Posts Tagged ‘Markiss Blowfish’
May 2026 VOCAL Songwriters Showcase
The May 2026 VOCAL Songwriters Showcase took place at O’Toole’s Irish Pub with three of VOCAL’s quite-talented writers: Markiss Blowfish (aka Mark Branch), Matthew Costello, and John Ellis.
VOCAL President Matthew Costello opened the show with some of his more-recently written tunes. Are You There takes us on a dark cobblestone-lined street where he’s being followed by a shadow figure who could possibly be his old flame. Lots of vivid imagery in this song that draws us in. We never learn the identity of the shadow figure as they cross the street before they run into each other. Catch a Ride is a really cool idea of “artist hitchhiker” where you’re standing and waiting for inspiration hoping to catch a ride with the approaching muse. He then presented a new version of Shadows of September, another image-filled song describing the crisp winds, long shadows and short days of this awesome month. The Beginning of an Untimely Ending is another new song of Matthew’s which highlights the sad-but-true sign of the times on domestic violence. As in a lot of these cases, a good Samaritan trying to help gets caught in the crossfire and dies along with the perpetrator who takes his own life. Now on to a happier state - 3 Days in 69 describes the peaceful gathering of the flowerchild generation when they converged on Yasgur’s Farm for Woodstock. It’s amazing that such a huge group of people could come together and not have anything go off the rails that seems to always happen today! Great job, Matthew!
Mark Branch (aka Markiss Blowfish) then treated us to the blues as only he can do! With a freight train rhythm he takes us on a ride of ups and downs. Come Alone is a call to his lover to head on over and only bring yourself! Gonna treat you to dinner, fine wine and a great time. I’m a Long Way From Home laments the fact that he’s on the road miles from home and where he shouldn’t be, so he’s gonna do his best to get back to the family he misses. Engine # 9 definitely took us on a train ride where we were rolling down the rails through Carolina. His baby left him but he doesn’t know why, so he’s just gonna keep rolling on. Leaving Alabama is another love-gone-wrong number where his woman left him. He may have also been catting around with another woman in town and got busted, so it was a double loss. Keep up those blues, Mark!
John Ellis ended the evening with his set of acoustic/electric numbers, many infused with his searing guitar licks. He opened with A Band of Silver, an idea born after overhearing a conversation addressing mainly the materialistic aspects of a wedding ring. Honestly doesn’t mince words about his feelings toward a former lover, where she is only into self-congratulations. Walking With Sharon is a pleasant instrumental that is reminiscent of the wonderful walks in nature they used to take. He then treated us to I’ll Be There For You, a sincere and heartfelt message to that special person he cares about. John then turned to a couple of seasonal tunes, starting with the instrumental Summer Solstice. That was followed by Autumn Hours, where he recounts his favorite “peaceful” time of year with the cooler temperatures, fall foliage, etc. Talking to Myself brought on some screaming guitar licks utilizing the loop machine (pedal). He’s been wondering what the night will bring, thought he was hearing voices but must just be talking to himself! The Stranger is one of John’s signature tunes with a Frampton feel, where it seems he is eluded by love wherever he looks. He then delivered In My Place, a hard-driving rock number about an old flame who liked to keep him down. He ended the night with Sweet Tooth Blues, an ode to a lover he just couldn’t get enough of. She is most definitely the fix for that sweet tooth of his! Awesome playing, John!
Showcase Photos
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Photo Credits: Matthew Costello, Matt Manion
September 2025 VOCAL Songwriters Showcase
The VOCAL Songwriter Showcase on September 15, 2025, at O’Toole’s Restaurant and Pub showed off the talents of two long-time members to a solid and appreciative group of stalwarts and guests.
Matthew Costello
VOCAL President Matthew Costello kicked us off with a work crafted in connection with a moment as the singer entered an “astral mystic plain” where “ripples in the river of time” brought his mind to “Three Days in the Summer of ’69.”
He followed with a highly rhythmic work that unleashed the “Storm of Love” where one could access the “wisdom of the soul.” “Walking Willie” came on the heels of the storm carrying us to a small town where Willie was a well-known wanderer on the streets and made us wonder “what’s your destination?” The storyteller led us through several encounters that concluded with perhaps a ghostly appearance – or was it? – of Willie.
“Shadows of September” was a beautiful impressionistic tune and the pop ballad was a pleasant homage to Matthew’s favorite season with nicely chosen chord patterns. “Ghosts of Center Hill” spoke of memories of a rumored haunted house where creaks, cold spots, wispy shades, “whispers on the stairs” and a “voice like the silent wind” was evidence enough of the spooky residents.
“Feel the Breeze” encapsulated feelings of peace and joy in a moment of reverie, a “perfect moment” with his only vista a view of his front yard. “Catch a Ride” was about inspiration, he said, and told the story of a time when he struggled getting his writing underway and had to be patient, asking his muse to jump on his thoughts to “catch a ride.”
Markiss Blowfish
Our second performer, Markiss Blowfish, had been long absent from our stage. Markiss and Matthew agreed that the last time the bluesman appeared at VOCAL might have been 2010! The absence only sharpened Markiss’s chops and he proceeded to demonstrate his command of the two-beat twelve-bar blues form by starting with “Come Alone,” a plea and command for his woman to appear by herself so that the singer could offer his affection. A thumping up-stroke rhythm accent on the guitar supported his strong baritone complementing the pleading story.
“Engine Number Nine” was a love lost blues tune, his girl has left the singer and he’s “waiting on that train” because “I’m going home” to Carolina where he “need(s) to walk that dog.” “Up and Down” was another tale of lost love but “my life’s not shattered, not today.” Still the singer comments “I’ve been up, I’ve been down, girl has left, walked away.” “Downtown” was also a sorrowful tale asking a woman “don’t go, baby, downtown” but the singer couldn’t stop this “girl gone to New Orleans.” The singer is finally all alone since “she took my dog, done moved it on” and now he’s going to “track her down.”
In “Alabama”, the singer mourns “my woman is gone, I’ll be moving on”, and he’s still trying to figure out the relationship they once had and why she’s left. Towards the end, the singer admits he “messed around” but he’s “not sorry about that.” Sounded to me like a reason for the breakup. In “Bad News Blues”, the singer enumerated all the troubles of his extended family, sister, uncle, cousin, etc. “It’s all bad news” in this tale of family trouble.
Markiss followed with an invitation to “Ride That Train” where he encourages his lover to “whisper in my ear, call my name” because they will be “going to roll on down to Jacksonville.” The next tune claimed he “love[s] that woman pound for pound” and set a rural country scene with “country boys [who] sure don’t play with toys.” However, he tells us “they make a lot of noise.” The final tune of the evening had a cheery melody in the blues riff “Bring It Over Here” with the singer encouraging listeners to join him in a drink remembering “I don’t like that fancy stuff, give me one of them beers.”
We had a fine pair of artists lead us through familiar territory at the September showcase and everyone left with good memories and high spirits.
Showcase Photos
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Photo Credits: Matthew Costello, John Ellis, Norman Roscher
