Sharkey & the Sparks to perform at Towne Crier
Mark “Sharkey” McEwen, lead guitarist for the Slambovian Circus of Dreams, and his son Ben, 20, are the force behind Sharkey & the Sparks, which will perform at the Towne Crier in Beacon on Jan. 6.
We spoke with Sharkey, who has lived in Philipstown since 2006, and Ben, a 2021 Haldane High School graduate who is a sophomore at Boston University studying film and television. Their responses have been edited for brevity and clarity.
Sharkey: I think of myself as shy but I got the inspiration to start doing open mics in 2016. I had never done one on my own before. Ben had just started playing guitar. He has been intrigued by music ever since he was a kid. He joined the school band on percussion and took a guitar class in middle school, and taught himself with my help and an assist from YouTube.
How many 20-year-olds do you know who love the same music you gravitate to? Ben and I happen to jointly love and appreciate it. It’s such a gift to have this young person in my life who shares the same love of music.
I was starting to perform with Ben as a duo at these open mics when, in 2017, Phil Ciganer [the Towne Crier owner] said: “That sounded really good — could you put a set together?” We did our first show there later that year.
My dad called me “Sparkplug” as a kid and, in my teens, and in my teens, a friend called me “Sparkie.” Years later I got the nickname “Sharkey,” and it stuck.
Ben: Playing with my dad has always been a pleasure and is synonymous with how I learned guitar. I learned some chords and was already listening to the Beach Boys, the Beatles, Journey — all the classics from back then — trying to figure them out. My main inspiration, besides my dad, was surf music. Those riffs just sounded so cool and were a steppingstone into more complex music.
Learning music from the 1960s and ‘70s made me grow as a musician because of the variety of chords. It expanded my vocabulary. I could see myself in the song rather than some arranged part; it was guitar music. It’s amazing how much overlap there is between the music my dad and I love from this time.
Sharkey: Ben had been wanting to start a band in high school, and he formed one with Quinn Petkus and other friends in early 2020. The group had several rehearsals and were making plans to perform, but the pandemic hit.
In 2021, Ben and I went to Arizona to visit my mother, and it was an opportunity to spend time, while driving, listening to all kinds of stuff. We decided it would be fun to form a band around our duo and do a show before Ben went to college.
What I find so special is that it all happened organically. I invited RJ McCarty and Felipe Torres, whom I had long-term musical relationships with, along with Premik Russell Tubs and Luis Perez, who at the time were newfound musical acquaintances. Ben did the same. It led us to find musicians who filled the roles we needed. Quinn was a natural choice because he is a fine bass player and plays trombone, and Quinn’s brother, Oliver, also plays trombone.
Ben and I make the decisions about what songs to play. There’s so much music we want to do. We want to mix it up but it’s hard to cut. Our song list is tricky to put a label on. We focus on the ‘60s and ‘70s, but we play some songs from recent years and some originals.
For example, we have “Lollipops and Roses,” a fast, jazzy instrumental tune on which Ben plays bass and Quinn plays trombone. Then, from the same era, we have “Everybody’s Everything,” by Santana, rocking, with a horn section, too. Then there’s “Love Song,” by The Cure, which is a slightly Goth, melancholy rock ’n’ roll tune. We play a spectrum between a jazzier, soulful kind of music and rock. A lot of them — 80 percent, we figured out once — happen to be love songs, so I guess we love love songs!
When we did our first band show, in January 2022, the lineup included drums, horns, bass, keyboards and background singers. At the end of the night, 11 people were onstage. The feedback we got was it was special to see the generations together.
Ben: Because I’ve been playing with my dad for so long, it’s easy to take for granted just how well we play together. Even our singing harmonies are complementary. It anchors our group and creates a unique sound. As my Aunt Amy would say, “You guys are the future!” When I think of that, not only is it encouraging, it inspires me to foster that spirit in everything I do and maybe even work with a younger protégé, just as my dad has done for me.
The expanded Sharkey & the Sparks is such a fun project. It is built on family and friends. I can see that in the audience. Lots of people come to us after the show and comment on the joy they felt watching us play. A lot of times, dads will come up to us and say they wish they had something like that with their dad growing up or their son now.
Sharkey: To me, the purpose of this band is joy. After a show, my face aches from smiling so much.
The Towne Crier is located at 379 Main St., in Beacon. Tickets for the show, which begins at 8 p.m., are $25 at townecrier.com or $30 at the door.
