MARK MAY
ON DICKEY BETTS, HIS ROOTS, and BLUES HEAVEN by Michael Buffalo Smith I first heard of Mark May back in 2000
when he was guitarist and vocalist for The Dickey Betts Band. These days he has re- turned to his first love, the blues, and is mak- ing quite a name for himself and his band within the genre as both vocalist and guitar slinger.
Mark began to hone his craft playing
biker bars and blues clubs in Houston, Texas for over 20 years, but recently returned to his hometown, Columbus, Ohio, where he origi- nally performed in nightclubs as early as age 14.
The Mark May Band has performed at
Telluride Blues and Brews, Mississippi Valley Blues Fest, King Biscuit, Tremblant Interna- tional Blues Festival, Dallas International Guitar Show, Chenango Blues Festival, Lone Star Rally, Dogs on Hawgs, Houston Interna- tional Festival, House Of Blues - Houston and in addition, was opening act for Allman Brothers Amphitheater Tour in 1997 and 1998. He has been featured in Blues Review, Guitar Player, Guitar World, Vintage Guitar, Tone Quest and now, KUDZOO Magazine. We recently spoke with Mark about his
early years, his time working with Dickey Betts, and his current music.
Hi Mark. How are things going? Doin’ great, man, how you doin’?
I couldn’t be better if my name was Bet- ter. (Mark laughs) Everything’s going real well. I had a great time down in Macon, Georgia, this weekend at the
the Allman Brother’s Museum - just a blast- good times. I want to talk about you about your history a little bit and about this fantastic new album that you’ve got out. Tell us a little bit about where you were born and where you grew up. I was born in Columbus, Ohio and grew up right there around Columbus, and then I moved a little bit out in the country from there but I lived right around the Columbus, Ohio area until I was about 23 years old.
I understand that you kind of had your first experiences in music kind of
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