Meet the Band!

"This fellow has something to say." Laurie Lewis

After beginning like so many of us with piano lessons as a kid, Mark Kreitzer soon fell in love with various musical styles and instruments. In addition to being an award winning multi-instrumentalist, he is also an accomplished, award winning songwriter and member of the Minnesota Rock and Country Hall of Fame as a member of the Middle Spunk Creek Boys. Mark also is a BMI publisher, known as Harvest Hop Musik.

Mark is nearing his fourth decade on stages around the midwest and the world, including appearances at folk and bluegrass festivals, concerts, on television and radio, including the Prairie Home Companion. He has recorded with such bands as The Clearwater Hot Club, The Middle Spunk Creek Boys, The Wisconsin River Bluegrass Boys, Harmonious Wail and numerous others. He has shared the stage with Tom Paxton, Alan Munde, Joe Carr, Don Stiernberg and Tony Trishka, Becky Schlegel, Brian Wicklund and Chris Silver. Mark's songs have been recorded by Joe Carr and Alan Munde, The Middle Spunk Creek Boys, Becky Schlegel and the Sparetime Bluegrass Band.

Chuck Kreitzer holds down the bass position, while soaring vocally with the tenor parts, and an occasional lead vocal, too. While most of his career has been devoted to teaching strings in the public schools, he has been a member of the Middle Spunk Creek Boys since 2001. He also happens to be Mark's brother, which makes for some electrifying vocal duets.

Rejoining Mark officially for the first time since 1979, Tom Schaefer is one of the most exciting, original fiddlers you'll hear. He's been a member of the Rocky Mountain Oysters, String Theory and the half of the bluegrass bands in the upper midwest. Tom also has an extensive discography - ask him at one of our shows!

Jed Germond is another familiar face to acoustic music fans. Equally at home on the fiddle, mandolin, tenor guitar and banjo, Jed has recently added the pedal steel to his repertoire, and to the Mark Kreitzer Band. He can fix your instrument or build you a brand new one, too!

Filling out the roster is another multi-instrumentalist who is well known to audiences around the Upper Midwest. Tony Ihrig contributes his tasty banjo, guitar and Dobro licks to the band, and we're looking forward to adding Tony's talents as a percussionist to the mix. You can also catch Tony on stage with Free Range Pickin' and the High 48's.

Whether you are planning a wedding, party, corporate event or festival, you will want to contact Mark right away to book the Mark Kreitzer Band for your special event.

What people are saying about Mark's music:

"Mark's latest CD (Pages) is a real gem." Jon Garon, www.mfmguitars.com

Theater review: North Star's "Brel" is alive, in reasonably good health: "Mark Kreitzer's guitar finds inventive ways to affect the sound." by Graydon Royce, Star Tribune, December 18, 2004

"The addition a couple of years ago of Madison transplant Mark Kreitzer gave [the Middle Spunk Creek Boys] a shot in the collective arm. Kreitzer gives The Middle Spunk Creek Boys a new sound and feel. That his entry into Spunkdom would shake the clubhouse rafters is inevitable, since he's a prolific songwriter and plays about three thousand instruments." by Adam Granger, Inside Bluegrass, December 2000, vol. 26, No. 12

"Mark Kreitzer's 'Little Willie's Return' and 'He Died Alone' are topical compositions that could have been snatched right from the headlines of today's newspapers." by Les McIntyre, copyright 2000 by Bluegrass Unlimited

Speaking about the Middle Spunk Creek Boys' "No One Else" recording: "Mark Kreitzer wrote eight of the album's nine originals. 'Time and Time Again' by Mr. Kreitzer [is] also up tempe. Probably the best way to describe it is to have you think of Michael Nesmith's 'What Am I Doin' Hanging 'Round' but with more of a quirky rhythm to the words...'There's No One Else,' [is] a slow, pensive number that sounds like the kind of work done by the rock group the Jayhawks. If it were possible to wear out a CD from repeated play, that cut would be in danger." Copyright 1999 Bluegrass Unlimited