Mark's Blog Post on the Occasion of MDID's Ending May 22, 2010

Good Night and Good Luck

May 22nd, 2010

My Dad is Dead played it’s very first show in May of 1985, almost 25 years ago to the day, so it’s kind of fitting that May of 2010 is the month in which we shutter the windows. Except for the occasional possible dreaded “reunion show” or if anyone comes a’ calling with money bags, MDID has breathed it’s last. A huge and hearty thank you to all who participated in the creation of some fine music over the years. I could list a thousand people, but I’d especially like to recognize the following standouts:

Scott Pickering – Drummer extraordinaire, road clown who kept us all laughing. He can take a one note gtr line and make it rock. He’s been the longest consistent member of the traveling road show and recording ensembles.

Tim Gilbride – Great under-appreciated Guitarist, mentor and guitar teacher in the early days. Do yourself a favor and check out his recent bandcamp pages for his solo music, Uva Ursi, Cruel Cruel Moon, and Channel Masters.

Billy Buckley – Bassist. Brought a much needed level of enthusiasm to the band the last couple of years. I look forward to continuing playing with him in our next project.

Chris Burgess – Producer, bassist. There would have been no MDID without Chris. His production work on our Homestead records still sounds fresh, and his rock solid bass on tour really pumped up the live shows.

Gerard Cosloy – Record label honcho. It’s likely that MDID wouldn’t have existed past Peace Love and Murder if not for his interest in the band and getting us on Homestead. A lot of folks (including me!) have a lot of valid complaints about the label but Gerard single-handedly provided a national stage for a lot of bands who otherwise would never have made it out of their hometowns, MDID included.

Robert Griffin – Record label Honcho. Robert stepped in when Homestead lost interest. Robert ran one of those labels where you could count on every record being a record of quality, and many of them counting as pieces of art as well. He never made much money off of any of us and I’ll always be grateful that he put so much effort into the label despite that. He also lit the fire under us to get us on the road more often than we could really afford in the early 90’s

Jeff Curtis – Bassist. Jeff’s particularly melodic style of playing really helped establish the “signature” MDID sound on Taller You Are and select songs on a few later releases. I was always sad that he couldn’t tour with us when we got our opportunities to go on the road for longer periods.

Matt Swanson – bassist. Matt also came along at a certain pivotal time in the band’s history, and injected some much needed passion for playing, arranging and recording. He’s simply an amazing musician, whose talents far exceeded our little endeavor. Check out his work now in Lambchop, or the older unlabelable Clockhammer.

Craig Stewart – Record label honcho. Craig was right there when Robert declined on For Richer. For many years I was lucky to find someone to put out our records despite the generally low level of sales.

Shayne Ivy – Drummer. Shayne stepped into the gap when Scott was unavailable due to his commitments with Gem. His frenetic drumming on Everyone Wants the Honey makes it one of the most cohesive and tight sounding MDID records ever.

And of course, to all the other players that stepped up to the plate, including Doug Gillard, John McEntire, and Scott Lasch, all of whom contributed wonderful parts to songs on various releases.

And to all the other supporters from label folks Steve Stone, Ken Beck, Craig Marks, Fran Miller and the Wild Stares, Chris Andrews, to the other folks besides Chris Burgess who have taken part in recording us over the years – Mike Griffiths, Don Depew, Brian Paulson, to our various booking agents, Larry Collins, Susanne McCarthy, Sabine Walz, to all the great bands we played with over the years and the few we managed to stay friends with, to all the writers who cared enough to say something about us, nice or not so, to all the college radio station DJ’s and music directors who played our records.

Finally, of course, my wife Jeanne, whom I wouldn’t have met without MDID. If I got nothing else out of the band in 25 years, having found her is more than I could ever have asked for.

Most of all I thank you, the fans who kept coming back in the later days, when sales dropped from the thousands into the hundreds. Your letters and later emails helped me to keep pushing forward, and gave me the lift I needed sometimes to continue despite the frustrating lack of media interest in the later years.

As far as the future goes, I can’t imagine ever not making music until I become physically unable to play.. (and maybe by then techonology will advance to the point that button pushing is all we’ll need..). We’ve already established a new band of sorts, with Billy and myself and couple of other folks, hopefully a collaborative effort with at least 3 songwriters. We just stuck our toes in the water this past week at the Station in Carrboro.. hope to be appearing some more in the next couple of months. Once we’ve got the web presence etc. established I’ll come back here to post the links.

Til then, love to all

Mark