Songwriters Songs Music Publishing MP3 Free MP3's Magic Turtle Music Mark Ransom The Rhythm Beans

When I was a kid my dad had to travel for his job. I remember anxiously awaiting his return on several occasions. One time he returned from Atlanta, Georgia with a gift for me. I was four or five years old. Wrapped like a birthday present and inside a gold-colored box was a stone-carved turtle. On subsequent trips more and more turtles found their way into my father's luggage and back home to me. And so my connection to turtle energy was born.

Soon, extended family and friends sent turtles: ceramic ones, wooden ones, metal ones, turtles from Jamaica, Italy, Mexico and many from China. I became the turtle guy, and developed a connection with my father through our collection.

The other big connection I have with my dad is our love of the guitar and music. As a child he taught himself to play guitar reading Mel-Bay instruction books. He was bedridden with rheumatic fever and his passion for music kept him focused on progress. Later, he played in a quartet, the Kokosing Valley Boys (fiddle, steel guitar, acoustic guitar and harmonica). They were just kids in Gambier, Ohio, but they assembled enough talent to present a weekly radio show in the 1950s.

Dad taught my brothers and me to play guitar when we were very young. He tuned ukuleles like the first four strings of a guitar: high E, B, G and D. Theoretically, our little fingers and minds were learning two-thirds of a guitar. When we were ready he added the A string and the low E, introducing us to the acoustic guitar proper.

Over the last 3 and a half decades music has become a powerful, integrating force in my life, and the turtle remains etched on my soul: a symbol of transformation.

Magic Turtle Music is the business home for my creative endeavors, and a music publishing company affiliated with BMI.

I operate a small project-studio in Bend, Oregon known as The Island Room.

From this space I also manage Bond Street Records, my label; and with the help of some friends, promote my shows, CDs and collaborations. Thanks for taking time to surf my way.

I hope you enjoy the music! All the best, Mark

Check out Mark's newest CD release, The Mostest - Masala Mostest, download free mp3's , and find out where Mark's playing next...

Magic Turtle Music
841 NW Bond Street #7 Bend, Oregon 97701
magicturtle@bendbroadband.com