Marc Von Em: Long Bio

As a child, Marc Von Em spent a good portion of his time living in England. It was there that Marc was introduced to London's exploding music scene. After moving back to New York and wearing out his father's ukulele, Marc's parents bought him his first acoustic guitar. By the time he reached his early teens, Marc had written several songs of his own. In fact, you will still find one of his first songs, Sunshine Kid, on his set list today. Throughout High School, College, and beyond, Marc continued to write and perform his original music and, in 1999, produced & released his first solo album entitled Von Em.

Driven by his acoustic guitar playing & soulful voice, this album was well received by critics & fans alike, and created quite a buzz on the New York music scene. Marc was in perfect proximity to many great venues and began to deliver his brand of groove oriented folk from Massachusetts to Philadelphia, appearing at well known venues such as The Bottom Line, The Iron Horse Music Hall, Club Passim, Cafe Lena and The Tin Angel. Marc Von Em released his second studio recording entitled Free in 2002. Mixed by Crit Harmon, (Martin Sexton, Catie Curtis, Mary Gauthier) this album captures Marc's strong, sincere voice which complements his lyrically rich song writing. His unique finger picking & guitar style round out this album beautifully.

In early 2005, Marc's career took an unexpected turn when Marc was asked to be part of the Rob Thomas band (Matchbox Twenty). Circling the globe with Rob as a backing vocalist and guitarist, Marc appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with David Letterman, The View, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, & The Today Show. Marc also performed at the 2005 "Fashion Rocks" at Radio City Music Hall, and was honored to perform for over a million people at Live 8 in Philadelphia. His live energy and song writing won him opening slots for several Rob Thomas shows, playing to packed houses. "I asked Marc Von Em to open up for me at a 10,000 seat gig. Just him and his guitar. He killed it!" remarked Rob.

Since the end of the RT tour in 2006, Marc has continued his solo career playing theaters and clubs from New York to Seattle. As well as headlining, Marc has opened shows for such artists as Martin Sexton and Lucy Kaplansky. Theaters like The Egg Center for the Performing Arts in Albany and The Paramount Center for the Arts in Peekskill NY where just some of the venues that took a special liking to Marc's talents. The Rockwood Music Hall in NYC has become a regular stop for Marc's solo show and is where he recorded his first live CD "Marc Von Em Live from Rockwood Music Hall". Without question, this recording captures the essence of Marcs live show. Soulful, funky, sometimes bluesy sometimes haunting, always sincere.

As one reviewer writes "... I can genuinely say if you haven't heard or seen him live, you're only cheating yourself."