This is Charlie’s Beat number 379, so suffice it to say when I go out to catch live music here in Indiana’s Music City, I’ve already done stories on virtually every local musician who’s playing. I’ll look up on the stage there’s Danny Cook, yup, did a story on him, Kerry Mefford, yup, Jordan, yup, Jimmy and Rusty and Joe and Deano and … seriously, just about everyone. But the one guy I never was able to sit down with was Mark Bear, one of Madison’s go-to drummers in so many bands and projects over the years.
It’s not that I didn’t try to get an interview with Mark. But he’s a super humble guy and he always demurred. So when I heard he was involved with an upcoming Neil Young tribute show at the Ohio Theater on May 9th, I knew I had him! No way he could refuse to promote an upcoming event. Nevermind that I was really after his personal story, not just the show.
Mark is a member of the venerable Bear family that has been in Madison since the beginning of our town’s history. “My great, great, lots more greats, grandfather came over from Bern, Switzerland and settled in Brooksburg in the early 1800s, before Indiana was even a state,” explains Mark. “Bern actually comes from the German word for Bear. Eventually the Bear clan spread out to Madison and Switzerland County and all over this area. They were Mennonite, and they had a lot of kids back in those days.
“So fast forward to the 20th century, my grandfather and grandmother had an appliance and sewing machine store in downtown Madison for many years, and in the mid-50’s they bought the big Quonset building on the hilltop where Bear Furniture is today. They ran it as a skating rink for 7 years, and then in 1962 they started Bear Discount Furniture, along with my dad and my uncle.
“So the furniture store was very much a family affair, and I started working there pretty much right out of high school. Eventually my dad bought out the rest of the family and now it’s me and my brothers. It’s been a great business, and we’re proud to keep it going. Most of our furniture is American made, which is kind of unique in this day and age.”
Having teased out Mark’s fascinating family history, it was time to get back to the music. How did he get started? “I can remember it perfectly,” Mark relates. “ It was 1978 and I was maybe 14 years old at Madison Junior High, and a band named Astra came to play a school dance. I saw that drummer up there and I was hooked! I scrounged up a drum set and started learning the ropes.
“I got pulled into a band called Night Sky, with Tim Halcomb and Bob Willis, when I was just 15 years old, playing bar gigs up in North Vernon almost every weekend. It was a great initiation. Over the years I’ve played with many more of Madison’s greats, bands like the Blues Devils and Don Youngblood. Daryl Hewitt and Tim Ping. And early on I met Rusty Bladen, just as he was starting out, and we had a band called Aura that played almost every night at Hereford Lounge.
“I also hooked up with Scott Koerner along the way and we formed a Ramones cover band called Shock Treatment that did an annual Halloween show for something like 20 years straight. Oh, and I was part of a Last Waltz performance at Red Bike several years ago that is still one of the highlights of my musical career.
“The music adds a lot to my life, and I’ve met so many interesting people. Robert Reynolds is a good example, he came to town about 8 years ago and I’ve been playing with him ever since. His latest band with Tom Stevely, Jerry Navarro, and Dave Tuttle is kind of a local super group.
“Which brings us to the focus of this article I suppose, the upcoming Neil Young tribute show at the Ohio Theater on May 9th. This is the second time we’ve done this show, so we are really getting it dialed in. It’s Rusty Bladen, his son Jackie, Robert Reynolds and a pedal steel player out of Louisville named Ian Thomas. Oh, and me on drums, of course.
“I’d encourage anyone who loves classic rock to come out and see this show. These old Neil songs are some of the best of the era, and the Ohio Theater is getting the refurbished seats installed and other upgrades, so it’s a great place to see a show. Tickets are at MadTixEvents.com.”
HOT TIP OF THE WEEK
On Saturday Andrea Davidson is coming back to Madison for a show at Red Bicycle Hall, and it is definitely worth your time (and the price of a ticket) to check her out. For those who weren’t around here 20 years or so ago, Andrea is one of those special talents who felt the pull to leave our small town enclave and go out into the world to see how far she could go. I think she spent some time in Nashville, I know she went out to LA for a bit, and I believe she’s in North Carolina now, refining her sound and keeping the dream alive. But thankfully for us, she has family back here in Madison and we get to enjoy her performances from time to time. She’ll be at Red Bike Saturday night, and you can get tickets at MadTixEvents.com. Lots more going on this weekend with 13 shows spread over the weekend. And the Hot Luck & Fiery Foods event is at Thomas Family, so get out there and enjoy!
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