New EP

TWISTED

    OUT NOW  

“…a true feast for the ears…”  ~ Grateful Web.com

“Mark could go toe-to-toe with Richard Thompson in a contest of acoustic riffage.”

~ Roots Music Canada

TORONTO – Expert acoustic guitarist and masterful singer-songwriter Mark Thackway tells his compelling stories with rootsy acoustic fingerpicking, mandolin accents, a weathered but genuine voice, and the wisdom of life experience. His sophomore release TWISTED, a six-song EP,is now available on all major platforms. For more information, please visit any of the artist links below or Thackway’s website.

TWISTED finds Thackway, mandolin player and EP producer Andrew Collins, and upright bassist John McEleny, pooling their talents to summon the gentle but percolating spirit of a bubbling brook. Together, they animate Thackway’s knowledgeable meditations on freedom, the passage of time, fate, mortality, relationships, and the art of songwriting itself. All of the recordings were done live off the floor without any overdubs. What you hear is exactly what happened in those moments. It’s a ride well worth taking.

“Liberty” takes a unique view of the subject, with lines like, “some may dream of your liberty, but I wish you were here” and “I’ll give you all if my liberty even when you won’t love mine.” Says Thackway, whose son lives in New York City, “I was thinking about what it must be like to see the Statue of Liberty from the water, when you first approach. All of the ideals that go with it.”

The more bluesy, funky “Time to Go” encapsulates what Willie Nelson once wrote and sang: it’s funny how time slips away. “The moment is quicker than you’ll never know” sings Thackway, “Tumblin’ down like a domino.” He wrote the song after seeing Tom Wilson one night, when the lyrics just came out all at once. ‘It hit me that we’re running out of time in all aspects,” he says.

The folky toe-tapper “Twisted” really showcases Thackway’s impressive all-acoustic guitar-playing and arranging skills, moving from the sparkling, floating combination of guitars that open the song, to the finger-busting twin-lead riff that rouses it after every verse. Lyrically, the song covers most of the possible definitions, permutations, and manifestations of the word.

“Fly” offers a contemplation of mortality, and the fleeting nature of life, as it uses simple words to express complex feelings. “I was preparing to open for Guy Davis and listening to his approach, as well as that of Reverend Gary Davis and Elizabeth Cotton,” says Thackway. “A cardinal landed on the bird feeder outside our front window. That’s thought to be a sign of someone visiting from the beyond, thus, ‘A Cardinal in the window come to say goodbye / With all of mama’s secrets before she has to fly.’”

“A Song for You” provides a lighthearted take on the demands of an audience that wants songs about “everything that’s never gonna change” and suggests that “We’re all just singing in a band.” “It was written when Thackway and his wife were on the beach in Mexico, with his guitar, when a passerby demanded a song.

“Wunderlust” is about a jacket whose every crease tells part of the story of its lifelong relationship with the one who wears it “I’m a big fan of David Rawlings and Gillian Welch,” says Thackway. “I heard one of his tunes called ‘The Vest’ and thought, ‘I can write a song about a jacket.’ Which turned out to be a metaphor for a loved one.”

The EP is called TWISTED, but even one listen will take you straight to a satisfying experience.

RIYL: Bruce Cockburn, Richard Thompson, and Jerry Garcia

Photo by Wendy Thackway

MORE ABOUT MARK THACKWAY

Mark Thackway is a roots, bluegrass, country, Americana, jam-band guitar player from Toronto, who’s been recording and touring for almost four decades. One of Toronto’s premier guitarists, Thackway is well-known across Southern Ontario from playing in various bands, including Tyler Ellis and the Eddie Line, The Mark T Band, and Whose Cat is Dead. He’s best known within Canada’s jam-band community, for leading two of its pioneering acts of the 1980s and ‘90s, The Other One and Days Of You.

Thackway has toured across Canada and The U.S., including a performance in front of 10,000 people at The Tunnel in New York City, with Vincent Lowcock and The Mandela System, and numerous Seva Foundation benefits with Wavy Gravy and Timothy Leary. His festival resumé includes Earth Day at Nathan Philips Square, Big Rock (Simcoe, Ont.), and The Markham Village Music Festival.

As a session guitarist, Thackway has worked with top producers Nick Blagona (Deep Purple, Cat Stevens, Kim Mitchell) and Karen Kane (Big Sugar, Vivian Lariviere). His first, eponymous solo EP, was released in 2023, and is now followed by the 2025 release of TWISTED.

PRESS QUOTES:

“From the shimmering opening notes of his first solo recording, many listeners will get a familiar feeling hearing Mark Thackway’s music.” ~ Roots Music Canada

“‘Fly’ displays Thackway’s grasp of traditional bluegrass, giving each member of the small ensemble an opportunity to shine.” ~ Canadian Beats

ARTIST LINKS:

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Youtube | Spotify | Bandcamp