Putting the Jersey into Bluegrass

‘Bluegrass’ means ‘Kentucky’ to most people, but that doesn’t have to be the case. It can mean New Jersey. Or any state, for that matter. Just ask Mark Miklos.

“It seems to bring back what America was, in the musical sense,” he says. “Bluegrass has a true American sound, it’s really American music.”

Miklos would know. An East Brunswick resident and Bluegrass musician, Miklos plays approximately 50 engagements every year across the area, promoting a style of music many say combines the best elements of country, jazz, and numerous other styles and influences.

And he came by his vocation honestly.

“I grew up in the South… South Edison” the 45 year-old Miklos says with a hearty laugh. “Then I moved to East Brunswick. That’s where I married my wife. That’s where we live now, 10 years or so.”

It was Miklos’ parents who turned him on to country music, bluegrass in particular. Both hailed from Pennsylvania; his father was born in the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre area, his mother from the south side of Pittsburgh, close to the Virginia border. 

“I probably first heard Bluegrass on the old radio station, WHN. That was the radio station my mom used to listen to, it was the old country station,” he says. Miklos began playing around the age of 16 as he recalls, and now plays guitar and lead vocals for his band.

However, Miklos is not content only to play bluegrass music. He considers understanding his style’s history to be just as important as the music itself, perhaps even more so.

“It started with Bill Monroe. They call him the father of Bluegrass music,” Miklos says. “The music started in and around rural Kentucky and through the Appalachian mountains, basically from Irish Scottish traditions. That kind of music has been around for a long time, it’s based mainly on Irish and Scottish fiddle tunes. Monroe started to play that music with an American feel.”

Many compare bluegrass’s improvisational style to jazz, a comparison with which Miklos agrees. “A lot of Bluegrass groups almost sound like jazz. The influence of jazz and bluegrass today is more on the traditional side of Bluegrass. I play more of the traditional country bluegrass sound.”

According to his web site, it was the legendary Hank Williams Sr. who “finally hooked Mark.” Today, Miklos often includes Williams’ classic "Your Cheatin' Heart" in his sets.

If you’re interested in catching Miklos live, you’ll have numerous opportunities. His group plays the Colts Neck Fair on July 3 from 2 to 4 p.m., and will also appear at the Lehigh Valley Bluegrass Festival later this summer. He also plays private parties.

“I probably play close to about 50 dates,” he says. “It averages out about once a week. What we do is a combination of specialty shows, bluegrass music festivals, country music festivals. We’ll do country fairs. Also all the way down to where they’d have underground music on radio stations like WDDR, where they play bluegrass.”

He will also play a party at the Meadowlands Environmental Center in Lyndhurst on June the 30, but that show sold out at an unexpected pace. “A lot of people like the traditional sound of bluegrass,” he says.

For more information on Miklos and his upcoming performance dates, visit www.markmiklos.com.