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Mark Lemhouse – Friday Night Vibes at the Taphouse

  • Venti's South 2840 Commercial Street Southeast Salem, OR, 97302 United States (map)

Mark Lemhouse is a critically acclaimed Americana songwriter/guitarist who began his professional career in Memphis, Tennessee when he released his first album, Big Lonesome Radio in 2004 on Yellow Dog Records. This album put Lemhouse on the map with two Blues Music Award nominations for Album of the Year and Best New Artist. Since then, Lemhouse’s genre defying work has been used in the Oscar Winning film, Hustle and Flow and caught the attention of alt-rock legend Black Francis of The Pixies, who asked Lemhouse to serve as producer on Francis’s solo album Bluefinger released in 2007. 

Steeped in pre-war blues legends, Lemhouse has a visual quality to his guitar playing that is as fascinating to watch as it is to hear it being played. Accompanied with a voice that comes from every inch of his 6 foot 3 inch frame, and a personality twice as big, his live performance is nothing less than astonishing when you realize all this is from just one person and a guitar. With a songwriting style strained through a Hank Williams Sr. meets Tom Waits filter, he sets himself apart from the traditionalists and has become noticed as a top-shelf songwriter as well. Lemhouse has toured both the U.S. and Europe, sharing stages with an eclectic group of artists including Jimmie Vaughan, Black Francis, Gary Clark Jr, John Doe, Kelly Joe Phelps, and Lemhouse’s personal hero, Honeyboy Edwards. 

Lemhouse’s third studio album was released late 2023, Better Days, produced by Jason Carter (Black Francis, John Fahey, Dangermouse, Pete Yorn, Dandy Warhols). The forthcoming album will once again display the genre-hopping songwriting and musicianship that Lemhouse has now become known for. The musical arc of the new album covers a range of topics from ghosts, unrequited love, death, cheating the devil, and strange tales told with characters only Mark Lemhouse can dream up and put to music. Music that is original, and at the same time, reaching back to his Memphis roots where he learned to move a crowd with a unique story and the ability to tear the house down with his guitar all at the same time. Better Days will be released on Bsides Records in 180 gram vinyl as well as all formats in that same year. Lemhouse’s music can be heard on Apple Music, Pandora Spotify, Deezer, and IHeart Radio – Enjoy.

Earlier Event: July 27
Karaoke Thursdays