Born in Los Angeles but raised in Washington, DC, Mark Francis Nickens began tinkering with drums in his early years. His father, an avid Duke Ellington fan, introduced him to jazz, folk, and blues music. He watched TV variety shows like the Ed Sullivan Show for artists such as the Beatles, the Temptations, and Stevie Wonder. But it wasn’t until he was 13, after seeing Jimi Hendrix in the movie & Monterey Pop; that he decided to get a guitar.

A few years later, he picked up the electric bass, and became an in-demand performer for a variety of local bands. He toured the Northwest and Canada in the Top 40 band G Force, featuring members of the Blackbirds, and a few DC go-go bands.

He returned to DC and played briefly with popular local R&B singer Phil Flowers, but by that time Mark was ready to explore his own musical voice. Inspired by artists such as pianist Keith Jarrett, Mark started to experiment with two-handed touch techniques, delays and multi choruses, and developed his own unique sound. Later on, Mark found a niche playing solo guitar on the street corners and in the subway stations of Washington.

These impromptu solo performances attracted considerable attention, and his original music has been used in film soundtracks. He has performed on local cable shows such as The Guitar Workshop, the award-winning Slumber Party, and the broadcast daily Fox 5 Morning News, as well as other shows. He formed his own band, Sky Church, in the early nineties, and worked a lot of clubs in the mid-Atlantic region, such as New York’s CBGB’s, the 9:30 Club, and the now-defunct DC space.

Mark sang briefly with local punk rockers Flinch. In 1999 he played bass at the 3rd Woodstock Festival in Rome, NY, with longtime friends Johnny Rushmore; Tsak and BET engineer Kevin Ian Fury Morales. After playing on compilations and other artists’ CD’s, Mark recorded and released his own CD, MSAWBE, in early 2001. Nickens performed at DC Mayor Anthony Williams; first inaugural ball and at a party at the Capitol Hilton where Hillary Clinton was a guest. Nickens and others who play … across the area say street musicians bare their souls like no other performers.

Mark’s latest artistic efforts have included writing and singing, along with Latin and African percussion. He is currently working on his next CD. Over the last few years, Mark has collaborated with many artists, including the Guerrilla Poetry Insurgency. With such a strong foundation of racial and cultural diversity, solid musical background, and commitment to social change, greater success for Mark Francis Nickens is not only imminent, but inevitable!