Mark Hallman (born August 1, 1951) is an American producer, songwriter, engineer and multi-instrumentalist. He has worked with

Carole King Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at 1650 Broadway and later as a solo artist. Regarded as one ...

(appearing on six of her albums as a performer and producer),

Ani DiFranco Angela Maria "Ani" DiFranco (; born September 23, 1970) is an American-Canadian singer-songwriter. She has released more than 20 albums. DiFranco's music has been classified as folk rock and alternative rock, although it has additional influe ...

, and

Eliza Gilkyson Eliza Gilkyson (born August 24, 1950, Hollywood, California) is a Taos, New Mexico-based folk musician.Gilkyson moved her base from Austin, Texas, to Taos in 2020. She is the daughter of songwriter and folk musician Terry Gilkyson and his wife, J ...

. In the mid-'70s, Hallman was one of the two principal singer-songwriters for

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a home rule city that is the county seat and most populous municipality of Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, making it the 12th most populous city in Colora ...

-based rock band Navarro. Navarro put out two albums on

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of not ...

, ''Listen'' in 1977 (produced by Hallman) and ''Straight From the Heart'' in 1978. While recording at

Caribou Ranch Caribou Ranch was a recording studio built by producer James William Guercio in 1972 in a converted barn on ranch property in the Rocky Mountains near Nederland, Colorado, on the road that leads to the ghost town of Caribou. The studio was in op ...

in 1977,

needed a backup band.

Dan Fogelberg Daniel Grayling Fogelberg (August 13, 1951 – December 16, 2007) was an American musician, songwriter, composer, and multi-instrumentalist. He is known for his 1970s and 1980s songs, including " Longer" (1979), " Same Old Lang Syne" (1980), and ...

suggested Navarro and brought her to see them perform at The Stage Stop, in Rollinsville. Hallman had been the guitarist in Fogelberg's band as well. Although Navarro had broken up by the time King called, she asked Hallman if the band would like to back her for an album on

Lou Adler Lester Louis Adler (born December 13, 1933) is an American record and film producer and the co-owner of the Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood, California. Adler has produced and developed a number of iconic musical artists, including The Grass R ...

's Ode Record label. That album was never released but Navarro reformed for that gig and followed up with three albums recorded with her for

. Navarro, and Hallman in particular, found a quick ally in King. She signed the group to her label and tapped them as her session band for ''Simple Things'', which reached No. 17 on the ''Billboard ''pop album charts. Before long, Hallman was producing King's albums and performing in her band full-time. Hallman relocated to Austin, Texas with King in 1980. He later opened The Congress House, now the longest continually-operating recording studio in Austin. In 1990 and 1991, Hallman won ''Best Producer'' at the Austin Music Awards, held during the South By Southwest Music Conference. In 1995,

chose Hallman's Congress House to record her album '' Dilate''. The song "Glass House," co-engineered by Hallman off of DiFranco's 1999 CD ''

Little Plastic Castle ''Little Plastic Castle'' is the eighth studio album by singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco, released in 1998. It is her highest charting album on the ''Billboard'' charts, reaching number 22 on the Top 200 list. The song "Glass House" earned DiFran ...

'' was nominated for a

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

in 1998 for Best Female Rock Vocalist. A feature-length film, ''The Shopkeeper: A Documentary about Mark Hallman & the Music Business'', produced by

Rain Perry Rain Perry (born November 9, 1966) is an American folk-rock singer/songwriter. Her song "Beautiful Tree" was the theme song for the CW Network series ''Life Unexpected''. "Yosemite," her celebration of the pains of growing up, won the Grand Pri ...

, was released in 2016. Mark Hallman was working with Iain Matthews recording and touring.

Selected Discography

References

External links

Mark Hallman official site

Congress House official site

The Shopkeeper Film
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hallman, Mark Record producers from Texas Songwriters from Michigan 1951 births Living people Musicians from Austin, Texas Songwriters from Texas