Mark Goffeney
How do you put a heart into a short biography? It seems
impossible, bit it’s worth a shot. These following paragraphs will
represent an artist who lives to bring his art to the masses through
music. This is the dream and vision of Mark Goffeney, A.K.A. “Big
Toe”.
Mark Goffeney is a native San Diegan whose
talent and ambition have helped him to achieve ongoing success as a
performer, speaker and television personality. Mark has been recognized
for his work internationally and was nominated for an Emmy award in 1998
for his principal role in the Fox Network commercial, “Feet”.
Born without arms in 1969, Mark was
nevertheless raised to see himself as an equal in society and to value
independence. With these values instilled, Mark was soon noticed
by several local charities and by 1973 had become a Poster Child and
principa; fund-raiser for both the Variety Club and March of Dimes. For
the next decade, Mark co-hosted nearly 100 telethons working side by
side with celebrities including Monte Hall, Kathy Lee Gifford, Glenn
Campbell and many others. During that time, Mark filmed dozens of public
service announcements with such personalities as Magic Johnson, Roger
Staubach and Henry Winkler.
By 1981, Mark was credited for having raised
over 6 million dollars for children’s charities. By his own merits, he
appeared on Real People, the Mike Douglas Show. The Regis Philbin
show, (then known as “A.M. Los Angeles), and many local newscasts.
Music was a big part of Mark’s family and he
remembers being deeply touched by it at a very early age. By age nine,
Mark was attempting to create his own music, but choosing an instrument
would prove to be a challenge. For a while he played trombone in the
school band, then his dad brought home an old guitar he had found on a
jobsite. Mark asked his neighborhood friend and mentor, a real guitar
player, for instruction. Ironically, the guitar had only four strings:
Mark was learning to play guitar and bass at the same time! With
his friend’s help, Mark soon developed his own technique. He
would lay the guitar on the ground, supporting the neck with whatever he
could get his feet on. He would strum with his left…foot… and
make chords with his right.
By early adulthood, Mark was committed to a
full-fledged career in music and by the end of the nineties, Mark had
successfully completed his first CD, titled “Big Toe”. Sponsored by
PSB Records and produced by Steve Dudas (known for his work with
Aerosmith and Ozzy Osbourne). This CD is a collection of Mark
Goffeney’s greatest, original songs and was also featured in the San
Diego Reader’s “Best of the Best”.
Solo or with a band, Mark is able to provide
great entertainment to any crowd, as he did recently on ARD TV in
Germany where he opened for Lee Ann Rimes on the European hit show,
“Lippe Blofft”. The station forwarded over 100 emails received
the day following the show from viewers wanting Mark’s CD. To
date, CDs have been mailed to fans in Germany, Switzerland and Austria.
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