Mark Simos

Mark Simos, an Assistant Professor in the Songwriting department at Berklee College of Music, has built a reputation as one of the premiere “new traditionalist” songwriters, reinvigorating and reshaping progressive acoustic music. Mark’s signature style, combining finely crafted lyrics with surprising turns of melody, harmony, and phrasing, has caught the ear of respected artists in bluegrass, Americana, Celtic, and contemporary folk genres, with more than 60 cover recordings of his songs to date. Four of Simos’s songs have been recorded by Alison Krauss and Union Station (AKUS), including “Find My Way Back to My Heart,” the first single and video from AKUS’ 1997 release So Long, So Wrong (the song was singled out as a standout track by reviewers in Time, Rolling Stone, and USA Today) and “Take Me For Longing,” first released on AKUS’ 2001 Triple-Grammy winning album, New Favorite. Other artists who have recorded Simos’s songs include the Del McCoury Band, Laurie Lewis, and the Wayfaring Strangers.

Simos is also a respected guitarist, known for his innovative accompaniment of traditional Irish music, a prize-winning old-time fiddler; and a prolific “tunesmith” (composer of fiddle tune instrumentals in varied traditional styles). Simos’s solo recordings include Race the River Jordan (1995), a collection of original old-time style tunes, and the critically acclaimed song cycle album Crazy Faith (2003). He has also recorded four albums as a member of the “fiddle orchestra” Childsplay. His most recent release is an album trilogy of traditional and original fiddle tunes inspired by the Appalachian String Band Festival at Clifftop, West Virginia.