Honey Bee Blues Club brings you a special triple songwriter bill, bringing Austin,Nashville and Sheffield together. Texas troubadour,Ash Gray,Nashville songwriter,producer,Mark Allen and Sheffield singer/songwriter-Joe Armitage collaborate on each other’s material and collectively bring new material to the table. Songs of the road,heartbreak and celebration covering a variety of styles paired with stories and talk,make these shows a special intimate glance into the heart of songwriting and music
MARK ALLENAs both an artist and master craftsman, Nashville singer-songwriter Mark Allen has been called an alchemist for his ability to transform story into song, and songs into anthems.A natural storyteller, Mark’s career as a writer, composer, producer and engineer sets him apart –whether in the public eye of Nashville or the pubs of the UK.From the prescient “American in the 21st Century,” to his most recent album, “The Grand Design,” Mark distills the complexities of existence into music, the common currency of humanity.His collaborations include the Allen/Buxton Express, Al-n, Analogue Dogs, Blue Echo and the Irish band Enyaface.BENCHMARK PRODUCTIONSUpon founding Benchmark Sound Studios in his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia, Mark Allen has produced and engineered music of every genre, including Americana, Hip Hop, Celtic, R&B, Jazz, Rock and Country. Representative clients include Lisa Lopez (TLC), Kool Moe Dee, Brother Marquis (2 Live Crew), Derek St. Holmes, Wet Willie, Atlanta Rhythm Section, Amy Ray (Indigo Girls) and Reckless Johnny Wales.Brought to Nashville in 1998 to manage the studio for the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), Mark scored films and released the critically acclaimed “American in the 21st Century” album while a writer/artist at CAL IV Entertainment.Now located in the artistic enclave of East Nashville, Benchmark Productions offers private studio space for sound recording, mixing and audio production of instrumental, vocal and spoken word performances.