Mark Nomad is the performing name of a singer/songwriter/musician who has found his voice in the Blues genre after spending time as part of rock bands. Having been recording his Blues music for several years, Nomad already has amassed a catalog of several Blues albums that feature both original compositions as well as Nomad’s versions of tracks from well-known Blues legends. Already having a sizable catalog of releases, Mark Nomad (whose real name is Mark Maulucci) has recently added to that musical library by putting out his latest release entitled A Real Fine Day.
Just like with his previous releases, Mark Nomad called upon his normal circle of musician friends to help him bring his newest release of A Real Fine Day to life. Along with Nomad on vocals and guitar, the rest of the musicians on the new album include: Sturgis Cunningham on percussion, Peter King on bass, John O’Boyle on bass and Dale Monette on drums. Just like Nomad’s other releases, these four additional musicians split their time backing Nomad up.
A Real Fine Day finds Mark Nomad following the same proven mindset he has used while creating his previous albums. During his previous albums, Nomad has included both Blues and Blues-Rock songs as part of the recording process. For A Real Fine Day, he has stuck to that mindset and the inclusion of both styles keeps this new album fresh throughout the 10-song playlist. That proven recipe should satisfy fans of both types of Blues music.
Mark Nomad’s new release begins with a track composed by Nomad himself. “New Day Dawning” is a track that brings to mind songs from the band Canned Heat as the track contains an undeniable Blues influence but also has more energy the usual Blues song. The simple lyrics are also very reminiscent of classic Blues songs. As Nomad plays the guitar part to the track, he also matches it note-for-note with the harmonica to add more depth to the music. “New Day Dawning” is a strong track that helps to keep the tradition of the Blues alive while also adding a more modern feel to them.
The feel of the music changes on the song “Squeeze Me in”. While it does contain a certain amount of Blues feeling to it, the track also has a different groove to it as it contains a nice amount of Funk influence, proving that Mark Nomad and his bandmates are capable of calling upon more than just the Blues to create their music.
For the third track on the release, the feeling of the music changes once again. On the track “My Mind Gets to Wanderin’,” it is only Nomad and his acoustic guitar with a finger slide to help add that Blues feeling to the song. The resulting track is simple yet powerful as it truly recalls early Blues artists like Robert Johnson. The Nomad-penned “My Mind Gets to Wanderin'” feels so authentic, you’d swear it was a lot older than it is.
If “A Real Fine Day” from Mark Nomad had been released as a record, you could consider the first five songs of the release to be “Side A” and the second five to be considered as “Side B”. The two halves of the release have slightly different feelings to them as the “Side A” part contains five songs written exclusively by Nomad while the “Side B” part contains two songs by Nomad and three songs from three different Blues legends.
The second half of the new release from Mark Nomad begins with the Willie Dixon song “Mellow Down Easy”. Like the track “My Mind Gets to Wanderin’,” “Mellow Down Easy” is a track that once again contains only Nomad and his guitar and harmonica. The song contains a great deal of energy and sounds as good as if Dixon himself had been the one to perform the song. Listening to this track, you can almost hear the bluesy influence in the music that came over from England during the British Invasion era of Rock and Roll.
While all of the tracks on the newest release from Mark Nomad have some sort of Blues influence in them, not all of the tracks contain lyrics. The song “Sun Worlds, Moon Worlds…” is a track that allows Nomad to show off his skills as a guitarist as he and bassist Peter King and drummer Dale Monette create the instrumental song. Throughout the 5-minute track, the three musicians create the instrumental tracks and end up sounding like the Jimi Hendrix Experience. While Nomad’s playing definitely invokes visions of Hendrix and the way he would play, the bass and drum parts from King and Monette feel as authentic as anything that Hendrix’s ensemble would have created. In fact, you can almost hear the musical influence from “The Wind Cries Mary” in the music during the 5-minute playing time.
The newest release from Mark Nomad comes to a close with the title track. For “A Real Fine Day,” the music of the track features a definite Southern Blues influence and the acoustic-meets-electric feel of the track gives “A Real Fine Day” a unique sound. The upbeat lyrics to this Blues track are also something that sets the song apart from the majority of the Blues songs out there. The upbeat feeling of the song brings the release to a close in a very positive way.
A Real Fine Day from Mark Nomad features Blues that is flavored with many different influences. These influences bring character to each of the songs and the influences also help set each track apart from one another. As the listener goes from one track to another, you experience different sides to Nomad’s personality and that helps make A Real Fine Day worthy of being added into your music library.
Check out the video to “Sun Worlds, Moon Worlds…” from the new release of A Real Fine Day from Mark Nomad.
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