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To quote W.P. Kinsella’s Shoeless Joe, “If you build it, he will come.” And for Lancaster, this seems to be working. The recent upturn in creativity and what some might call Lancaster’s “cool factor” is drawing more and more people to the city. Case in point is singer/songwriter Mark DeRose. DeRose is not your typical local musician. He is not a part-time musician who carries a day-job to support his dream. No, being a musician IS his full-time gig, from playing solo to his other incarnations: the Mark DeRose Band, Mark DeRose Duo, and even a Mark DeRose trio from time to time.
Born and raised across the river in York, DeRose is one of the more recent transplants to Lancaster. After attending Penn State University, DeRose got a taste of big city life while attending Berklee in Boston, and eventually landed in Philly for a few years. Then, when it was time to come home he returned to York, but only for a short time, and then the city life bug bit him: “I never thought I’d end up in this area after living ain a bunch of different, more ‘city-ish’ areas like Boston and Philly. I like being in the city, but found the daily hassles to wear on me…I missed the ‘laid back’ pace of things that this type of area offers.” At the same time, DeRose began to hear about the cultural renaissance that was taking place in Lancaster. So despite having a strong and loyal fan-base in York, he decided to move from the White Rose City to the Red Rose City.
And now that he’s here, DeRose is loving it: “There’s a great vibe here of folks embracing the city, the community, and the arts….there’s a great sense of community and folks are willing to network and help out. If you ask around, there always seems to be someone willing to give you advice…lend an ear. It’s just neat because folks seem excited to be living in this town.”
And while his music career continues to go well in York, DeRose hopes to become a part of Lancaster’s flourishing music scene. He cites local musicians like Steven Courtney, and Slimfit’s Kirchner brothers, Tony and Pat, as some of the folks who have encouraged him. In fact Slimfit will be opening for the Mark DeRose Band this Saturday (September 5th) over in York for MDRB’s CD release party. Then in October Mark will be playing at Dipco as part of the monthly Launch Singer/Songwriter series.
So what kind of music will you hear if you attend one of his shows? DeRose describes his acoustic rock sound as “if Dave Matthews and James Taylor got juiced up together on pop rock one night…my music would be their musical love child.” To check him out, head on over to http://www.markderosemusic.com/ .
And some final words on Lancaster’s burgeoning music scene? “I guess that I am firm believer in what can happen when folks get behind an idea and embrace something… it can go a long way….I am hopeful that folks will continue to do that with the entire lancaster area…”