“May you find the missing peace to every puzzle
Find the missing peace to all your wars
Share the missing peace that is in others
And be the missing peace that someone else is searching for.”
— Mark Pearson
By Sharon Wootton
Special to The Herald
Love has the upper hand in singer-songwriter Mark Pearson’s life.
His last album, “Let Love Go Forward,” was Pearson taking a drive with every approaching billboard about conflicts. In his new album, “The Missing Peace,” the conflicts are in his rearview mirror.
Pearson performs Saturday in Shoreline and Sunday on Whidbey Island.
“I believed at 50 that I was who I was (and) I was stuck with the baggage. At 57, I feel no longer stuck with the baggage,” Pearson said.
“I learned to find and face my fears and where there was fear, find love. And I know I can continue to grow, and so can others.
“I hope (listeners) can hope for possibilities in their own lives and know that it’s not too late.”
A change began at his father’s memorial service several years ago when the minister read from his father’s journal of essays, including one about his father’s experience with depression.
“It had been a big family secret. I didn’t know that he had suffered from it until I was 22. … At the memorial service, the secret was revealed,” said Pearson, a longtime performer with The Brothers Four.
“I’ve come to believe in the last seven years that (the revelation) was a gift from my dad. … It let me find space and finally be free of my biggest fears and replace those fears with love.”
To listen to or talk with Pearson does not conjure images of insecurity. Yet he said his biggest fear was the saboteur, “the fear of success and failure.”
Then there was the imposter syndrome. A 20-year-old song of his asked how he could be loved if people really knew him.
“I’ve replaced (the fears) with the feeling of being home, being healthy, being whole, and open as opposed to closed,” Pearson said.
“It’s important to feel that life is full of possibilities, knowing there are no guarantees. Once the fear was articulated, (I was) able to live with those fears instead of in those fears.”
In the pivotal song of his journey, “A Loving Man,” there’s movement from a frightened man to a loving man.
“(My wife) Pat was my greatest gift of all. She stood in one place and wasn’t afraid of my fears. Without Pat as a witness, I couldn’t have done it.”
The Port Ludlow resident hooked up with Ted Brancato as his producer-arranger, who also co-wrote more than half of the new CD’s melodies. Pearson, who normally plays guitars and banjos, played very little on the 18 original songs.
“I really trusted Ted (and) only played the guitar on two or three songs. But I’ll bring the four- and five-string banjos to all the shows, and do a bit of ragtime music.”
Until 1991, Pearson was always “the new guy” with The Brothers Four, but he is now the voice of The Brothers Four as the group’s makeup changed.
The Northwest group has made its mark with folk songs such as “Greenfields,” “Yellow Bird,” “Try to Remember” and “Across the Wide Missouri.” “The Green Leaves of Summer” from the movie “The Alamo” was nominated for an Academy Award.
The group spent the last several seasons performing 75 or more shows each year. This season has a new twist. The Brothers Four have joined The Kingston Trio and Glenn Yarborough on the “This Land Is Your Land” tour.
Whether one of four, one of two or performing solo, Pearson is performing, and living, with a well-earned sense of well-being.
Mark Pearson performs this weekend in Shoreline and Freeland.
Mark Pearson
8 p.m. Saturday, Northwest Church of Christ, 15555 15th Ave. NE, Shoreline
7 p.m. Sunday, Trinity Lutheran Church, 18341 Highway 525, Freeland.
Admission is by donation; 10 percent of all proceeds goes to fighting AIDS in Africa.
Mark Pearson
8 p.m. Saturday, Northwest Church of Christ, 15555 15th Ave. NE, Shoreline
7 p.m. Sunday, Trinity Lutheran Church, 18341 Highway 525, Freeland.
Admission is by donation; 10 percent of all proceeds goes to fighting AIDS in Africa.
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