instrumental versions of mark LUcas solo album  "Little Town Blues" (Laughing Outlaw Records LOR174CD) 

Little Town Blues - naked / instrumental

Take five guys hailing from various corners of the globe, based in Sydney and delivering a sophisticated serving of urban folk pop rock'n'roll - Americana with an Australian accent.

Hard on the heels of his recent solo outing “Little Town Blues”, local troubadour Mark Lucas is back with a new offering from his stalwart band, The Dead Setters.

Originally from the UK, Mark spins tales of the ordinary and beyond armed with a dry wit and a well-travelled if world-weary take on the human condition. Add Jake Lardot (Belgium) album producer & one of Australia’s most respected guitar players (check 14 years on the road with Lee Kernaghan), John Lee (Georgia, USA) fiddle & mandolin, Steve Gunning (all over the place via Woodford) drums (former sideman to Vicky O’Keefe, Grace Knight amongst others), and Chris Mearns (the not-so-token Australian) bass, who’s been plying his trade longer than most have a right to, and you’ve got a multicultural take on country roots music, embracing folk, country and blues with a foot in the past and ear to the future.

‘The Continental Drift’, the band’s fifth release offers gritty observations on life and love driven by a bunch of musicians schooled in everything from punk to bluegrass, but all with a taste for tale well told and a melody that hooks you in.
"... finds the group loosening their shoulders and opening up into a more eclectic Americana sound. The country-rock roots still remain but now they are enhanced with soulful touches, rousing rock'n'roll, languid atmospheric wanderings and an inherent Australian sun-kissed warmth on yet another strong release from Lucas and band."
Chris Familton - The Music

“The recipe seems pretty simple: creeping easy on the ear melodies, songs written with ingredients from the store where Tom Petty and Elliott Murphy shop, a voice which is very akin to that of Gerry Rafferty, guitar sounds emerging from the strings of Bonnie Raitt ... well, enough parts to make the great record that this CD has become.”
Dani Heyvaert – rootstime.be


The Continental Drift

“Magnetic West” is as much a celebration of time passages as anything, with songs reaching back to Mark’s childhood in England, migration to Australia in 1981 and then navigating the next forty odd years, not to mention the craziness of the pandemic (we all had a Covid moment or two).

That said, the real stars here are Mark’s “rainy day friends”- co-producer / mandolin player / harmony vocalist Glenn Skarratt has been sharing stages and studios with Mark since the mid ‘90’s and was a key member of The Parwills, The Badhats and early Dead Setters; similarly, fiddle / harmony vocalist John Lee has been a sonic co-conspirator and Dead Setter across five albums and countless stages. James Gillard (bass) held down the bottom end twenty years ago on the “Ghost of Lost Creek Road” album, and James Church previously lent his magic to 2015 solo outing “Little Town Blues”. The result is a gentle mix of dry humour, romance and socio-political observation planted in a folk strewn ‘grassy field

10 Northern Star

09 The 10pm To Hay

08 Ghosts Of The Pines

07 Waterside

06 Wind - Up Girl

05 Six Stops

04 Pigs Will Fly

03 Out Past The Tide

02 Bluebell Time

01 Into The Sun (Magnetic West)

In 1990 I won a Pater Award in for this tongue-in-cheek anti-smoking rave.

I Smell Smoke


Take five guys hailing from various corners of the globe, based in Sydney and delivering a sophisticated serving of urban folk pop rock'n'roll - Americana with an Australian accent.

Singer-songwriter Mark Lucas (UK) spins tales of the ordinary and beyond armed with a dry wit & a sharp telecaster, add Jake Lardot (Belgium) album producer & one of Australia’s most respected guitar players (check 14 years on the road with Lee Kernaghan), John Lee (Georgia, USA) fiddle & mandolin, Steve Gunning (All over the place via Woodford) drums (former sideman to Vicky O’Keefe, Grace Knight amongst others) & Chris Mearns (the not-so-token Australian) bass, who’s been plying his trade longer than most have a right to, and you’ve got a multicultural take on country roots music, embracing folk, country and blues with a foot in the past and ear to the future.

‘Continental Drift’, the band’s fifth release offers gritty observations on life & love driven by a bunch of musicians schooled in everything from punk to country, but all with a taste for tale told well & a melody that hooks you in.


08 - Mark Lucas & The Dead Setters -Highways Signs & Whiskey Jars.WAV

09 - Mark Lucas & The Dead Setters -Only You Can Set Me Free.WAV

Getting close on midnight
Falling rain’s the only sound
A telephone rings but he hears nothing
Though the television’s down
Another cup of coffee fights the pills to calm the nerves
Another shot of red-eye and the blood begins to surge

Saturday night special
Saturday night special

Now the rental’s way too high
So he gambles on a loan
He loves to play with money
She ain’t too good alone
So she broadens her horizons while the kid’s out under cars
And her old man hears the rumours as they’re passing down the bar

Saturday night special
Saturday night special

Out here on the edge it’s another time and place
Where the struggle for survival is writ on every face
She said “Honey I could die for your love”
She never knew it would be the case

Saturday night special
Saturday night special

The hour before dawn is dark
The ambulance is white
The rain dirty back streets
Spill the blood-red light
The morbid crowd have come and gone, all’s quiet beyond the crime-scene tape
It ain’t beauty killed the beast my friend, but it’s love that sealed his fate

Saturday night special

10 - Mark Lucas & The Dead Setters -Saturday Night Special.WAV

11 - Mark Lucas & The Dead Setters -Whiskey Dents.WAV

12 - Mark Lucas & The Dead Setters -Something Wicked.WAV

Greetings folks - I've been writing & performing mostly my own material since I got the bug from exposure to some great singer-songwriters in the mid '70's. Think Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, Jerry Jeff Walker, Danny O'Keefe, Neil Young, Jerry Garcia & Robert Hunter (Grateful Dead), Gene Clark, John Martyn, Richard Thompson & the list goes on & on.

Since I arrived In Australia in June of '81 I've covered a fair bit of ground, all with it's own rewards & frustrations, births, deaths, marriages & divorces. I don't care much for the music industry & abhor song comps etc.; I do, however, love to be part of the camaraderie of a band, despite getting through a few of them- hence I've made an effort to keep current outfit The Dead Setters together the last decade or so. Making music is an expensive hobby but it's definitely its own reward & I feel very privileged to have made some fine noise with some talented people.

These are some of my favourites - I'll add & subtract as the muse strikes & is the journey continues.

mark lucas

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