Singers with Unique Voices: Mark Shiiba (The Unique Voices Club #15)

Every Friday, I write a post about singers with unique voices not commonly heard in mainstream music in an effort to educate emerging artists and music lovers and inspire them to embrace their own quirks. This week I'm writing on Mark Shiiba.

Photo courtesy of NBC

Thank God for the Coach's Replay button introduced in Season 26 of The Voice. Because then Mark Shiiba wouldn't have gone to the Battle Rounds. Although in my opinion they shouldn't have even had to use it in the first place on a show that tends to focus on the singers with unique voices or a strong ability versus how they look. But when you have a rotating roster of judges, what people are looking for varies every season. And brain farts do happen.

Nonetheless, while Mark can cover some good Bob Dylan, six years in the navy have paved the way for an intricate songwriting and vocal style that gives him his own spotlight. His debut album, Bones, released in 2024, similar to Dylan, are very personal and commentate on aspects of the human condition such as life and death as well as inspired by his life at sea as the officer responsible for the operations of a nuclear reactor. His debut single, "Walking," one of my favorites, inspired a 90-mile walking tour documented on film where he travels along the California coast and plays shows along the way (mostly in backyards, true to the form of a folk singer who doesn't like wearing shoes) between Costa Mesa and Pacific Beach. Some of the songs, in fact, feel like a cosy warm blanket around a campfire.

Besides actually serving in the navy, another way that is hard to compare Mark and Dylan is their sound. Dylan's early Woody Guthrie-esque vocals kind of nasal Midwestern quality that embodied different characters, whereas his later recordings have a husky sound due to vocal cord changes from smoking and apparently a motorcycle accident that broke a few cervical vertebrae. Mark Shiiba, however, comes from Pennsylvania (which is in a totally different region), and has his roots in California, a great environment for alternative music and countercultural ideals. His speaking voice has some baritone quality to it which carries over in his lower singing notes, save for the raspy rocky belt, falsetto and a closed sound that make his voice almost whisper to you. "What a Wonderful World," the song he sang in the Battle Round against Edward Preble, showcased all of the storytelling aspects his unique voice possesses even it sounded gritty compared to Edward's clean crooner style. Even if he left the show that round, I (and a lot of other viewers) liked him better.

With just one album so far, I can't wait to hear what Mark is up to next. According to Instagram, he's fundraising for another EP, so eventually we'll get to listen to that🤩. Naturally with my sharing these artists the incentive is for you the reader to be inspired to either pursue your own artistic unconventionalism or, if you don't believe you have a creative bone in your body (which I beg to differ) to support these artists. Spotify and YouTube follows help some, of course, but in Mark's case you can join the Shiiba Village starting at $5 a month, like you can my Firebird Flock. If this article hasn't convinced you to continue following Mark's journey, maybe this rad elevator pitch song might:

Anyway, that's all for this week in the Unique Voices Club, firebirds. Remember that art has the power to fight against injustice and also bring beauty in a fallen world. If you're a creative, your life and mission may not look the same as another creative's. So if you believe in the cause of breaking away from the norms of art, consider supporting this blog by joining my Patreon from just $7 so that I can keep inspiring your art.

Stay educated,

Alexia