1. John Mark Heard III was an American record producer, folk rock singer and songwriter from Macon, Georgia.
18 Facts About Mark Heard
1. 2.
Mark Heard produced part of Olivia Newton-John's The Rumour, which included a cover of Mark Heard's own "Big and Strong".
3.
Mark Heard begin working on his Appalachian Melody album for the label, but would maintain a close relationship with the people at the L'Abri for years.
4.
In 1980, Mark Heard recorded and released Fingerprint on a Swiss label.
5.
In 1981, Mark Heard began a recording contract with Chris Christian's Home Sweet Home Records.
6.
Mark Heard's signing to the label was a departure from the commercial artists that Christian traditionally signed and produced on the Home Sweet Home label.
7.
Mark Heard released five albums for the label: 1981's Stop the Dominoes, 1982's Victims of the Age, 1983's Eye of the Storm, 1984's Ashes and Light and 1985's Mosaics.
8.
The overall experience was not one that Heard enjoyed, partly due to his personal experiences with record company executives, and partly due to compromises he felt under pressure to make himself so that his songs were more marketable to Christian audiences.
9.
In 1984, Mark Heard began recording in his home studio, which he dubbed "Fingerprint Recorders", after the title of one of his earlier records.
10.
In 1988, Mark Heard collaborated with Randy Stonehill and other well known artists on Phil Keaggy and Sunday's Child.
11.
Mark Heard returned to recording albums of his own in the early 1990s, with Dry Bones Dance.
12.
Mark Heard followed Dry Bones Dance with Second Hand in 1991, and Satellite Sky in 1992, which would turn out to be his final release.
13.
On July 4,1992, Mark Heard had a heart attack on stage while performing with Pierce Pettis and Kate Miner, at the Cornerstone Festival in Bushnell, IL, near Peoria.
14.
Mark Heard finished his set and went to the hospital immediately afterwards.
15.
Two weeks after being released from the hospital, Mark Heard went into cardiac arrest and died on August 16,1992.
16.
Mark Heard wrote and recorded a song dedicated to Heard for his Dart to the Heart album, "Closer to the Light".
17.
Julie Miller wrote a song in tribute to Mark Heard called "All My Tears" which has been recorded by Jars of Clay, Emmylou Harris and Selah with Kim Hill on Bless the Broken Road: The Duets Album.
18.
The Song of the Year Award was presented to Mark Heard for "Worry Too Much", originally featured on Second Hand.