Reggae and folk music are usually considered two disparate genres, but singer-songwriter Mark Vollten has managed to combine them with his band Mark Vollten & The Scenic Roots.
Vollten grew up in the Fredericksburg area and graduated from Spotsylvania High School. His tastes in music were formed by what he heard his parents playing around his home.
“It has a good amount to do with my mom,” Vollten said. “She was a big reggae music fan. My dad was a more Bob Dylan guy. So I got to listen to a lot of both. That’s probably the reason for a lot of my kind of Frankenstein music. My inability to focus on one genre of music has led me to putting a bunch of them together as I see fit.”
If you go
Mark Vollten & The Scenic Roots, 8 p.m., Friday, Sept 12, Reclaim Arcade, 2324 Plank Rd, Fredericksburg. $15 cover at the door includes games, ages 18+
Vollten’s parents bought him an acoustic guitar when he was just 5, and a few years later, he took lessons at Bang Music in Stafford. Before forming the Scenic Roots, he performed as part of a folk duo and as a solo artist. It was during this time that he came up with the name of his current band.
“We were just doing dual acoustic guitar, much folkier stuff,” Vollten said. “I think we were just riding around town, and we came across the Rappahannock River and saw the scenic highway sign. One way or another, we got to talking and we were like, ‘Ah, the scenic route,’ then just started playing with that name. I started the band up a year or two after we had stopped playing together.”
Vollten performs with longtime bassist Adam Douberly and drummer Jake Meadows this weekend. The trio format lends itself much more to the reggae style Vollten loves and avoided playing as part of the acoustic duo.
“We were playing 12-string guitars and doing fingerstyle so it didn’t really work,” Vollten said. “We didn’t have a percussionist and reggae music needs some kind of percussion or drums. If you don’t have bass, you’re pretty much hopeless. You can maybe get away with it a little without drums, but drums and bass are pretty important for a good-sounding reggae song.”
Vollten cites folk rockers The Revivalists and alt-bluegrass band Trampled By Turtles among the influences of his songwriting. His lyrical topics have evolved along with his career, which has included performing with Huntley, another member of the local music circuit who went on to win the TV show “The Voice” in 2023.
“I’ve started to focus on writing more optimistically as I’ve gotten older,” Vollten said. “I’ve written through my teenage and 20s angst. I’m writing from a different perspective now. I write about all sorts of stuff; ups and downs of life and bluesy stuff.”
