“ I want to thank you for the engaging and wonderfully entertaining concert last week. Thank you for making time on your busy schedule and for sharing your legendary talent…”
Roberta Gillespie, Norridge IL
“This morning I listened to MD for an hour after breakfast. There’s nothing like it. I love Mark’s medicine.”
Jerry Woolpy, Costa Rica
“Enjoyed your performance ar Trinity House. Perfect; actually. Wonderful choices of tunes and I loved the encore of ‘Both Sides Now.’ You are one seasoned performer…”
Geri Green, Livonia MI
“We had some friends visit. She brought a CD with her because we just had to hear this singer-songwriter she had heard in Atlanta.”
“We giggled when she presented Mark’d CD. Good taste in music, we assured her, but we had already discovered him. She said she was moved by his music; she could tell from the songs & the stories that he was a kind & decent human; and was charmed that he brought Frank Hamilton on stage. There was more gushing… great history of music, handsome…”
“It was actually really wonderful to hear the delighted enthusiasm of someone discovering a great performer whom we adore… “
Christine & Aiden, Asheville NC
"Some people are the living expression of their own ideals. Mark Dvorak is just that.”
"Ever since he was a little boy in Cicero, Illinois, he wanted to play guitar, sing, tell stories, and perform just like Bob Dylan. Tonight, he brought all that history with him and sang all his childhood dreams in front of a small audience, some seniors, some adults, and some children. It could have been a stadium instead of our library's large meeting room, and it wouldn't have made a difference, as his joy for singing was so palpable and alive.”
"He sang about this 'place that was made for you and me,' and I felt that that meant me too. I loved being a part of a place songs were written about. He sang about the 'blue skies' and how we 'all get mixed up' here on this planet, under the same sky, while his fingers played away as if independent of his voice and the rest of his body.”
Raluca Barbu, Algonquin IL Area Public Library
“Too many years ago when I first started studying guitar, my teacher said, ‘You need to go see this guy and you need to get there early if you want to get a seat.”
“Well I did and ever since I’ve been following Mark around trying to learn what I can. He’s not only a great singer and player, he is also an author, storyteller, keeper and teacher of songs, and a real good human being.”
“It warms my heart every time I see him so I will tell you what she told me: Go!”
Karen Barr, Berwyn IL
“Your new CD is right on target. There are lessons to be learned, more than just music… and the music is beautiful. There is a deep spiritual quality, and we all need uplifting during these times. I believe something really good will come of this…”
Lovetta & Hugh Stewart, Bartonville IL
Singer, performer, activist, educator and co-founder of Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music, Win Stracke was born on February 20, 1908.
To celebrate Win's centennial birthday, MD posted the essay, Win Stracke's Dream, four years ago.
Read Win Stracke's Dream here.