Editing Mark Heard

{{short description|American folk rock singer and songwriter (1951–1992)}}
{{For|the musician's eponymous album|Mark Heard (album)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{more citations needed|date=August 2009}}
{{Infobox musical artist <!-- For individuals; see Wikipedia:WikiProject_Musicians -->
| name                = Mark Heard
| image               = Mark_Heard_singer-songwriter_in_1987.jpg
| alt                 = 
| caption             = Mark Heard performs in 1987
| image_size          = 
| background          = solo_singer
| birth_name          = John Mark Heard III
| alias               = 
| birth_date          = {{Birth date|1951|12|16}}
| birth_place         = [[Macon, Georgia]], U.S.
| death_date          = {{Death date and age|1992|08|16|1951|12|16}}
| death_place         = [[Chicago]], Illinois, U.S.
| origin              = 
| instrument          = Guitar, voice, [[electric mandolin]]
| genre               = Folk rock
| occupation          = Singer, songwriter, record producer
| years_active        = 1970–1992
| label               = {{hlist|[[Fingerprint Records|Fingerprint]]|[[Solid Rock Records|Solid Rock]]|[[Home Sweet Home Records|Home Sweet Home]]|[[What? Records|What?]]|[[Myrrh Records|Myrrh]]}}
| associated_acts     = 
| website             = 
}}

'''John Mark Heard III''' (December 16, 1951 – August 16, 1992) was an American [[record producer]], [[folk rock]] singer and [[songwriter]] from [[Macon, Georgia]].

Heard released sixteen albums, and produced or performed with many artists, including: [[Sam Phillips (singer)|Sam Phillips]] (aka Leslie Phillips), [[Pierce Pettis]], [[Phil Keaggy]], [[Vigilantes of Love]], [[Peter Buck]] of [[R.E.M.]] (who co-produced VOL's album ''Killing Floor'' with Heard), [[The Choir (alternative rock band)|The Choir]], [[Randy Stonehill]] and [[Michael Been]] of [[The Call (band)|The Call]]. Heard produced part of [[Olivia Newton-John]]'s ''[[The Rumour (album)|The Rumour]]'' (1988), which also included a cover of Heard's own "Big and Strong" (originally called "How to Grow Up Big and Strong").

== Early life and music career ==
Heard's first appearance on record was with his early [[Jesus music]] band Infinity+3, who released the album ''Setting Yesterday Free'' in 1970. He went solo in 1972.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mark Heard: Contemporary Christian Music’s Best Songwriter |url=https://www.christianity.com/wiki/people/mark-heard-contemporary-christian-musics-best-songwriter.html |access-date=2025-02-01 |website=Christianity.com |language=en}}</ref> After graduating from the [[University of Georgia]] in 1974 with an ABJ (bachelor of arts in journalism) degree in television, Heard traveled to [[Switzerland]] to study at [[L'Abri]] under the influential evangelical Christian philosopher [[Francis Schaeffer]]. Singers [[Larry Norman]] and [[Randy Stonehill]] stumbled onto Mark one day playing his guitar. Because Norman and Stonehill expressed interest, Heard spent most of his spare time the next two months putting together a demo tape in a local studio with the help of the Pat Terry group (Pat Terry, Sonny Lallerstedt and Randy Bugg). Norman was so impressed by Heard's abilities that he soon signed him to his record label, [[Solid Rock Records]]. In 1977, Heard and his wife Janet moved to [[Glendale, California]]. He begin working on his ''[[Appalachian Melody]]'' album for the label, but would also maintain a close relationship with the people at the L'Abri for years. In 1980, Heard recorded and released ''[[Fingerprint (album)|Fingerprint]]'' on a Swiss label.

In 1981, Heard began a recording contract with [[Chris Christian]]'s [[Home Sweet Home Records]]. Although Heard's sales did not attract attention from the major Christian labels, Christian felt Mark's music was unique, fresh and deserved to be heard. Christian funded his projects with no production oversight, which is what Heard wanted. His signing to the label was a departure from the commercial artists that Christian traditionally signed and produced on the Home Sweet Home label. Heard released five albums for the label: 1981's ''[[Stop the Dominoes]]'', 1982's ''[[Victims of the Age]]'', 1983's ''[[Eye of the Storm (Mark Heard album)|Eye of the Storm]]'', 1984's ''[[Ashes and Light]]'' and 1985's ''[[Mosaics (Mark Heard album)|Mosaics]]''. The overall experience was not one that Heard enjoyed, partly due to his personal experiences with record company executives, and partly due to compromises he felt under pressure to make himself so that his songs were more marketable to Christian audiences.

In 1984, Heard began recording in his home studio, which he dubbed "[[Fingerprint Recorders]]", after the title of one of his earlier records. From that point on, his albums were largely made at home, with just a handful of friends and relatives lending a hand. In 1986, Heard decided to try something a little different and recorded the experimental Pop/Rock album for [[What? Records]] entitled ''[[Tribal Opera]]'', under the name '''iDEoLA'''. When asked about the unusual name, Heard replied "It's not supposed to be mysterious or anything; I just put a band together and right now I happen to be the only one in it." Heard also directed a music video for the single of that album, "Is It Any Wonder".

With assistance from [[Dan Russell (artist manager)|Dan Russell]] and Chuck Long, [[Fingerprint Records]] and studio were born. Heard began to produce albums for a number of artists including two albums for [[Randy Stonehill]], [[Jacob's Trouble]], [[Pierce Pettis]] and 1992's [[Vigilantes of Love]] album, ''Killing Floor'', which he co-produced with [[R.E.M.]]'s [[Peter Buck]]. Stonehill's ''[[Until We Have Wings]]'' includes a song co-written by Heard, "Faithful", although the CD liner notes credit the song to Heard's pseudonym, ''Giovanni Audiori''. In 1988, Heard collaborated with Randy Stonehill and other well known artists on ''[[Phil Keaggy and Sunday's Child]]''. In addition to writing and performing credits, he helped with the engineering.

Heard returned to recording albums of his own in the early 1990s, with ''[[Dry Bones Dance]]''. Fans and reviewers alike hailed the new release as one of the best of his career. He followed ''Dry Bones Dance'' with ''[[Second Hand (album)|Second Hand]]'' in 1991, and ''[[Satellite Sky]]'' in 1992, which would turn out to be his final release.

== Death ==
On July 4, 1992, Heard had a [[Myocardial infarction|heart attack]] on stage while performing with [[Pierce Pettis]] and [[Kate Miner (musician)|Kate Miner]], at the [[Cornerstone Festival]] in Bushnell, IL, near Peoria. Heard finished his set and went to the hospital immediately afterwards. Two weeks after being released from the hospital, Heard went into cardiac arrest and died on August 16, 1992.<ref>*Full Circle [http://www.videorocket.com/fullcircle/2140697 "Classic Jesus Music – Episode 132 – ABCs part one"]{{dead link|date=June 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2003/07/mark-heard.html|title = Mark Heard|date = July 29, 2003}}</ref> Before Heard's death, he had been included on the ''[[Legacy: A Collection of New Folk Music|Legacy II]]'' sampler from [[Windham Hill]]'s [[High Street]] label, and was nearly finalizing a mainstream contract with [[Bruce Cockburn]]'s label, [[True North Records]] in Canada. There was also interest from [[Sony]]'s [[Columbia Records]] label for distribution in the US.

== Tributes and influence ==
In 1993, [[Rich Mullins]] covered "How to Grow Up Big and Strong" on his ''[[A Liturgy, a Legacy, & a Ragamuffin Band]]''. In 1994, many artists came together to record a tribute album called ''Strong Hand of Love''. Artists lending their talents to the project included [[Phil Keaggy]], [[Randy Stonehill]], [[Victoria Williams]], [[Chagall Guevara]], [[Buddy Miller]], [[Julie Miller]], [[Daniel Amos]], [[The Choir (alternative rock band)|The Choir]] and [[Bruce Cockburn]]. The project was later reissued as a [[double album]] set with additional tracks and re-titled ''[[Orphans of God]]''. Cockburn frequently called Heard his favorite songwriter. He wrote and recorded a song dedicated to Heard for his ''[[Dart to the Heart]]'' album, "Closer to the Light". [[Daniel Amos]] dedicated their album ''[[MotorCycle]]'' to Heard in 1993, and [[The Swirling Eddies]] dedicated ''[[Zoom Daddy]]'' to Heard the same year. [[Julie Miller]] also wrote a song in tribute to Heard called "All My Tears" which has also been recorded by [[Jars of Clay]], [[Emmylou Harris]] (studio and live versions) and [[Selah (band)|Selah]] with [[Kim Hill (singer)|Kim Hill]] on ''[[Bless the Broken Road: The Duets Album]]''.

In 2000, a group of fans gathered together to help [[Fingerprint Records]] release ''Mystery Mind'', the first collection of previously unreleased material from the songwriter. There were plans to release a full length collection that same year, but those plans never came to fruition.

In 2002, the [[Cornerstone Music Festival]] held a songwriting contest in honor of Heard. The following year, ''[[Paste (magazine)|Paste]]'' magazine released ''Hammers and Nails'', a CD of previously unreleased recordings by Heard. An authorized biography of the same name was also released by Cornerstone Press, written by [[Matthew T. Dickerson]].

In September 2005, the [[Americana Music Association]] held its annual [[Americana Music Honors & Awards]] at the [[Ryman Auditorium]] in [[Nashville, Tennessee]]. The Song of the Year Award was presented to Mark Heard for "Worry Too Much", originally featured on ''[[Second Hand (album)|Second Hand]]''. [[Buddy Miller]], who performed the track on ''[[Universal United House of Prayer]]'', accepted the award on behalf of Heard. Miller also received the Album of the Year Award for ''Universal United House of Prayer''.

In a June/July 2006 ''Paste'' magazine article (from the special collector's issue featuring the 100 Best Living Songwriters), Heard was remembered under the heading ''Wish You Were Here'': "Mark Heard's lyrics are weighted with such a wry longing that they'll forever reflect a fresh turbulence."

[[Pierce Pettis]] and [[Ralston Bowles]] have covered a song by Mark Heard on each of their albums released since Heard's death.<ref name="pierce">[http://coverlaydown.com/2009/02/pierce-pettis-covers/ "Pierce Pettis Covers"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120515160205/http://coverlaydown.com/2009/02/pierce-pettis-covers/ |date=May 15, 2012 }}. Retrieved August 4, 2012.</ref>

In 2017, an 18-song retrospective, ''Mark Heard: Treasure of the Broken Land'', was released. It focuses on Heard's last three albums and features [[Rodney Crowell]], [[Buddy Miller]], [[Over the Rhine (band)|Over the Rhine]] and others. Produced by [[Phil Madeira]] (a member of [[Emmylou Harris]]' backing band Red Dirt Boys), the album received notable attention from ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' magazine,<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/hear-buddy-millers-intense-new-song-from-mark-heard-tribute-album-199755/|title = Hear Buddy Miller's Intense New Song from Mark Heard Tribute Album| magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date = April 24, 2017}}</ref> and [[Americana (music)|Americana music]] magazine ''[[No Depression (magazine)|No Depression]]''.

== Discography ==
<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mark-heard-mn0000230626/discography |title=Mark Heard Albums and Discography |website=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=July 17, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mark-heard-mn0000230626/credits |title=Mark Heard - Credits |website=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=July 17, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mark-heard-mn0000230626/songs |title=Mark Heard Best Songs List: Top, New & Old |website=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=July 17, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://music.apple.com/us/artist/mark-heard/4261239 |title=Mark Heard on Apple Music |website=[[Apple Music]] |access-date=July 17, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://open.spotify.com/artist/7M40Edcw31ozVn5tRP3TiO |title= Mark Heard - Spotify |website=[[Spotify]] |access-date=July 17, 2022}}</ref>

=== Studio albums ===
;Spirit Records
* ''Setting Yesterday Free'' – Infinity+3 (1970)

;Airborn Records
* ''[[Mark Heard (album)|Mark Heard]]'' (1975) – reissued as ''On Turning To Dust'' (1978)

;AB Records 
* ''On Turning To Dust'' (1978)

;Solid Rock 
* ''[[Appalachian Melody]]'' (1979) – reissued 2009

;King's/Palmfrond Records
* ''[[Fingerprint (album)|Fingerprint]]'' (1980)

;Home Sweet Home Records
* ''[[Stop the Dominoes]]'' (1981)
* ''[[Victims of the Age]]'' (1982)
* ''[[Eye of the Storm (Mark Heard album)|Eye of the Storm]]'' (1983)
* ''[[Ashes and Light]]'' (1984)
* ''[[Mosaics (Mark Heard album)|Mosaics]]'' (1985)

;What? Records
* ''[[Tribal Opera]]'' – '''iDEoLA''' (1987)

;Fingerprint Records
* ''[[Dry Bones Dance]]'' (1990)
* ''[[Second Hand (album)|Second Hand]]'' (1991)
* ''[[Satellite Sky]]'' (1992)

=== Compilation albums ===
;Home Sweet Home Records
* ''Acoustic: The Best of Mark Heard'' (1985)
* ''Reflections of a Former Life'' (1993)
* ''Greatest Hits'' (2000)

;Fingerprint Records
* ''[[High Noon (Mark Heard album)|High Noon]]'' (1993)
* ''Mystery Mind'' (2000) – demos, live, and interviews
* ''Hammers and Nails'' (2003) – previously unreleased demos

;Solid Rock Records
* ''The Lost Artifacts of an American Poet – The Original Recordings of Mark Heard'' (2007) – previously unreleased demos
* ''The Lost Artifacts of an American Poet – The Original Recordings of Mark Heard Part II'' (2008) – previously unreleased demos

=== Tribute albums ===
* ''[[Strong Hand of Love]]: A Tribute to Mark Heard'', various artists 1994 tribute album
* ''[[Orphans of God]]: A Tribute to Mark Heard'', various artists 1996 tribute album
* ''Treasure of the Broken Land: The Songs of Mark Heard'', various artists 2017 tribute album

=== Videos ===
* An animated tribute {{YouTube|8vHDhRzdZrA|video}} featuring Mark Heard's "Lonely Moon"
* The "Treasure of the Broken Land" {{YouTube|V6PimLoVh5U|video}}
* The "Is It Any Wonder" {{YouTube|ORWQNox99iA|video}} (iDEoLA)
* A music {{YouTube|z3Ta30Er8DY|video}} by Buddy Miller  – a cover of Mark Heard's "Worry Too Much"
* [[Emmylou Harris]] featuring [[Buddy Miller]] & [[Julie Miller]] – {{YouTube|tDVOshSFN6E|Live in Concert}}, covering Julie Miller's "All My Tears", a Mark Heard tribute
* [[Bob Bennett (singer-songwriter)|Bob Bennett]] with [[Bruce Carroll]] and [[Buddy Greene]] – {{YouTube|8WIh6xbaM6k|Live in Concert}} covering "Heart of Hearts" at 1992 Tribute (Nashville)

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Wikiquote}}
* [http://mh.rru.com/ Mark Heard website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020925063908/http://mh.rru.com/ |date=September 25, 2002 }}
* [http://www.markheard.net/ The Mark Heard Tribute Project]
* {{IMDb name|1338128}}
* [http://popdose.com/dw-dunphy-on-mark-heard/  Mark Heard Retrospective on Popdose.Com]

{{s-start}}
{{s-ach|aw}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Rodney Crowell]]}} 
{{s-ttl|title=[[Americana Music Association|AMA Song of the Year (Songwriter)]]|years=2005}}
{{s-aft|after=[[James McMurtry]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Mark Heard}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heard, Mark}}
[[Category:American rock songwriters]]
[[Category:American male songwriters]]
[[Category:American rock musicians]]
[[Category:Record producers from Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:American audio engineers]]
[[Category:1951 births]]
[[Category:1992 deaths]]
[[Category:American performers of Christian music]]
[[Category:American male guitarists]]
[[Category:Musicians from Macon, Georgia]]
[[Category:Writers from Macon, Georgia]]
[[Category:20th-century American singers]]
[[Category:20th-century American businesspeople]]
[[Category:20th-century American guitarists]]
[[Category:Songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:Guitarists from Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:20th-century American engineers]]
[[Category:20th-century American male singers]]
[[Category:20th-century American songwriters]]