Lakeport >> “I’ve shared the stage with REO Speedwagon, Cheap Trick and Blackhawk,” said Mark Weston, founder and front man of Mark Weston Band, performing at O’Meara Bros. Brewing Company this Friday. He opened for Blackhawk at a show in Eureka. On a whim he asked the other two groups if they wanted to come on stage with him after running into them at the Konocti Harbor Resort and Spa before it’s closure.
“We were playing in the Full Moon Saloon in Konocti Inn a night that Cheap Trick was playing and they came into the bar and I asked them if they wanted to come up and play,” Weston recalled. “That was a really big night for us. A lot of people remember that night. We were the talk of the county for at least a year.”
Like many musicians, Weston has been strumming at his guitar for most of his life. “I’ve been playing music for 40 years,” he said. “I just started playing guitar because there was nothing better to do really.” Though he doesn’t have the most exciting reason for picking up the six-stringed instrument, his dedication over the years is evidence of his passion for music.
In 2000, Weston and his cousin started a band, calling themselves JusBCuz. He said he formed the group “for the love of music. It was my calling.” At this time he also started crafting original songs, which proved to be a much-needed change. “I almost hung [music] up too, until I started writing my own music. That was around the turn of the century. I was about done with the scene because I felt like I wasn’t going anywhere and I stared writing music and that revitalized me musically.”
Despite leading the life of a struggling musician, the benefits seem to outweigh any difficulties. “At least I feel like I have a purpose,” Weston said.
Eventually Weston put together an album and dropped the name JusBCuz after discovering how popular it was. He said 10 other bands across the country all carried the name. From there the simplicity of Mark Weston Band stuck.
Mark Weston Band performs at restaurants, bars and community events across Lake and Mendocino County. Their shows are mixtures of covers songs and originals, which Weston said are always high energy songs. Some of their favorite artists to cover are Matchbox Twenty, Tom Petty and Steve Miller. “We’re definitely a dance band,” he said. “We’re upbeat and energetic.”
When it comes to his own music, Weston draws influence from a well of common inspiration. “They’re all love songs,” he said. “But they’re not sappy love songs.”
With one CD of these original tunes out, Weston is currently recording his sophomore album. “I’m constantly writing songs and I’ve got my own little recording studio,” he said.
Mark Weston Band will be playing at O’Meara Bros Brewing Company in Lakeport this Friday from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m.
Jennifer Gruenke can be reached at 900-2019.
