Mark Lassiter: Reviews and Articles

“Mark Lassiter is not only a client but also a dear friend of mine. His depth, wisdom, and zeal for life are so apparent in both his interactions with others and his music. It was truly exciting to work with Mark and watch him take this project to levels so far beyond what I could imagine. I can’t wait for the next record!”


Hire Ryan at www.livedrumtracks.com

To try and classify Mark Lassiter’s album Living Past to just one genre is about as impossible as trying to sum up “The Great American Novel” in just one word. Lassiter’s style seems to have roots from many genres of music. Tracks like “Living Past” and “Leave The Darkness” have some country/folk elements infused with the bravado of a seasoned singer/songwriter. Still, other tracks like “Goodbye Sunshine” and “10,000 Years” feature heavier vibes a bit the vein of The Goo Goo Dolls. “10,000 Years” in particular, a personal favorite of mine, puts me in mind of some parts of The Goo Goo Dolls song “Iris.”


I should note that though it’s a bit difficult to classify the definitive genre of Living Past, Lassiter manages to pull off a style that is uniquely his own. Vocally, Lassiter is INCREDIBLE! Throughout the album he channels the smoothness of Peter Gabriel and the soaring vocals of Phil Collins, and does so with just the right amount of soul thrown in for good measure.


As I mentioned, one of my personal favorite tracks off of Living Past is “10,000 Years.” While every track on this album is fantastic in it’s own right, this song in particular has “Hit Single” written all over it. Other notable favorites of mine include “Through The Raindrops,” “Your New Life,” and the title track of “Living Past.” These three tracks alone prove that Lassiter is an artist that’s ready to make it big!


The very end of Living Past features two remixs; one of “Living Past” and another of “Through The Raindrops.” These tracks add some Electronica beats to the mix and really give their original counterparts an entirely different sound. The end result is fantastic! Are they better than the originals? That’s a matter of taste. Could a remix EP be in the works? I certainly hope so!


While I’m unable to classify Mark Lassiter’s Living Past to just one genre of music, I can say that it’s very good music. It’s the kind of music you can enjoy again and again, and always finds something new that makes it great.


Zach Daggy

Mark Lassiter's new album Living Past, pop rock with a twist.Imagine that you have your choice of any musician you love or like to play on your album via of a simple connection online?

Mark Lassiter, a dentist, family man of five children, and a musician has done exactly what was just written. He gathered together some of today's great session players from bands such as The Wallflowers, Collective Soul, Toto, The Foo Fighters, James Taylor, etc. and while working close with Gabriel Nicholson who helped produce, write, back up vocal, and bass to put together his latest masterpiece titled Living Past and all was done without help from a record label.

The full 12-track album is definitely an ode to 90's alternative rock that most of us adults grew up listening to back in the day. Songs like "Photo" and "Leave The Darkness" (new version from an older demo with the same title) are very catchy and in a pop sense that everyone can enjoy. Still the real treat is songs like "The Color Blue", "Living Past", and "Goodbye Sunshine" (written by Braden Harwood) are thrown into the ear with true harmony and passion as it's ambient but catchy rhythm takes you. Still there are some surprises along the way, there's even remixes of a couple of the songs at the end of the album that are worth noting for a listen.

All in all the album is Mark's greatest yet, being its his first full length, the transfer of the going from short to full does not seem to phase his creativity. There's enough pop type songs but with a twist into pure musical art that everyone can enjoy. A CD release party will be at The Ford Place down in Mount Gilead, NC on August 15, 2009. Hope to see you there.

Links: www.myspace.com/marklassiterband

No fancy tricks here. Lassiter’s nicely written pop songs jump out of the boombox toned with guitars, piano touches and a tightly woven rhythm section. The North Carolinian writes acoustically-tinged songs the old-fashioned way – wrapped in melody, stuffed with rhythm and sung with sweet vocals and chorus. With Fat Cabbage. Visulite (Samir Shukla)

"Working with Mark was cool. In fact, he may be a bit of a musical visionary. Case in point, he hired an industrial rock/metal producer to remix a beautifully arranged acoustic track and it turned out great!"

"Working with Mark opened my world of music in ways that never would have happened on my own. He has a real passion for the music and his inner drive pushed right through to completion. To sum up my experience with Mark Lassiter and Living Past, I'll say it was inspiring"

Here is a quote from Tricia about me and my project, Living Past:

"...........''I met Mark through the wonderful world of MySpace, and we clicked straight away. I understood what he wanted because he explained so well, and he gave me the freedom to express the backing vocals how I felt they best worked. It was a very easy going relationship and It was a real pleasure to have worked on a few of his great songs. I think it's going to be a great Album and I hope we actually can meet one day in person ...maybe even at an awards ceremony!!''



Tricia is a vocalist and songwriter from the small northern town of Widnes, not far from Liverpool where she now lives.

She has been performing since a very early age, and has been writing songs for as long as she can remember.

Her debut album 'The Pleasure Is Mine' was released last year. She has worked with a huge range of amazing people as session vocalist, songwriting collaborator and support act, including Neil Finn, Ronan Keating, Natalie Imbruglia, Ricky Ross, Narada Michael Walden, Nile Rodgers, Lionel Richie and many more.

She is currently writing and recording for her second album as well as still performing globally as an in-demand live backing vocalist for major artists.

"I've never met Mark, but after working on this project (via our online process) I now consider him a friend. He's an unassuming talent, and has a gift for writing, producing and performing, that has helped to bring this album to fruition. Even though we created this album remotely, with most of the participants never meeting each other, it was Mark who chose and directed the players and engineers, and that is the true definition of what a producer does. The result is a well crafted album of intelligent, meaningful and great-sounding pop rock that would find its place in today's radio landscape, but will also stand the test of time. And the best part, for me at least, is that it was a pleasure for me to work on and I got to meet some great people in the process."

On page 10 of the .pdf is a blurb about my record... I was a charter member of the now deactivated Delta Epsilon Zeta at Georgia State University in the 80's. Maybe they'll bring it back! We worked hard for that charter...

At the January 14th meeting, Terri Stallings was inducted into the Club by
Dr. Bob Gaither and her sponsor Mary Burt Allen. Terri is a nurse with
Bayada Nurses and took a few minutes to introduce herself to the club.
Rotary member Dr. Lenny Saltzman introduced Dr. Mark Lassiter, DDS
who owns a practice in Norwood and has a hidden talent as a rock star.
The father of 5 has lived in Stanly County of 21 years and was a Rotarian
in Oriental, NC.
Dr. Lassiter’s passion for music lead him to find other artists on social
networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook and has recently recorded
an album titled ‘Living Past’ is with members of Foo Fighters, The
Wallflowers (Rami Jaffee), Collective Soul (Ryan Hoyle), and Blind Melon
(Brad Smith) among others…
Mark describes his album as clean and motivational. You can listen to his
songs and find out more about Mark’s story on his website at
www.marklassitermusic.com and you can purchase his songs/album on
iTunes. Photo: L-R, Brad Harwood and Dr. Mark Lassiter