stoney grove records

Mark was wonderful. His playing is beautiful and it was perfect for our venue. I have to say I didn't notice him and I was told that meant he was doing his job well. Mark is excellent, just don't get him talking, he tends to ramble. I gave him 3 stars on flexibility because my Godfather composed a song and contacted Mark last minute and asked him to play some basic sheet music. Mark didn't return the call and didn't want to do anything that last minute. My Godfather was understanding but annoyed! But overall, working with Mark was excellent!

Let me start by saying that Mark is very talented and super nice. I am uncomfortable posting this; however I planned my Clayton wedding entirely off the internet from Honolulu, so I feel user reviews are extremely important. Although Mark possesses the aforementioned qualities, he was VERY late to our wedding (which held up the ceremony!) and did not offer any kind of reimbursement or apologies. We wanted a guitarist to play during the pre-ceremony, ceremony, and cocktail hour during our wedding. I found Mark on Craigslist (or maybe it was Gigmasters...?). He quickly returned my calls and was a delight to speak with. We settled on a play time frame of 3:30 to 5:30. He told me he would arrive a tad early to set up; I was not concerned with his arrival time as long as music was played between these times. I told him the location, and we were good to go...... A week prior, I called him to confirm. He was in Europe and told me not to worry, the gig was on. Cool. A couple days prior, he called to say he was back in the country. We confirmed the location (East Bay-Clayton) and he mentioned that he still had the directions I emailed to him. We exchanged cell #'s. Welllll.....the day of it's 3:30. No Mark. 3:45 - no Mark. It's now 4:00 and everyone is seated waiting for the ceremony to start - still no Mark. Then my usher comes in and tells me that Mark got lost, was in BENICIA, (!!!) on the other side of the bridge, but was on his way. Wow. Finally around 4:15 he gets set up - at least the music was beautiful. On another note, while we were all waiting for our introductions, the director told me that Mark said he wanted to finish his song on the patio before we were introduced...really?! We were already running behind schedule.... In conclusion, Mark is a very talented musician who has great reviews on Gigmasters. Maybe he was having an "off" day, but I paid for it. Literally. In today's age of cell phones and Internet, I have a hard time with someone who shows up this late and gets lost. Maybe 10 years ago I'd buy it - not today.