Mark Geary is a singer/songwriter from Dun Laoghaire, Ireland who is making his way in the big city of New York. I cannot testify to the ex-pat condition (I’m American-Irish). Geary certainly can, and much of this album is a highly personal account of his recent life. His word play though, can make them universal for the listener.
My impression: His songs walk the dividing line between the experiences of living in America and the emotional lure and hunger for home and family.
His album, Mark Geary, came out in 1999 on Paradigm Records and it’s a fine introduction to his talents. He has a comforting voice and tone, and a sincerity in his songs that carries an emotional tug. He also has a gift for newer urban arrangements and choice of instrumentation.
He opens his album with America which is fairly self-explanatory for a listener I imagine. However, his gift for lyrical observations emerges in the well crafted It Beats Me, a wide-eyed song set in a domestic situation, with echoes of innocence and faith and longing. It’s an emotional highlight of the album.
The title of Ginger Man has a nod to the classic childhood tale of choice/consequence, and observations on the breakability of man.
Another song highlight is Sombrero, a tale of personal retribution, and how to avoid talking about it but paying a price nonetheless.
Throughout the album Geary is able to mix in the urban (electronic touches, drum loops) and connect them with conventional guitar sounds. He marries these opposing forces well in Watertight.
The biblical Adam & Eve is referenced here, but not in the way you would imagine. [This is probably the most Catholic song on the album, in the literal and figural sense. It’s a tale of woe but only Geary knows the personal territory it travels.]
By the Time, strikes me a stream of consciousness with a singular event being the catalyst for the narrator’s ruminations.
A personal tone shapes Christmas Biscuits, a well-crafted tale of the Geary experience with a nod to Christmas traditions from childhood.
You’re Not My Friend, uses a vocal filter and nodding urban beat with an effective childish tilt to the chorus. Volunteer ends the album as Geary adopts the classic songwriter’s pose (with his acoustic guitar carrying the tune).
It’s a rather interesting album. He happens to a friend of one of my sisters so that’s how I came to hear and like him. (I'll give the album 4 stars and you can discount my personal bias if you like.)
At the time of this writing, Geary can be found rather often in NYC at venues such as Arlene’s Grocery and other downtown haunts. He mostly performs 'live' in an acoustic setting. I was able to see him a few times and his songs, stage presence and guitar playing will hold your attention.
2003 Update
Shortly after it's release, Paradigm went out of business leaving Geary adrift professionally. He gigged around New York, started a family, tended bar, and came out the other end of professional disaster by returning to Ireland, signing with Blast records and returning in 2003 with 33 1/3 Grand Street, which recasts four of the songs off his debut (Gingerman, It Beats Me, Adam & Eve, and America).
The new album finds Geary in great voice with smart new arrangements with a lot of acoustic instrumentation and a matured look at the world around him. It's highly recommended (4 stars).
Geary is currently making his home in Ireland and has enjoyed a measure of success and vindication few singer-songwriters get a second chance to experience. Cheers to him.
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