welcome to The Crowd

Mark Campbell

Guitar and Vocals:

Once upon a simpler time, I was born in Mendota, IL. As a very young boy, I used to play Cowboys and Indians, pretending I was Daniel Boone or Davey Crockett. When I got my first Daisy BB gun (it wasn’t a red rider like Ralphie’s) I didn’t think anything could top that, until I saw the Beatles on TV. That changed everything. From then on I wanted to play guitar and sing in a rock and roll band.

I bought my first guitar from a neighbor for $13 with my hard earned paper route. It was a Sears acoustic; with the strings so high off the neck you almost needed to use a pair of channel locks to play it. Then my Dad (bless him) bought me a nice Gibson electric with a real amplifier. Slowly I learned to play until I played my first gig for money – with Dan Shirey on drums and four other musicians for a teen dance. The dance was held in the basement of a grocery store in Paw Paw, Illinois. We got paid $4 a piece!!!

But hey, it got better! The next gig was next week, across the street in a local tavern for a birthday party. We got $10 a piece. I can’t remember the name of the band, come to think of it; I don’t think we had a name.

After that I played in various bands including: Hickory Grove, The American Stars, Wildwood, Full House, The Les Lockridge Band, The Deep and Southbound!

My Musical influences include the Beatles, Allman Bothers, The Eagles, and The Doobie Brothers, tons of blues guitar players like Jimmy Page, Hendrix and Mr. Rogers.

Some of my favorite musical moments include anytime I get to play for an enthusiastic audience, recording original music with the Southbound Band and playing for the Good Lord.

My likes are: sleep, eating and dreaming. Dislikes: having to get up when I am not ready to!!

Favorite Movie: It’s a Wonderful Life

Favorite Actor: The Three Stooges

Well that’s it in a nutshell! I hope to see you at the Crowd’s next gig!!