Imagine if
Bob Dylan, James Taylor or Paul Simon had never been "discovered"
because they couldn't bear the personal pain of exposing their work
to criticism.
Picture
decades of heartfelt songs and messages of inspiration trapped in a
closet of fear collecting dust. Wouldn’t that have been a tragedy?
Well such is the tale of a
Singer/Songwriter from New Haven, CT who for over 30 years has been
writing brilliant songs that have been causing quite a stir for the
hanging shirts and ties that adorn his bedroom closet, but not much
anywhere else.
You see, Mark Shepard
has always had an
amazing, creative mind but for a long time suffered from a
debilitating, paralyzing shyness. His reluctance to
reveal his art and perform his music nearly deprived us of a
lifetime compilation of wonderful, inspirational songs.
Fortunately he turned it around. His life serves as a source of
inspiration and strength for other’s afflicted with severely
debilitating shyness.
Mark and I first met a few years
ago at a networking luncheon. I was invited by a business
associate, Kim Kasparian (
www.successgenie.com ) who knows I am very intuitive and open to
chance meetings and serendipity.
She and I were discussing her
training CD and how it needed some positive uplifting music to
support Kim's motivational message. Kim wanted to use some music
from Disney's "Aladdin" and I was explaining to her that we couldn't
just use that music. We would have to pay expensive royalties
for it.
I noticed Mark looking at us kind of
strangely, with a huge grin on his face.
"I can help you out with the
music,” he said, “I'm a songwriter, I've been to Kim's workshops. I
know her message."
Kim and I looked at each other and said
"Sure...Okay...knock yourself out."
I didn't really think much about it after that. To
be honest, I didn't have any expectations. A week or
so later Mark called me up and said he had written a
song titled, "Can You Imagine" and asked if I’d
listen to it. When I heard it for the first
time, I was genuinely “floored”.
Kim was so
moved, she cried.
The melody captured the spirit of the workshop and
the lyrics captured the essence. The song just
worked! I still get goose bumps.
During my 20 years in production, including 10 as an
Executive Producer and hiring manager for ESPN
Radio, never had I stumbled upon talent so
effortlessly.
Hear "Can You Imagine" for yourself.
It turned out that Mark had been writing songs for
30 years. He had written nearly 400 songs,
many of which have never been heard or recorded. It
begged the question, so I asked, “Why have I never
heard of you before?”
As we became close,
Mark revealed his years of
struggle with personal challenges that kept
him from getting his music out into the world.
He could write a song, but create obstacles that
would prevent him from performing or recording. On
the occasions when he mustered the courage to brave
a studio session, he’d sabotage the process after
recording by not promoting his work or he’d just
stop altogether. When he did perform he
would often make himself sick with anxiety before,
during and after the show.
This is a guy who had a very clear picture of his
dream and a strong desire to free his music from
obscurity. So, why the block? Was it stage fright,
fear of failure or perhaps a phobia? On the
surface, Mark knew he was highly sensitive, finely
tuned and somewhat vulnerable to things, but he
discovered the problem was much deeper rooted.
To make a long story short, he started working on
clearing his personal demons so that he could stop
"stopping" himself and clear a path to success.
Eventually he found this personal transformation
information called NLP, Neuro Linguistic Programming,
and he literally just stopped being shy. He started
getting out and making contacts and networking. (One
of the things he did was go out every Friday to the
Sushi Restaurant where I met him!)
He got so much rapid relief and help from NLP that
he began pursuing it as a career and has been
helping other shy people to blast through their
blocks.
In the process of learning these advanced
techniques for transformation, he of course started
writing songs about that. It just added
to an already massive collection of material.
I discovered he'd written love songs, political
songs, songs about healing and transformation,
motivational songs, spiritual songs, songs inspired
by the books of Carlos Castaneda and even children’s
songs.
The kid songs got me thinking because I was working
on an educational TV series for children and saw
many parallels in the ideology of our program and
the messages of his songs.
Then, I asked Mark if he might be interested in
writing songs for my god-daughter, Rilee O'Neill, an
11 year old singing prodigy. By the
time you read this, you may have already heard of Rilee and listened to those songs. I’m not going to
tell you how great they are because you can judge
for yourself. www.RileeO.com.
It’s really funny how the universe works sometimes.
I remember vividly the afternoon when I asked Mark
what he really wanted out of life. His answer was
simple.
"To get my music recorded and out into the world
where it can do some good."
At the time, it was a raving fantasy. Could anyone
have imagined the music industry embracing a
bashful, obscure singer/songwriter in his 40's still
bearing the remnants of his cocoon?
Actually, I did and knew instinctively that his
music would be initially led from obscurity by the
11 year old voice of Rilee O'Neill. The rest, as
they say, is history.
Now, I’m happy to report that the once lonely, shy
Shepard has found an enormous flock of fans and is
now for the fist time bravely revealing his
"Life in
Song: 30 years of powerful music with a purpose".
Thanks to the internet, we can all discover and
appreciate his great melodies and great lyrics with
a simple click of the mouse — oh, and without having
to break down the door to his closet. ;o)
-Bill Rodman