Pam Mark Hall’s story would make a good movie for the Lifetime channel: A heralded musician and songwriter, frustrated with the dynamics of the “Christian” entertainment business, leaves one successful career to build another as a marketing and advertising executive. Then, when her fans least expect it, she returns to devote herself once again to songwriting, recording and concert touring.
Already, her fans are hailing the decision, reminiscing about Hall’s distinctly special voice and songs while eagerly anticipating new music. “The response has been amazing and very encouraging,” Hall says. “Thanks to the Internet, and to social media like Facebook and Reverbnation, I’m finding all these baby boomer “Jesus Music” fans who wanted to know what I was doing musically. Some, nostalgic, sought my older music, which had been special to them earlier in their lives, and they wanted to hear it again. But they also wanted to know what else I’d done, and what I was doing now. That has opened up a whole new path of possibilities for me.”
Hall always found an outlet in music: By the time she learned to write, she knew how to create chords and sing music. Born in Rialto, California, she played piano by age 6 and, by age 9, played guitar and wrote her own songs. At 13, she formed an acoustic group, the Town Folk Singers, winning several regional talent competitions. A year later, she formed a local chapter of the famed Up With People vocal organization, and soon was recruited to tour with the group’s national ensemble, performing in a duo that included actress Glenn Close.
In college, as a new type of singer-songwriter emerged across America, Hall began performing in coffeehouses, at rallies and on underground FM radio stations. She became one of the regular performers at the Forest Home Conference Center, a summer youth retreat in Southern California, an experience that proved invaluable in teaching her how to communicate with an audience.
After college, Hall worked with a progressive youth outreach program, the Salt Company, reaching out to teens at Hollywood High and other Los Angeles schools. She then interned at the well-regarded Discovery Arts Guild in Palo Alto, California, where she was mentored by singer-songwriter John Fischer.
At Fischer’s encouragement, in 1975 she recorded her first album, Flying, an acoustic folk album. Her second collection, This Is Not a Dream, included orchestral arrangements and broader influences, including pop and rock. As her fan base grew, Hall continued to grow and experiment, releasing the album Never Fades Away in 1980, which broadened into jazz, similar to Joni Mitchell’s moves at the same time.
Good Night Sleep Tight, a lullaby album Hall produced in 1982, proved how respected she had become, as she gathered renowned fellow artists Brown Bannister, Debby Boone, John Fischer, Marty McCall, Randy Stonehill, and Noel Paul Stookey (of Peter, Paul & Mary) to participate. Stookey sang a duet with Hall on the album, and the title song was written by Hall and acclaimed guitarist Phil Keaggy.
She quickly followed with another brash move, stepping further into ‘80s pop-rock with the album Supply and Demand, recorded with producer Keith Thomas, a Grammy winner who also has worked with Michael Bolton, David Foster, Amy Grant, Brian McKnight, and Vanessa Williams. Next she teamed with the esteemed Wendy Waldman as producer on Keeper, moving even deeper into pop-rock territory.
After a break, Hall returned stronger than ever in 1993 with Paler Shade, one of the most remarkable singer-songwriter albums of the ‘90s, according to All Music. The combination of Hall’s maturing, thoughtful songwriting and the production of acclaimed guitarist Dave Perkins proved a provocative match and remains a favorite for many of her fans.
By then, Hall had been nominated for Dove Awards, had her songs recorded by Amy Grant, Debby Boone, Noel Paul Stookey, Kathy Troccoli and The Imperials, and had regularly collaborated with many of the biggest names in the music industry.
Yet she left it behind, partly due to the messy, duplicitous politics of the music industry, which heightened after her divorce, when she was released from her record label. “My whole support system fell out from under me,” she says. “I needed to create a whole new life for myself and my daughter, outside of the music industry. It was a long road, but I managed to start over and to do well.”
She began by taking a job on the administrative side of the Salvation Army. From there, she worked for the Tennessee Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, where she worked with legislators and in workshops. She spent a summer writing songs at Martha’s Vineyard, then returned to Nashville, a single mom with a daughter in high school. She went to work for the Nashville Business Journal as a sales representative, becoming their biggest revenue producer and working her way up the ladder. That led to an offer to be market publisher for Nashville Medical News, a post she loved until the company was bought in a merger, and her position was eliminated.
While taking time to assess her new direction, she reconnected with Jerry Chamberlain, the acclaimed guitarist and songwriter who had been a member of the groundbreaking groups Daniel Amos (DA) and the Swirling Eddies, and formed a new duo, Pamelita and Parker. “Jerry had moved to Nashville and found out I lived here, and he got in touch with me,” Hall recalls. “We started writing songs, and it just clicked.”
Hall wasn’t surprised that the two creative veterans found common ground: They’d begun within the same music community and shared many similar experiences along their musical paths. What surprised Hall was how writing these songs sparked a desire to perform and record again.
“I thought I had left music for good,” Hall says. “I saw myself as a businesswoman with strong sales and marketing skills. But Jerry helped me realize, no matter how you slice or dice me, I’m still an artist – creative to the bone. Put me in a corporate environment, and I’m still going to think like an artist. There’s value in that, but there can be frustration too.”
The decision did carry more than a bit of fan encouragement. With the Internet and social media sites like http://www.facebook.com/pammarkhallmusic and http://www.reverbnation.com/pammarkhall — allowing fans to send messages to artists, Hall found she still had scores of followers and fans eager to know if she still created music. Many of them spoke of how important her music had been to them, how strong it spoke to them, and they asked for replacement copies of old favorites, or wanted to buy them as gifts for others. When these fans discovered she had begun to create music again, they erupted with excitement and support, eager to hear what she’s doing now.
“I’m doing this, because I feel ‘called out’ by my fans, Mark-Hall says. “Part of me has returned to life. I feel the most inspired and most alive when I am reading, journaling, writing songs, recording, performing and connecting with others. It may seem crazy to jump back into a creative career at the age most people are getting ready to retire, but it makes me feel purposeful and alive. My grandmother lived to be 99 years old. If I am anything like her, then I know I’ll be creating until the end.
“Those first two albums were from a special era of the Jesus People Movement over 35 years ago. Like any kind of artist, you create something, honor it, and then move on and create something new. I’ve attempted to continually grow as a human being and an artist. The music I write now comes from the place of having lived a gritty life full of challenges, failures and achievements. As always, I am transparent. I hope my old and new fans will be inspired by the new work as well as the old.”
Already, her fans are hailing the decision, reminiscing about Hall’s distinctly special voice and songs while eagerly anticipating new music. “The response has been amazing and very encouraging,” Hall says. “Thanks to the Internet, and to social media like Facebook and Reverbnation, I’m finding all these baby boomer “Jesus Music” fans who wanted to know what I was doing musically. Some, nostalgic, sought my older music, which had been special to them earlier in their lives, and they wanted to hear it again. But they also wanted to know what else I’d done, and what I was doing now. That has opened up a whole new path of possibilities for me.”
Hall always found an outlet in music: By the time she learned to write, she knew how to create chords and sing music. Born in Rialto, California, she played piano by age 6 and, by age 9, played guitar and wrote her own songs. At 13, she formed an acoustic group, the Town Folk Singers, winning several regional talent competitions. A year later, she formed a local chapter of the famed Up With People vocal organization, and soon was recruited to tour with the group’s national ensemble, performing in a duo that included actress Glenn Close.
In college, as a new type of singer-songwriter emerged across America, Hall began performing in coffeehouses, at rallies and on underground FM radio stations. She became one of the regular performers at the Forest Home Conference Center, a summer youth retreat in Southern California, an experience that proved invaluable in teaching her how to communicate with an audience.
After college, Hall worked with a progressive youth outreach program, the Salt Company, reaching out to teens at Hollywood High and other Los Angeles schools. She then interned at the well-regarded Discovery Arts Guild in Palo Alto, California, where she was mentored by singer-songwriter John Fischer.
At Fischer’s encouragement, in 1975 she recorded her first album, Flying, an acoustic folk album. Her second collection, This Is Not a Dream, included orchestral arrangements and broader influences, including pop and rock. As her fan base grew, Hall continued to grow and experiment, releasing the album Never Fades Away in 1980, which broadened into jazz, similar to Joni Mitchell’s moves at the same time.
Good Night Sleep Tight, a lullaby album Hall produced in 1982, proved how respected she had become, as she gathered renowned fellow artists Brown Bannister, Debby Boone, John Fischer, Marty McCall, Randy Stonehill, and Noel Paul Stookey (of Peter, Paul & Mary) to participate. Stookey sang a duet with Hall on the album, and the title song was written by Hall and acclaimed guitarist Phil Keaggy.
She quickly followed with another brash move, stepping further into ‘80s pop-rock with the album Supply and Demand, recorded with producer Keith Thomas, a Grammy winner who also has worked with Michael Bolton, David Foster, Amy Grant, Brian McKnight, and Vanessa Williams. Next she teamed with the esteemed Wendy Waldman as producer on Keeper, moving even deeper into pop-rock territory.
After a break, Hall returned stronger than ever in 1993 with Paler Shade, one of the most remarkable singer-songwriter albums of the ‘90s, according to All Music. The combination of Hall’s maturing, thoughtful songwriting and the production of acclaimed guitarist Dave Perkins proved a provocative match and remains a favorite for many of her fans.
By then, Hall had been nominated for Dove Awards, had her songs recorded by Amy Grant, Debby Boone, Noel Paul Stookey, Kathy Troccoli and The Imperials, and had regularly collaborated with many of the biggest names in the music industry.
Yet she left it behind, partly due to the messy, duplicitous politics of the music industry, which heightened after her divorce, when she was released from her record label. “My whole support system fell out from under me,” she says. “I needed to create a whole new life for myself and my daughter, outside of the music industry. It was a long road, but I managed to start over and to do well.”
She began by taking a job on the administrative side of the Salvation Army. From there, she worked for the Tennessee Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, where she worked with legislators and in workshops. She spent a summer writing songs at Martha’s Vineyard, then returned to Nashville, a single mom with a daughter in high school. She went to work for the Nashville Business Journal as a sales representative, becoming their biggest revenue producer and working her way up the ladder. That led to an offer to be market publisher for Nashville Medical News, a post she loved until the company was bought in a merger, and her position was eliminated.
While taking time to assess her new direction, she reconnected with Jerry Chamberlain, the acclaimed guitarist and songwriter who had been a member of the groundbreaking groups Daniel Amos (DA) and the Swirling Eddies, and formed a new duo, Pamelita and Parker. “Jerry had moved to Nashville and found out I lived here, and he got in touch with me,” Hall recalls. “We started writing songs, and it just clicked.”
Hall wasn’t surprised that the two creative veterans found common ground: They’d begun within the same music community and shared many similar experiences along their musical paths. What surprised Hall was how writing these songs sparked a desire to perform and record again.
“I thought I had left music for good,” Hall says. “I saw myself as a businesswoman with strong sales and marketing skills. But Jerry helped me realize, no matter how you slice or dice me, I’m still an artist – creative to the bone. Put me in a corporate environment, and I’m still going to think like an artist. There’s value in that, but there can be frustration too.”
The decision did carry more than a bit of fan encouragement. With the Internet and social media sites like http://www.facebook.com/pammarkhallmusic and http://www.reverbnation.com/pammarkhall — allowing fans to send messages to artists, Hall found she still had scores of followers and fans eager to know if she still created music. Many of them spoke of how important her music had been to them, how strong it spoke to them, and they asked for replacement copies of old favorites, or wanted to buy them as gifts for others. When these fans discovered she had begun to create music again, they erupted with excitement and support, eager to hear what she’s doing now.
“I’m doing this, because I feel ‘called out’ by my fans, Mark-Hall says. “Part of me has returned to life. I feel the most inspired and most alive when I am reading, journaling, writing songs, recording, performing and connecting with others. It may seem crazy to jump back into a creative career at the age most people are getting ready to retire, but it makes me feel purposeful and alive. My grandmother lived to be 99 years old. If I am anything like her, then I know I’ll be creating until the end.
“Those first two albums were from a special era of the Jesus People Movement over 35 years ago. Like any kind of artist, you create something, honor it, and then move on and create something new. I’ve attempted to continually grow as a human being and an artist. The music I write now comes from the place of having lived a gritty life full of challenges, failures and achievements. As always, I am transparent. I hope my old and new fans will be inspired by the new work as well as the old.”
