Mark Grover Named Fretmonkey Records Manager and Director of Community Outreach
Fretmonkey Records is proud to announce the advancement of Mark Grover to Manger and Director of Community Outreach. Mark will immediately begin transitioning into the role and will fully assume the position on January 1, 2019. Mark joined Fretmonkey Records as the Artist Relations Representative in 2016 where he has played a key leadership role during the record label’s launch and start-up phase.
“Mark brings a wealth of knowledge, love, and passion for fingerstyle music, and possesses the qualities that Fretmonkey Records was founded on,” said label founder and studio engineer, Kevin Blake Goodwin. “By assuming this role, Mark will help us expand our global community and live out our mission to serve talented musicians everywhere.”
Fretmonkey Records was founded in 2016 by Goodwin and his family and 22 other guitar players in 10 countries. In June, the indie record label transitioned to an international artist community that offers record label services to a broader fingerstyle guitar audience on a more global scale. Fretmonkey has made headway with their global inclusive approach through sponsored monthly guitar nights in various cities abroad including Belfast, Edinburgh, Berlin, Bogotá, and Manchester Guitar Night with others in the works. With help from a team of 12 staff members and volunteers, label owner Alicia Cotabish has managed the operations of Fretmonkey Records while Goodwin has ran the operation of the Fretmonkey Studio. An expansion of the brand into China in late 2017 led to securing a brick-and-mortar facility that is expected to open in Nanchang City later next month. Cotabish stated, “Our international initiatives have grown. We want to continue to do what we started while expanding our reach, all of which requires more manpower. Mark will continue the important work we started while others focus on new initiatives. He cares about the fingerstyle community, is well-connected to artists everywhere, and is deeply involved with Fretmonkey and the larger community. His leadership has been instrumental to our early success. He is a team player and all of the founding artists and the larger community greatly respect Mark. He is the perfect fit for the position.”
When asked about his new position, Grover stated, “It is with great pleasure that I accept the role of Fretmonkey Manager. Fancy titles aside, what that means is that the folks at Fretmonkey Records seem to feel that I’m a good fit to be the face of their community operations. The people that comprise the fingerstyle guitar community are unlike any group I’ve ever encountered. They’re kind, passionate, freely share information, and band together to support members in need; like a closely-knit family more than a random group of individuals who share a common interest. I’ve been making personal and professional connections to artists and fans in this scene for over two decades because I genuinely enjoy it. Being able to use those connections to help artists, venues and vendors to further the artform for an internationally recognized purveyor stellar musicianship is a dream come true!”
