Have you ever met an artisan? I mean a real living breathing artist or craftsman or woman who can take some raw elements or ingredients or bits of wood and metal and make them into something beautiful or functional or even magical. Have you? In my opinion and in my experience it’s un-common. Mark is one of those hen’s teeth.

I don’t like infinity, it gives me the willies, but you know that thing about monkeys and typewriters and the complete works of Shakespeare? I don’t care how long you give me, I’m never going to turn some mahogany and aluminium and bits of wire into a guitar even close to what Mark gestates and delivers from his workshop in beautiful North Carolina.

This episode marked the first time I stranded a relative stranger on Deep Space Station Gideon. That is to say someone I had not previously sat in a room with. Not ate pastries and drank coffee with. Not met be-fore. Not had the luxury of some familiarity and shared stories with.

So on a classic Durham Sunday morning I was just a little bit anxious. I needn’t have been. Mark and his wife Kate welcomed me into their home, showed me the space where my MotorAve BelAire came to life. Introduced me to their dog. Treated me like a friend. It was a generous and moving display of trust and warmth.

During the interview we soon discovered common ground. Music of course, but also thoughts and a certain world view. Everyone has a story, and I can usually find in conversation something that fascinates and educates me but by any objective measure Mark’s narrative is amazing. Through a rich and varied life he finds himself at the pinnacle of his game – a luthier of the very highest calibre. I’m not sure if I quite managed to convince him of his singular genius but I’m pretty sure this record of me trying will find a fascinated audience beyond those musicians lucky enough to play one of his guitars. And the list includes one of my musi-cal heroes by the way: Josh Homme. It was seeing and hearing Josh wield a BelAire that inspired me to track Mark down in the first place.

Thanks Josh.

This interview occurred at the beginning of a road trip into the Deep South of the United States. It was a magical journey and this was the perfect opening chapter.

It’s where it all started for me. Maryta went and saw the movie in ’64 and bought the soundtrack record in the lobby. I found it in ’69 when I was six, learning how to use the record player, and it blew my mind. I’ve never been the same since.

It’s my spirit song. Years ago in Oregon, the Secrets played an outdoor show out in the woods somewhere.. there were 7 or 8 bands and it just went on and on, and we were stuck out there for the entire day ‘cos it was our PA. By the time we went on I was in a very black mood, and when the whole miserable thing was over we left, me and Dave the bass player, in his car down a long