Mark Montijo Concert

Experience intricately crafted lyrics and tunes arranged for live performance with voice, guitar, and dobro or banjo. 

“Listening to Mark Montijo teaches me that less is definitely more and that his simplicity delivers a whole lot of satisfaction. The arrangements are comfortable and easy on the ears…… Unsuspectingly, I am drawn in….  Montijo’s voice breaks and falters unapologetically, delivering the weight of each moment with raw sincerity. More than once, I find that I’m struck by lyrics, which, at first glance, seem so commonplace, yet they are meticulously crafted—perfectly hewn, like timber shaped to build a fine home. That’s it! This ….. feels like home.” -San Diego Troubadour 

Mark Montijo began playing original material in clubs and festivals in the mid-1960s. His primary influences were his friends and the other musicians frequenting these clubs, some of whom moved on to develop much larger audiences.  He performed as a solo performer and in various bands before disappearing entirely from the music scene in the late 1970s to focus on various business ventures and political action. 

A couple of years back, musician friends and former fans persuaded Mark to go into the studio and get a few of his tunes out of the closet and into a permanent medium. The first album, “History,” was well received, and the title song resulted in a feature article in American Songwriter magazine. Two songs from Mark’s 2^nd album “If I Get to Heaven,” received Outstanding Achievement in Songwriting awards from The Great American Songwriting Contest, and the full release was nominated as Best Local Recording (All Genres) at the San Diego Music Awards. The title song from his newest release, Apricot Moon has been nominated as Best folk or Americana Song. 

Lenny Bole has played banjo since his early teens (a long time ago). He is also spectacularly proficient on Dobro and lap steel, and is beginning to figure out what to do with a Weissenborn. A founding member of the touring band Montezuma’s Revenge, Lenny eventually settled into a long career teaching school in a rural community, but he is now enjoying retirement and back playing music again. In addition to shows with Mark Montijo, Lenny is a frequently invited guest performer with several local bands and is a regular member of the bluegrass group Stay Tuned, recently featured at the Summergrass festival.