*Special Features*
BAP KENNEDY: Mark has produced an album for Bap Kennedy. The record, The Sailor's Revenge, features the following players:
Ian
Thomas - drums
Glenn Worf - bass
James Walbourne - guitars
Guy Fletcher - piano, keyboards
John McCusker - fiddle
Mike McGoldrick - whistles
 |
Bap says: "Working with Mark has always been a great experience, and making the album was a real high point. We’re both really happy with the result ..."
Track list:
Working Man*/Maybe I Will/Shimnavale*/Not a Day Goes By/The Beauty of You/Jimmy Sanchez/Lonely No More*/ Please Return to Jesus*/The Sailor’s Revenge*/The Right Stuff*/Celtic Sea*
*
= tracks featuring Mark on guitar.
Mark also provides backing vocals on Celtic Sea
The album
will be released on the 30th of January, 2012, but you can preview Shimnavale,
Please
Return to Jesus and Working
Man on SoundCloud.com and at Bap's
Facebook page.
You can order The Sailor's Revenge here
(updated: 26/01/12)
DYLAN AMNESTY TRIBUTE: Mark has recorded the song Restless Farewell which is among the 76 songs featured on the Amnesty International tribute album, Chimes of Freedom: Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International.
 |
The
album will be released on the 24th of January, 2012, in North America and
the rest of the world on the 30th. To mark the release of the album, Amnesty
International have teamed up with Spotify to stream all 76 songs on the
Amnesty International Facebook page starting on the 24th of January.
 |
(Updated: 20/01/12)
BEN KNOPFLER NOMINATION: Ben Knopfler has been nominated for the 2012 Pure Rawk Awards Drummer of the Year. Go to the Pure Rawk website for more info and to register your vote. (06/01/12)
NEW ALBUM UPDATE: Mark is continuing to work on his next solo album. Among the musicians involved in the recording are Guy Fletcher, Richard Bennett, Glenn Worf, Paul Franklin, Ian Thomas (drums), Jim Cox, keyboards, Phil Cunningham, Mike McGoldrick and John McCusker. Mark will be mixing the album during the first quarter of 2012. There is currently no release schedule. Further info will be posted as it becomes available. (updated: 20/12/11)
 |
All dates, countries, places, venues and set lists, can be found on the tour dates page.
(updated: 22/11/11)
MARK ON PURE DYLAN: Recorded back in 1979 as part of the Slow Train Coming sessions, Mark plays on Trouble In Mind, a track on Dylan's 2011 Pure Dylan album. (08/11/11)
 |
MK
ON BO WALTON CD: Mark plays on Bo Walton's debut album, Waiting
On A Dream, scheduled to be released 28th February 2012. Mark plays on
two tracks: Hey Mister Night and Miss You Bad.
 |
A double sided CD single, 'S Too Much/Hey Mister Night, is available now and you can download these two tracks from midnight on the 24th of November. Bo tells MKNews that Mark 's parts were recorded back on the 5th of October 1993 and the material has never been released before.
(updated 09/11/11)
K & CHRIS BOTTI: Mark and the band have collaborated with Chris Botti to record a track for Chris' new ablum. Mark plays and sings on What A Wonderful World. (08/10/11)
 |
THE THING ABOUT HANK: Mark was among the contributors to BBC RADIO 4's The Thing About Hank aired Tuesday, the 11th of October at 1.30 p.m. Listen. (updated: 13/10/11)
OGWT IS 40: This year sees the 40th anniversary of BBC TV's The Old Grey Whistle Test. The OGWT was launched in 1971 and quickly became "the BBC's flagship music programme which ran – to huge critical and audience acclaim – until 1988. It gave the first British exposure to music greats such as Bob Marley, Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie Raitt, Steely Dan and Billy Joel." To mark its 40th anniversary, various artistes will be featured in a series of programmes on BBC Radio 2. Mark's interview is scheduled to be aired at 10 pm on the 5th of October. more info
 |
The OGWT 40 radio series will go up on the BBC iPlayer in its own dedicated area for the duration of the whole series. It will not be downloadable, but will give you the opportunity to stay in touch with the broadcasts if you come to them late. Each show will be added on to the iPlayer the week it airs, and will remain on there until the series finishes on the 5th of January, 2012.
(updated: 15/09/11)
VIC'S BIG WALK: Long-time MK/DS fan Vic Heaney decided to go for a walk timed to coincide with his 70th birthday. It was a very long walk back through his life, from his home in the French Pyrenees to his beginnings in Northern England, a walk of almost 2000 kms which took two years of preparation and 70 days to complete. He did this to raise funds for pancreatic cancer research and to increase general awarenees of the disease.
 |
When BBC TV News reported Vic's arrival at his destination it did so to the music of Mark's Walk of Life, which, says Vic, "is a tune I very much associate with my epic journey." Vic's exploits are now available in a book, Vic's Big Walk, all proceeds from which will go to pancreatic cancer research. (25/08/11)
THOMAS DOLBY COLLABORATION: Mark plays on 17 Hills, a track on Thomas Dolby's CD A Map of the Floating City. The album is currently scheduled to be released late October but this may change. We'll keep you posted. (updated: 02/08/11)
RUDY'S NEW BOOK: Rudy Pensa has written a fabulous new book about archtop guitars built in New York by John D'Angelico, James D'Aquisito and John Monteleone. Further info
 |
The foreword has been written by Mark who is pictured below holding his Monteleone Autumn archtop guitar.
 |
(30/06/11)
SHOWS ON USB: Almost all Mark's 2010 European shows, including most of the UK gigs, were recorded by Music Networx and are now available for purchase either on a USB stick or download. (Updated: 30/09/10)
GUITAR PLAYERS: By purchasing your guitar care products from POSH Guitars you can look after that treasured instrument and at the same time help the orphans of aids victims in Africa. For further info go to www.poshguitars.com
Disclaimer: this item should not be taken to mean or imply that any product sold by Posh Guitars is sponsored/endorsed by MK or by MKNews.
(28/09/10)
ANOTHER DODGY SITE: Fans are warned not to buy from www.direstraitsdvds.com (01/08/10)
GET LUCKY: Released worldwide on or around the 14th of September 2009, Mark's new solo album, is titled Get Lucky.
 |
|
| ........click pic for larger image |
Track
list:
Border Reiver
Hard Shoulder
You Can’t Beat The House
Before Gas & TV
Monteleone
Cleaning My Gun
The Car Was The One
Remembrance Day
Get Lucky
So Far From The Clyde
Piper To The End
And before you ask, a 'reiver' was someone who carried out raids over the northern English/Scottish border to plunder and steal cattle, i.e. a border raider.
A bonus track not on the CD, Early Bird, can be downloaded from iTunes. Early Bird and another non-album track, Time In The Sun, can be downloaded from amazon.com These tracks are available in the US only at the monent but they will be made available outside of the US within the next few weeks.
Lots more Get Lucky info on releases page.....
(updated: 17/09/09)
GET LUCKY POLL: Use the link above to take part in the MKNews Get Lucky poll. And don't forget you can vote for yopur all-time favourite live and studio MK song using the vote link in the top menu bar. (12/09/09)
GET LUCKY TAB BOOK: The TAB book for the Get Lucky album is now available. All the songs from the album arranged for Guitar tab, complete with full lyrics and melody line. click here to order your copy. (05/10/09)
ACCURATE SET LISTS: If you have accurate set lists for any of the following KTGC shows please mail to MKNews:
Portland/Woodinville/Vancouver/Calgary/Edmonton/Saskatoon/Regina/ Winnipeg/Vienna(USA)/Atlanta/Clearwater
(05/08/08)
DIGITAL DOWNLOADS: Fans in the UK and Canada can now obtain digital downloads of Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits albums directly from the markknopfler.com store. The downloads are in 256kbps MP3 format. (02/07/08)