"Stage dreams become reality for musician Mark Tardi "

It’s Friday night at the Black Diamond Hotel and rising country talent Mark Tardi is getting ready for his first set.

As he tunes up his guitar and consults with his manager/wife LeeAnn, the bar regulars settle in at their tables, not realizing the great music that is about to fill the room.

One last soundcheck and Tardi is ready to go. . . by the way, he is always open for requests.

During the first few minutes of his set, Tardi strums his guitar and belts out some popular hits from the likes of George Strait, Alan Jackson, Brooks and Dunn and Ronnie Milsap.

While looking around the bar room, it is clearly obvious that Tardi’s performance is taking hold of country fans, as they sit, sipping their drinks and at the same time drinking in his vocals.

Then something happens that every performer, new and experienced, longs for — inspiration for the listeners to get up from their chairs and take a turn on the dance floor.

For the next 30 minutes, couples choose their moments to cast intimidation aside, cross the room and two-step across the dance area, completely absorbed in their favorite country song which Tardi has brought to life.

As the couples spin, shuffle their feet and try the occasional ‘dip’ Tardi’s voice grows more confident — he is clearly enjoying this.

	'It’s very exciting. . . I’m just starting and I feel like I’ve got years and years to go before I feel any kind of burn out.' --Mark Tardi, musician

After the end of his first set, Tardi takes a 15-minute breather and sits down for an interview — a task he will have to become accustomed to while his star is on the rise.

While talking with Tardi, he reveals a few surprises about himself.

He explained that in high school he started a rock band, inspired by the stylings of Triumph and Aerosmith.

However, the life of a rock star was not for him.

'When I would sing, by the end of the night I’d have no voice,' said Tardi. 'I was just a kid screaming at a concert. I found out that if you just learn to train your voice and not push it so hard, the rest will just develop.'

Tardi explained that his career has grown in steps, beginning with singing karaoke five years ago and growing to the local circuit.

'You kind of take steps as you go,' he said. 'The first step I took was to wean myself off the (karaoke) monitor, I didn’t want to watch the words because when you look at the words you can’t sing from the heart. . . it’s important to make it like you’re part of that song.'

'If you try to feel what the writer of that song felt as he wrote that song, (the performance) just comes across better and the (audience) feels it too,' he added.

After developing his vocal talents through karaoke, Tardi took a crash course in rhythm guitar about three years ago.

'I took about three months worth of lessons, I just wanted to learn the chords,' said Tardi. 'If I had known it would have been that easy, I would have started this a long time ago.'

Despite his recent start in the music business, Tardi admitted he has a long way to go in developing his musical career.

'I’ve always wanted to play in a large venue, just touring the circuit around Calgary or maybe across Canada,' the Okotoks resident explained. 'I’m not expecting to go into the United States like Nashville — I would love to, if that chance ever happened I would grab that ring and never let go but I’m just going to go as far as the good Lord takes me.'

While having goals is good motivation for professional musicians, Tardi said it is important to keep it real and accept your talents as a gift.

'I look at everything as a God-given gift. . . if you’re given a gift you have to use it, try to develop it the best you can and don’t throw it away,' said the singer/songwriter. 'If you have a dream, follow it and see where it takes you.'

So far, Tardi’s dream as a musician has taken him to venues across the Foothills with appearances in Black Diamond, Longview and Okotoks.

Last summer, Tardi performed on stage at the Canada Day celebrations which were held at Riverside Park in Okotoks.

'I’m living a dream right now,' said Tardi. 'Every time I’m on stage singing and people tell me they like what they hear it’s a natural high.'

While he gains from experiencing that high on stage, Tardi added that writing songs is also a great experience in expressing emotions.

'After the guitar lessons I wrote eight songs,' said Tardi who added he would like to record those songs this year. 'Those songs were written from the heart. . . emotions can bring out a really good song. You can’t just sit down and say you’re going to write a really good song today, you have to be feeling something.'

His inspiration to write songs and entertain also comes from the support he receives from his family.

'My son loves to sing with me,' said Tardi. 'And LeeAnn is part of the show, she does the scheduling and the booking, she is my manager, my agent and my best friend.'

Tardi said he is looking forward to performing locally at events such as the High River rodeos and Millarville Rodeo and branching out to events in Calgary.

'It’s very exciting. . . I’m just starting and I feel like I’ve got years and years to go before I feel any kind of burn out,' said Tardi. 'I love what I’m doing now. . . everything else is just icing on the cake.'

"Mark Tardi releases debut album"

 Okotoks’ own country talent

   Mark Tardi is keeping busy these days.

If juggling a hectic schedule performing at various foothills and Calgary venues for the Stampede isn’t enough for   this dedicated artist, try topping if off with the release of his first CD.

“It’s quite exciting to have a first CD,” said Tardi. “It’s a labor of love knowing that I could have a CD out.”

 Entitled “Somebody”, the CD features 10 tracks, all of which were written by the talented singer/songwriter and offer a highly personal insight into his past.

 “I found the best way to write my songs is to write about my own experiences,” explained Tardi, who noted that one of the tracks deals with the pain of divorce while others touch on the joys of friends, family and finding true Love.

 “What it comes down to is that I’ve experienced some pain and a lot of joy in my life,” he noted.  Although the process of putting his heart and soul into music and ultimately into a CD was a lengthy two-and-a-half year process, Tardi said the overall experience was an enjoyable one.

“Getting to meet some of the musicians (on the CD) was one of the best things,” he said. “I had the chance to work with some fantastic instrumentalists.”

                          Among the musicians Tardi had the opportunity to work with were guitarist Greg Derksen, who has often been featured with the Tremblay Brothers; drummer Scott Christensen, a regular on the tour circuit with Jason McCoy; and fiddler Kristen McMullen.

 “Everyone was so professional,” said Tardi. “It was really something to hear my words put together with the music and fascinating arrangements.”

While Tardi praised his fellow musicians for their contribution to the CD, he noted it was producer and former foothills resident Fred Lays who made the CD a possibility.

 “Fred believed in my songs —- he turned a dream of mine into a reality,” said Tardi.

As evident in many of the tracks on “Somebody”, Tardi’s greatest inspiration came via his wife LeeAnn.

 “Four of the songs were written for her,” he said. “She just  inspired me so easily to write from the heart.”

 With his first CD under his belt and a multitude of bookings to keep his day-planner overflowing, Tardi said he is living out his life-long dream of being a professional musician.

 “It’s a real rush to see people dancing on the dance floor, enjoying my music,” he said. “This is a God-given gift I am so grateful to have, to share my feelings and put them into words and have them come out into song. It’s hard to explain, but it is  something I will never give up.”

Tardi hopes that his first CD will give listeners a chance to experience his lyrics in their own personal ways.

       “If people can feel anything of what I was feeling when I wrote the songs, it will be a big reward,” he said. “This is a CD that they can listen to with the headphones on and just relax.”

 Although just into its second week since being released, Tardi  noted that he has already received some positive feedback from listeners and fans alike.

                          During one of his performances at a recent venue, Tardi was approached by someone who was apparently moved by his song ‘Old Memories’ which is featured on his CD.

  “One lady came up to me at one of my shows and said she would like to use the song at a ceremony to celebrate her and her husband’s 30th wedding anniversary,” he said. “I guess (the song) really touched her.”

 With his new release, Tardi has obviously reached out and touched ‘Somebody.’

 “Somebody” is currently available in select stores across the foothills area.

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