer/songwriter sensibility on to the Americana legacy of blues, soul, and raucous rock’n roll. Blood & Treasure spills over with classic Americana rhythms and provocative vocals that demand attention - the rave reviews are already piling up.

True to form, the band’s new tracks cut across a wide spectrum of musical genres and styles. A national radio promotion campaign is underway in the blues, AAA, jam band and Americana radio markets at hundreds of stations across North America and Europe. 

“Always exciting for us to have some new music to play for our fans and friends,” said Mark about Blood & Treasure. “And people are picking up on this one so fast -- sales are much quicker than for our previous CDs...Can B-movie cameos, celebrity divorces and jailhouse mug shots be far behind?.”

Blood & Treasure can be purchased online at CDBaby.com , ITunes, Amazon.com as well as in brick-and-mortar retail stores such as J&R Music.

Winter's chill has sent Paul Mark & the Van Dorens south once again! Holing up at Memphis's Ardent Studios the band is currently working on a new collection of songs. Release is tentatively scheduled for fall 2008 on Radiation Records.

Keeping with a proven formula, the sessions are being produced by Paul Mark and his Memphis cohort Jeff Powell. The working title for the new release is Blood and Treasure.

"So far so good," says PM. "We're working with some very cool Memphis people on this one and the tracks are sounding great. Moving a little different direction these days...the spectrum of styles is a bit wider I think. Seems like everything we've been trying has hit the mark. 'Course maybe I'm deaf and dumb after all these years. That's one reason why we've got Jeff in the room, to rein in the delusions."

Memphis folks who are working with the band on the sessions include Harry Peel, Rick Steff, Susan Marshall and Jackie Johnson.

Keep an eye on the web site for further details on the new release. And get on the mailing list so Radiation Records can make sure you're in the loop.

TRICK FICTION, the latest CD by Paul Mark & the Van Dorens contains a fresh batch of Paul Mark originals accompanied by the righteous rhythms of the Van Dorens. The new Radiation Records release was recorded and mixed at famed Ardent Studios in Memphis TN and has been a hit on the roots rock radio scene.

The CD is currently being played on hundreds of blues and rock stations across North America, both over the airwaves and on Internet channels. Critical acclaim and awards for the release just keep rolling in. And with the signing of a distribution agreement between Radiation Records and big-time indie distributor Select-O-Hits, TRICK FICTION can be found in brick-and-mortar retail stores across the U.S.

TRICK FICTION, with the band's trademark eclecticism and relentless lyrical inventiveness, reaffirms PM's status as one of the finest roots rock/blues songwriters working today. And the NYC-based band, with James Strain on bass, Josh Wheeler on drums and Dan Schnapp on organ, is spot-on in delivering that lean-forward R&B propulsion that the band has become known for after decades of road work.

"It got to the point where we had so much new material that we had to cut a CD," says Mark. "We were performing and rehearsing non-stop but never seemed to make our way into the recording studio. By the time we recorded Trick Fiction I'd written more than two albums worth of material and the band was sounding slam-bang tight...great rhythm tracks. A lot of stuff ended up on the cutting room floor...As it turned out we were arguing among ourselves about which tracks to keep. I guess we'll release the outtakes some day to counter the bootleggers, you know, the way real rock stars do."

Co-piloting the production with Mark was long-time band confidant and Memphis music maven Jeff Powell, who also engineered and mixed the sessions. "Powell's like fifth member of the band at this point," says Mark. "We'd already worked together on MetSwamp and IndigoVertigo, so our comfort level is real high," says Mark. "That is, we're real comfortable arguing with each other." Powell's wife, high-octane talent Susan Marshall, contributed deep soul background vocals to the Trick Fiction tracks, paired up with the sweet harmonies of Memphis gospel great Jackie Johnson.

All Paul Mark music on Radiation Records is now available for download from ITunes, the online music department store operated by Apple Computers. You can now download .MP3 versions of all the tunes from all of Paul Mark's CDs directly onto your IPod. Download some Paul Mark music today and show your friends just how useful that trendy gadget can really be...

In addition, all Radiation Records releases are all available for purchase on line from CDBaby.com, one of the leading retail web distributors of independent music. CD Baby recently inked a distribution deal with brick-and-mortar electronics retailer Best Buy.

CD Baby specializes in independent label releases and provides a leg up to bands working in the creatively unshackled world of independent music. Previously, Rad Records releases – including those by Paul Mark – were available from a patchwork of web sellers, including Amazon.com and The Orchard. But CD Baby takes independent distribution to a more comprehensive level, providing a portfolio of linked services and a level of attention to smaller, edgier artists that’s missing from many web distributors. And because CD Baby focuses on independent, off-beat, happening releases – like CDs by Paul Mark & the Van Dorens – the music need not be dumbed-down by the demeaning global marketing hubbub of major label distributors.

Direct links to all the Paul Mark releases on the CD Baby web site are on the music page.