Mark has done it again! "This is my most diverse album vocally," he says. Mark wrote, produced, performed, engineered, and mastered this record. Included are two live tracks from a tour of Texas in July, 2003. Recorded in April, 2004.                 Copyright © 2004

All art, songs, and poems are copyrighted © and dedicated to ELM.

All rights reserved. Unauthorized copying, reproduction, hiring, broadcasting, lending, and public performance are strictly prohibited and will result in a serious butt kicking AND a possible kick in the nuts. Basically, my music is free... Just don't steal it.

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Musical Biography, hahahahahahaaa, sort of! If I could remember everything....

Way back in nineteen hundred and seventy-five, Mark Steven McCraw's parents decided to have a shag, and nine months later he popped out. To the doctors surprise, he was strikingly handsome and very well endowed. Mark spent most of his years growing up in Pasadena, Texas. He lived with his Grandmother, Emma Lucille Mikeska, just about all his life. "I love my Nanna with all of my heart," Mark says. He started to play music in 1983 at the age of eight, when Martin Hauser first introduced him to the piano. His fondest memories are of hiding in the hallway listening to Martin play the guitar. One day, Mark had to sneeze and Martin saw him. Martin said, "What are you doing?" Mark said, "Nothing!" Martin replied, "You don't have to hide, come here son." Martin then showed him basic chords, taught him about melodies, and showed him that a song doesn't have to be really intricate, just catchy. Martin would always say, "A song has to have a groove!" Mark dedicated his life to music in 1987 when a friend introduced him to the drums. He then realized that music was the one constant in his life. "I feel like I have to give back to what has given me so much," he says. In 1991, Mark played drums in his first real band, Blind Witness. "To this day, that is still my favorite band. We were just a bunch of kids," he says. Shortly after that, Mark began to sing and play the guitar. "When musicians found out I could sing, that was the end of the road for my drums." In 1994, his band Emerald Shade began to get recognition in and around the Houston area. This was his first experience as a full time musician. "It all happened so fast! I didn't even see it coming. I had no idea music could be like this," Mark remembers. In 1997, the band changed their name to diatribe and were signed by Suede Blue Management to a 3 month management contract. To Marks surprise they did very well, and were later signed to a 3 year deal. He was finally able to leave Pasadena, and try to make something of himself. In the summer of 2000, after diatribe lost two members to drugs, Mark said "enough is enough," and ventured out on his own. "Loyalty is very hard to find," Mark says. That was when he began performing as Mark Steven McCraw. It opened up a whole new world. He started to find happiness again. Mark says, "It was one night when I played an open mic with some friends. I saw the true meaning of music." He has no ego what-so-ever, and is very likable. He is very good with a crowd, and some say he should be a comedian. In 2001, Mark made some friends in the UK via the Internet. He began to travel to Europe and the band Cosmonautic was born. This was Mark's most memorable musical effort, but travel got the most of him. "That was alot! I was going back and forth on 10-12 hour plane trips just to try and make my dreams come true. It was all worth it, I fell in love with Europe," he remembers. "I wish I was strong enough and smart enough to be able to make it in music on my own," Mark wishes, "but there is only so much I can do." He plays music over 40 hours per week, and is known for practicing for practice. He plays a variety of instruments including... Vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, drums, percussion, steel drums, xylophone, and mandolin. In the summer of 2003, Mark created the band Caalma. He says, "It has been a tough road, but I am making progress." In 2003, he made the Standby List for 2004's South by Southwest Music Festival, a great accomplishment. Mark is a dreamer with some really great ideas. Mark enjoys art, book-writing, poetry, skateboarding, films, baseball, collecting things, space, and Star Trek. In 2004, he helped to create Caalma Records. He is hopeful that it will take off, and help to get him to the next level. Music is his one true happiness. Caalma Records evolved into Caalma International in January 2005. The summer of 2006 has Mark co-creating the band numbers11 for a new horizon, but the sun has quickly set as his bandmate finds happiness on the west coast. "I don't blame him at all. It is beautiful there," he says.  Now he finds himself alone again. January of 2007, Mark is finally able to record the first Caalma album. Two years in the making, it is coming along ALOT better then even he expected. "Hopefully there will be a few more! hahahahaahaaa..." he dreams. "I don't need fame, fortune, sex, or drugs... I just need Rock & Roll!"

Mark Steven McCraw - Fatigued        Telephone Interview

Interview from the UK     Rememberance - a song LIVE from the UK

  telephone conversation

All contents copyright © 1975 - 2007 Mark Steven McCraw/Caalma... Caalma International. Except where noted otherwise. Caalma, Caalma Records, Caalma Productions, and Caalma Visual are divisions of Caalma International. All rights reserved. Unauthorized copying, reproduction, hiring, broadcasting, lending, and public performance are strictly prohibited and will result in a serious butt kicking AND a possible kick in the nuts. Basically, my music is free... Just don't steal it.