Mark Bezanson

Bio

It’s really all about the blues. It is the constant that has run through the music journey that Mark has taken. While not a classic blues man it is undeniable that the Blues runs deep in Marks singing, bass playing and songwriting. Mark wrote the music on his CD to reflect what he was seeing, hearing, and feeling at the time. He read something a friend once said,” a song is a gift that you need to polish and regift to others”. With help from the very capable Caleb Miles he crafted songs to give to others. Having started the process of recording in his early 40’s it should be no surprise that the CD has a hodge podge of styles. Love, relationships, the water, and politics, are themes that permeate the songwriting. What is common? They are all bluesy, they are all delivered with soul and they all come from a very real place. It’s really all about the blues.

Mark splits his time playing with Noah Scanlan and Jerry Rodgers in The Idle Threats; a great Rock and Soul trio that can also deliver on a set or two of Jazz Standards, playing bass for Jokers Right; the valleys best Classic Rock Band, and as a sideman for the Bernie Zink Band; a smoking rocking blues power trio.

Singer, songwriter, bassist, music teacher and really terrible basketball player, Mark Bezanson mixes jazz, blues, soul and funk influences to create a style that is as familiar as it is diverse . In October of 2013 Mark Bezanson released his first CD of original material called Half Lies Half Truths.

“Mark Bezanson’s CD, “Half Lies Half Truths”, lives up to the ambivalence of its title. The record’s themes and music seem frequently at odds: catchy pop riffs deliver biting political exposés, funk rock tunes contain painful psychological narratives, and jazz sections interrupt rock ballads on the emotional vagaries of love. The result? Exhilarating, beautiful, perturbing.” -The Grapevine, Wolfville N.S.

Originally a band nerd he started playing bass guitar after discovering pop music on the radio. In high school Mark started playing in a few local bar bands. He went to University to study jazz at St. Francis Xavier University. He studied to become a teacher and in 1995 started teaching at Bridgetown Regional High School. His days as a performing bassist were to be put behind him, or so he thought.

Mark decided one day to form a blues band. He couldn’t find a singer so he tried it out himself. Fast forward a few years and Mark has been in many bands up and down the valley. He has played bass for Caleb Miles, Bernie Zink, Jokers Right, Kicking Mule Blues Band, Suzie Vinnick, Andy and Ariana, Kim Doolittle just to name a few. You can hear his bass work on selected tracks on CD’s by Caleb Miles and Andy and Ariana. The past few years has seen Mark devote most of his time playing with Noah Scanlan and Jerry Rodgers in The Idle Threats that play original music as well as soul and R&B. You can catch them playing up and down the valley.

The Idle Threats

Not content with the status quo The Idle Threats have been performing songs their way since 2014. The band was assembled by Mark Bezanson to perform songs from his CD Half Lies Half Truths and they have been performing those songs and favorite covers from Digby to Halifax ever since. They use the term Rock and Soul to describe their sound but there is a hefty pinch of jazz thrown in the mix as well. The Idle Threats are mainstays in the Annapolis Valley live music scene where they bring groove, soul, and a great time and top shelf musicianship to their audiences.

Noah Scanlan is a guitarist originally from and once again living in Bridgetown Nova Scotia. He honed his craft as a guitar obsessed teenager in the late 80’s and 90’s, having equal interest in classic rock, 70’s funk music, complex jazz fusion, cheesy 80’s pop, and anything else he could manage to get in his ears and under his fingers. In 1993 he moved to Boston to attend the Berklee College of Music, and later became a fixture in the local art rock and jam band scene while supplementing these pursuits as a cover and function band musician, theatre and studio manager, and occasional bleary eyed office temp and barista. 20 Years of experience on the Northeast music scene helped him amass a unique and versatile musical voice, as well as many great musical partnerships and a ton of funny stories.

In 2010, after stints in Boston, New York, and Los Angeles, he returned to the Annapolis Valley to pursue his high school crush and settle down & live the quiet, slow country life. The thing with the girl worked out, but country life has been anything but quiet or slow; since returning he has developed many MORE great musical relationships and found a plethora of unexpected musical opportunities. He has performed with such high caliber acts as the Conqueroots, Caleb Miles & Band, with his wife Rachel Edwards performing jazz standards and songs from classic cinema, as part of a huge tribute performance to the Last Waltz, at dozens of events and festivals, and most frequently and notably, along side Mark Bezanson as a solo artists and as part of their group “The Idle Threats”, who are mainstays in the Annapolis Valley live music scene where they bring groove, soul, and a great time and top shelf musicianship to their audiences. He thanks you for attending this concert and hope you dig (or dug) it!

Jerry Rodgers hails from New Brunswick. The son of a music teacher, he has played with many many different bands. He has called Halifax his home until about ten years ago when the Annapolis valley air caught him in it’s trap. Reggae, swing jazz, rock and R and B bands have all benefitted from Jerry’s solid soulful time and feel. Jerry lives in the Greenwood area in a home overlooking the beautiful valley.