Mark DeRose & The Dreadnoughts

"(In Search of the Good Days" is) balm for the blues... an uplifting blend of soulful, rootsy jams with a twinge of vintage flair, it offers the exact kind of music we could all use a little more of right now". ” - Claire Hannum, Fine Living Lancaster - Issue 58 - Fine Living Lancaster

".... Mark and the band are truly amazing and a hidden talent! I am just sorry I have not heard them before now!" - - message from a new found fan

“ Top notch band - I highly recommend them, and I certainly will be hiring them again! ” - Carley Balindabagabo - INGOMA Events

"You guys are FABULOUS!! Seriously, I had no idea about your group!" - Vickie Hubbard, Director/GM Penn State York - Pullo Performing Arts Center

The Mark DeRose duo was fantastic. Myself and others at the Relay loved their performance and it was very fitting for a college group. Not only was their music great but they were both so entertaining and fun just to talk to. I will definitely be asking them to return for our 2nd Relay For Life next year because of how awesome they were. Thank you for everything!

Genevieve Douglass
Activities/Events Chair
Relay for Life - Philadelphia University - Genevieve Douglass

I first met 31-year-old York native Mark DeRose on what was possibly the biggest night of his musical career.
He and his band were taking the stage to open for Blues Traveler at the Sovereign Bank Stadium, having recently won a battle of the bands competition for the gig at a York Revolution baseball game. DeRose was dressed in a T-shirt and jeans, and a rag hat with the Life Is Good logo on the side. When he came to shake my hand, he greeted me with a smile that, I came to learn, he is never without. His personality was unassuming and decidedly down-to-earth.
After a brief conversation and introductions, DeRose and his band took the stage. DeRose performed that night as if he had been doing it his whole life. He seemed totally at ease with the large crowd. To jump from coffeehouse and bar crowds to a stadium show can’t be easy, but DeRose handled the transition in stride, joking with the crowd and talking about his music with humility and appreciation.
Having listened to some of DeRose’s music, I had a notion of what to expect. What I had heard reminded me of music by other popular singer-songwriters, artists like Gavin DeGraw, Marc Cohn and, most particularly, David Wilcox.
In concert, DeRose’s songs shined. “Satisfied” and “In a Daydream” had the crowd’s attention – people were even singing along. But perhaps the highlight of the half hour show came when DeRose and his band sang their rendition of Marc Cohn’s “Walking in Memphis.” The crowd erupted with applause. The band gracefully reproduced the classic, adding its personality to the music and lyrics.
The thing that struck me most was DeRose’s sincerity. When you encounter an artist – or any person, for that matter – who is upbeat and optimistic, it is easy to become cynical and think that they are hiding something. But DeRose’s performance, along with our subsequent conversations, proved to me that he was genuine and that his feelings and attitude about life are real.
For DeRose, music is less about despair and loneliness than it is about faith and finding peace though the journey of life. Listening to his music is a positive experience. His songs are upbeat and thought provoking. They address serious issues, both personal and political, but always with a message and a hopeful twist.
“Satisfied,” the opening song on DeRose’s 2007 CD, Tales from the Sandcastle Kingdom, is a confessional song. In the opening line, DeRose sings, “I flew to the moon.” This upbeat metaphor is quickly turned around when he explains that his extraordinary voyage only left him wanting for more. He continues to say that once he arrived, he began “wishing for the stars.” He knows and sings that he is “never satisfied.” Though the song does not include a resolution, it raises a question, just as all good art should.
“Satisfied” is representative of the rest of the disc. From “Brighter Day,” a song about a poor man who shares his thoughts on the richness of life, to “Let it Rain,” an environmentally conscious ballad, each song has something to say.
DeRose began playing music at a young age, beginning on the piano. But most of DeRose’s youthful energy was spent on athletics. He did well in high school sports, playing both soccer and volleyball. Music would not get a lot of Mark’s attention. No chorus. No band.
But when DeRose graduated from Dallastown High School and traveled to State College, things changed. The athletic competition was stiffer, and he found he could no longer compete. So, as DeRose says, “I looked for something else to obsess about.”
Accordingly, he shifted his focus to music. “At that time, I started listening to Dave Matthews, James Taylor and other great songwriters,” he explains. “It became my dream to write and sing music, and if I could move one person that way, it would all be worthwhile.”
After graduating from Penn State in 1999, DeRose decided that, if he wanted to be serious about his music, he needed some sort of formal education. He applied to and was accepted at Berklee College of Music in Boston.
It was at Berklee that DeRose got his first real exposure to songwriting. After putting together a few numbers, he enlisted a group of fellow Berklee students to back him and, in 2002, the Ernest Goodlife Band was formed.
The band met with modest success, but, DeRose explains, “Boston started to take its toll on the band.” After losing their bass player, the group decided in 2004 to relocate to Philly. Unfortunately, the band didn’t fare much better in the City of Brotherly Love. Not long after the move, the band broke up, and DeRose moved back to his hometown.
DeRose was close to giving up on his musical dream, taking a day job working as a graphic designer with York Graphics.
But the music wouldn’t let him go. After a brief stint leading a “normal” life, DeRose decided that he simply couldn’t not play music. He left his job, started to write music again and immediately began performing. For the last year and a half, he has slowl - Fly Magazine