Performance
Review!
PM&VDs at
the Dino!
Press Clips
 
   
"Top 20 Blues CDs of 2006" (Trick Fiction )        - Hal Horowitz, Blues Festival Guide
"Top 10 Blues and Roots Releases of 2006.” [read full review]      - Asbury Park Press
"Top 20 Contemporary Blues Songs 2006" (Fritos, BBQ & Scotch)     - BluesCritic.com
     
 

"Sensational...If Trick Fiction has so far gone unnoticed outside the northeastern and eastern United States, that needs to quickly be corrected...[read full review]
   
- BluesWax
"Fritos, BBQ & Scotch", the searing opening track of Paul Mark & the Van Dorens' Trick Fiction calls to mind the late, great Albert King, and grabs your attention...lt shows Mark to be a gifted songwriter and guitarist, with the right gritty voice to carry it all off "
 
- Blues in Britain
"Trick Fiction, recorded in Memphis at Ardent Studios, is jam-packed with killer guitar and some of the coolest lyrics we've heard in quite some time!...A definite breath of fresh air on the blues scene, Paul Mark and the Van Dorens have hit it big with Trick Fiction." [read full review]
- Music City Blues Society, Nashville TN
“…a bluesy R&B set that feels as funky and spontaneous as [Memphis’] finest music… the performances are consistently inspired…Mark’s lyrics go places other blues-based artists just don¹t try... Mark knows his way around the guitar, and his understated approach is unusual for a six-string frontman.”[read full review]
 
- Blues Revue Magazine
"[Trick Fiction] is Blues/Roots at its best...The first track, 'Fritos, BBQ, & Scotch' is even better sounding than its title...Paul Mark brings honest, gut-driven vocals to his original tunes and the Van Dorens stand behind him as solid as proverbial diamonds with a cutting edge to boot."
 
- Those Monday Blues program, WWPV
"[Mark] reminds me of Frank Zappa...One of the best songs I ever heard about paranoia is “Conspiracy"...might be my favorite track on [Trick Fiction]...Mark and the whole band rock on the instrumental 'Stake Out'...I will be on the lookout for this band" [read full review]
- Boston Blues Society
"Trick Fiction exemplifies what's good with modern Blues…a smoking, fine little platter from NYC…It churns and grooves and drives like a NY taxi driver on a mission" [read full review]
 
- Long Island Blues Society newsletter
"[Trick Fiction] is one grooving, rocking recording from start to finish." [read full review]
 
- Portfolio Weekly, VA Beach
From City magazine, Rochester NY:
 
   
"Trick Fiction is roots rock with that deep soul vibe...While the Van Dorens play rough, ragged and relentless music that will get you on your feet, the real attraction is the wit and wisdom of singer/guitarist Paul Mark, who definitely mines seldom-explored veins with his original lyrics."[read full review]
 
- Blues Bytes
"...there is an arsenal of styles and stories from this road warrior. Mark’s storytelling lyrics hog the ear as does the meaty music, which ranges from rock/blues, rockin’ boogie, with a few ballads for good balance. Overall this is good rockin’ music without trite lyrics, from a guy with a very good roadhouse growl with rich toned geetah!"
 
- Blues Matters, U.K.
"On IndigoVertigo, careful attention to songwriting meets power-trio blues. New York's PM&VDs shy away from clichés and come up instead with compelling character studies and situational snapshots backed by contemporary, funky blues...Exciting vocals and big grooves complete the picture. Mark puts a fresh stamp on roots music."
 - Blues Revue Magazine 
 
"Main man Paul Mark is a cerebral blues rocker with real songwriting skills. Modern blues for the new millennium is what trips my trigger and these guys have .44-caliber ammo. Totally immersed in modern life with a wry (almost smirking) twist of a devious mind pretty much explains Paul Mark, the lyricist… A righteous 12 bar Blues, "Dead End Town," gives you a glimpse of what the band must be like at their storied club appearances… the crown jewel of [IndigoVertigo] is an explanation of his attraction to a no-class woman, facetiously titled 'Real Fine Mind.' If you don't bump along with this one you are too white bread for words… For an academic, this boy rocks."
 
- BluesWax Magazine 
 
"A trashy, raucous trio, PM&VDs are as irreverent as they're consistent and tight...this blues band combines a sense of mission with a clever sense of humor...they're a non-formulaic blues band with a sense of urgency--and not a hair band, either."
 
- Creative Loafing Charlotte NC 
 
"The most witty, biting, intense, downright bodacious blues that I had ever heard. Every song was a clinic in blues songwriting, vocals and guitar licks."
 
- Sound Check Magazine Wilkes Barre PA 
 
"This New York-based trio delivers the goods...Mark's songs walk a fine line between irony and regret..."
 
- Commercial Appeal Memphis TN 
 
"Cool and savvy, wit and jive, sex and bravado, cynicism and irony...nearly all the songs take an ironic turn...Humor winks from others..."
 
- High Point Enterprise High Point NC 
Read a full article from Rochester NY's City entertainment paper
 
"Over the years, the affable guitarist/vocalist and his no-frills combo, the Van Dorens, have wooed audiences with rafter-rattling, juke-joint rock and R&B."
 
- Viginian-Pilot Virginia Beach VA 
 
"This roots rock trio...wowed the packed audience with its supercharged brew of swamp rock, Texas blues, soul and R&B."
 
- Ithaca Journal Ithaca NY 
 
"A high voltage Southern-fried show thickly spiced with wild-eyed roots rock."
 
- Break Magazine 
 
"The band kicks ass... they bring this style into a contemporary focus that mixes and matches older and newer formats into a sometimes progressive mode."
 
- View Magazine Buffalo NY 
 
"Mark's fans will do a double-take after hearing "Roadside Americana." Then they'll play it again...Reflective and introspective, [it's] clearly a labor of love. Those missing the ride will be doing themselves a disservice."
 
- Viginian-Pilot Virginia Beach VA 
 
"Paul's gruff vocals aren't pretty, but along with his biting guitar work, they are direct and authentic...Mark gets to the heart and soul of American music without any bullshit."
 
- Players Magazine 
 
"Tunes that outline a Northern, urban sensibility with a distinctively southern sound...Mark's clever roots-writing talent shines..."
 
- Portfolio Magazine Virginia Beach VA 
     

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