Music

Mark Gunnery is a musician, singer, songwriter, DJ, and producer. He plays electronics, guitar, bass, banjo, keys, and drums, and composes danceable sound collages and music for podcasts and videos. He released 12 folk and electronic albums, splits and EPs as part of the Riot Folk Collective, and played in bands including The Fools, Lightnin' Seed, The Barrage Band Orchestra, and #PirateRadio.

The Partisan: Covers EP

The Ballad of Joe Exotic

Who By Fire? 

A cover of Who By Fire? featured on the compilation Last Year's Man: A Baltimore Tribute to Leonard Cohen.

The Tales of Pirate Jenny by #PirateRadio

The Tales of Pirate Jenny is a mixtape Mark produced as part of a project called #PirateRadio. It was broadcast over a low power radio transmitter as a sound installation at the 2016 Fields Festival in Maryland.  

#PirateRadio is the creation of artist Shola Cole. During the performances, Shola embodies a character named Pirate Jenny, a time traveler who navigates the intersections of piracy, slavery, and resistance. While she reads texts and interviews guests, Mark creates live sound collages with a drum machine, sampler, keyboard, and a pocket radio. They broadcast each performance over a low power radio transmitter. 

This mixtape features readings by Shola Cole. Samples include the voices of Lorraine Hansberry, June Jordan, Assatta Shakur, Nigel Farage, Hillary Clinton, and Donald Trump.

Video: #PirateRadio, #BmoreUprising Edition. Shola Cole, Mark Gunnery, Paul Rucker (Baltimore, May 3, 2015)

Artist statement by Shola Cole:

Launched as part of my MFA thesis project, #PirateRadio is an interdisciplinary performance using installation, spoken word and experimental sound. It is the most recent approach of my work Jenny.Was.A.Pirate.Hater reflecting on my personal experience, history's pirates, their turf and working collusions with slaves during the Golden Age of Piracy and the Atlantic Slave Trade. (For more information, piratehaterjenny.com)

Part talk show, part installation and full homage to the works of artists Nina Simone, Sparrow, Brecht, Kurt Weill, Lotte Lenya and Kathy Acker and others, #PirateRadio, the #BmoreUprising edition featured Pirate Jenny, fellow collaborator & sound artist Mark Gunnery w/ guest visual artist and cellist Paul Rucker. Against a backdrop of ambient sound, topics and conversations revolved around the Baltimore Uprisings, the history of piracy and slavery Maryland's Chesapeake Bay area and where those dynamics live within social justice and Baltimore in the 21st century.

Video footage: Anne Boisevert

Baltimore: The Rise of Charm City Theme

Composed theme music for Baltimore: The Rise of Charm City. Featuring samples from "Dream Rag" by Eubie Blake.

Baltimore: The Rise of Charm City is a 30-minute audio documentary series featuring the oral histories of businesses, landmarks, and neighborhoods in Baltimore City. It is a part of AIR's 15-city Localore: Finding America project.

Musica Millefolium by Lightnin' Seed

Lightnin' Seed is Brenna Sahatjian and Mark Gunnery. They sing songs about herbs, storms, and natural phenomena. Brenna Sahatjian sings and plays guitar, cello, and keys. Mark Gunnery sings and plays guitar, cigar case dulcimer, bass, and drum machine, and mixed the album.