PORT ST. LUCIE PEOPLE
created the titles first, then the art to go with the music,
and finally created music inspired by the art. The two he
is talking about are Luminescence, with a peacock whose
vibrant tail is trailing behind him like a train, and The
Path, in shades of gray showing a dirt road between
trees with soft fog in the background.
Like many successful musicians, he started young —
he was already playing the piano at the age of 3 and said
his piano teachers called him a terror because he didn’t
want to play the lesson, he wanted to play what was inside
his head. He composed his first ballad when he was
15 for his father. He never had a formal music education
other than six weeks of learning guitar chords that could
be used on the piano.
Although he wanted a music career, he thought he
could never compete so he went into mortgage banking
and lending instead — for more than 25 years, until he
dared to create his first album in 2008. To the casual listener
his two aptitudes, music and math, may not seem
related. But they are, Barnes says. “I listen to my music
and I hear a mathematical process.”
But music is also very emotional. “Music is the window
to the soul,” he says. “Put your negative emotions
into being creative and never take them out on another
human being.” E
MARK BARNES
Age: 61
Lives in: Port St. Lucie
Occupation: Musician
Education: Attended Daemen College in New York State
Hobbies: Travel and enjoying scenery
Who or what inspires you: People, landscapes
What most people don’t know about me: I started
playing piano at the age of 3; that a couple of gloomy
days help me start composing music.
Port St. Lucie Magazine 39
Barnes accepts an award during the LA Music Awards show.
Images are projected on and behind Barnes as he plays onstage.