OUT TODAY: MIKO MARKS - "FEEL LIKE GOING HOME" DELUXE LP
STREAM: FEEL LIKE GOING HOME DELUXE LP
Miko Marks has released the deluxe version of her acclaimed 2022 LP Feel Like Going Home via Red Tone Records. Besides the original track list, the deluxe LP houses several reimagined tracks with featured performers including GRAMMYwinner Buddy Miller on “Lay Your Burdens Down,” the GRAMMY-wining historical ensemble Fisk Jubilee Singers on “Jubilee,” Snarky Puppy’s Mark Lettieri on “River,” and Oh Boy Records artist Tré Burt on “One More Night.” The deluxe version also houses “Water To Wine,” a track from Marks’ 2021 LP, Our Country. which features Melissa Carper, and Marks’ take on traditional roots tune “Nine Pound Hammer.”
“It’s been a full circle moment for me to collaborate with these amazing artists who brought their colorful contributions to the canvas. Reimagined and elevated,” Marks says. It is something I’ve always wanted to do and I am richer for it.”
It’s been a banner year for Marks: in February, she made an appearance on the Grand Ole Opry stage with her special guest, Tré Burt, to unveil the reimagined version of “One More Night,” and then kicked off the 43-date, coast-to-coast Trailblazing Women Of Country Tour: From Patsy To Loretta To Dolly. At the end of April, Marks is set to perform at MerleFest and at this year’s sold-out Stagecoach festival, followed by summer and fall appearances at 4 Peaks Music Festival in Oregon, Salmon Arm Roots & Blues Festival in British Columbia, Michigan’s Porcupine Mountain Music Festival, Earl Scruggs Music Festival in North Carolina, and Watermelon Pickers Fest in Virginia. More live appearances will be announced shortly, tour information can be found at found.ee/mikotour.
After living what seems to be multiple lives over, Marks has finally come into the life she was born to live. Her life as a Black woman in country and roots music is only a small part of the story. She grew up traveling around in the family van to sing at various church conventions, but even with a show-stopping voice, it seemed singing was mostly just a hobby-not a career to pursue.
After graduating from Grambling State University, she’d planned on becoming a criminal defense attorney, but her law degree was put on hold after she married young and gave birth to a son. After some encouragement from her husband, she began to sing again and released two country albums–Freeway Bound in 2005 and It Feels Good in 2007. She received great critical praise and was a regular participant at CMA Fest in Nashville, but the growth was stymied by industry gatekeepers.
After over a decade-long hiatus, with no grand vision of success, Marks recorded a few songs with bandmates Justin Phipps and Steve Wyreman, a collection of songs that became Our Country, released on Phipps’ small non-profit record label, Redtone Records. An EP of covers called Race Records soon followed, which shined a light on the arbitrary divisions forced upon artists and audiences in the early days of music marketing in the 1940s.
Marks’ unique sound deftly blends Americana, blues, southern rock, and even gospel to create a sound and experience that has literally brought every audience to its feet. This, along with her warm and soulful spirit, catapulted her into a community of change. Her 2022 LP, Feel Like Going Home, is an amalgamation of where she has been and where she is going, what she has learned, and what she wants to teach. It’s an innermost look at the ebb and flow of her past, present, and future - the stories she wants to tell but hasn’t been able to speak into existence ever before. The messages are profound: healing, restoration, and distinctly individual.
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