PRESS: EPK ’24
An updated Electronic Press kit for 2024 music releases.
Bio
Mark "The Ram" O'Donnell is an independent American musician and visual artist based out of Carlsbad, CA. He can be seen performing original Southern California rock under the stage name, the Ram with a cast of local musicians.
Where "Songs of Wanderlust" (2023) was a love letter to the nomadic American heart. His latest release in 2025, “I Am Nowhere, I Am Everywhere” has musical and lyrical themes are closer to home, inspired by friends and family. The stories themselves center around life experience and read like daily journal entries. For more information about the Ram and his music, go to www.TheRamMusic.com
More Information
I currently use DistroKid to get everything out to the streaming platforms, Disco for all sync requests, Bands In Town to list live shows, and Substack for just about everything else.
The Moon’s Loving Light
About the Song
In 1987 I began working on a Bachelors of Fine Art at SUNY New Paltz, a small gem of a town in the shadow of the Shwamangunk mountains an hour due north from NYC. The people I met in my time there set the stage for the rest of my life. I fugged up pretty bad in high school, managed to get kicked out. Somehow, shortly after getting moved to a new high school in upstate NY, I began figural drawing and painting and was hooked. The tight community of artist, musicians, and writers I met in New Paltz from 1987-1991 set me on a path I continue on till this day. This song is for each and every one of them. The shared work, the trust instilled to complete the impossible, the parties till dawn, they all happened while we became adults together. Far away from my own family, I found a new one.
Lord I can see my baby such a sweet little dancer
Moving with the music how she weaves like a panther
Yeah the moon is drunk on whiskey don't you know it's true
And the moon's loving light is on the likes of you
Late one night after a party I looked up at the sky and was the full moon dancing between small clouds, lined up like a procession past the tree line. As I walked up to my studio late at night, I thought that the clouds were like the dreams of all the townspeople who had turned in for the night. The perfect companion for an artist about to open the door to his studio.
Listen to the Cold
About the Song
Watching generations disappear, hurts eternally. I wish more than anything, that my kids got to know their grandfather. It's been close to 20 years that he's been gone, but it still feels like yesterday that he was by my side.
I used to look out in the evenings
Dream of rambling
Moving lights on the old highway
Thinking of the places that they were off to
On the wide open interstate
Whenever I swim through the waves to get out to the surf, whenever I walk the mountains to gather my thoughts, he surrounds me. His voice, loud and clear in guidance, his hand, steadfast to pick me back up whenI fall. If this song is anything, it's a prayer to him and a reminder to myself that I have huge shoes to fill.
Join Along
About the Song
The story behind this song takes us back to September 15-20 1987, not sure which night it was my guess it was either a Friday or a Saturday given that I was going to school. I was a freshman in college at SUNY New Paltz and went down to NYC to see the Grateful Dead, take a listen and hear what went down. Join Along is a melodic homage to an incident that happened after a Madison Square Garden Grateful Dead show.
Let me see the moonlight in your eyes
Let me see the New York City lights
Let us smoke some incense and fill the air
Baby don’t you know that we’re almost there
My friends and I ended up stranded in NYC late nite after missing the last train north on the Hudson line. We ended up cruising up to Radio City, Rockefeller Plaza to camp out for David Letterman tickets. 6 country kids, very high on acid, safe on the marble floors of NBC in the 80s.
Love is a Terrible Thing to Waste
About the Song
There's a few events that comes to mind when I think of this song, they all point back to being a broke artist living in East Coast cities. I know NYC and Philadelphia well. When I lived in each of those cities, I never had two pennies to rub together. Those were good times. I've been robbed, ridiculed, beaten, and cheated, but never broken. The experience made me who I am today: I stood up for myself, and learned to recognize my people. With them I shared time with some of the most beautiful moments of my life. Many are gone, with respect to them, their memories, I wouldn't change a thing. I know that each experience was a stepping stone to where ai am today.
Ask me where Im going, I'm going way down town
Ask me what I'll be up to, said I'm a gonna spread a little love around
I don't know how I came out unscathed. I don't wish on anyone the experience being chased down the street by an unsavory character in Camden, NJ, or doing the same in a Brooklyn subway, or on Fordham Ave in the Bronx on foot while buying weed from a rasta. Nothing bad happened, I never got stabbed or shot, and for that I consider myself lucky. Travel and life in our cities has taught me to love all people, be aware of your present surroundings, because tomorrow is not guaranteed. Not at all.
Unbound
About the Song
The lyrics and message flowed through me like getting struck by lightning. It was like swimming in the ocean of the collective human soul. Nothing that I can say about this song makes a difference, for it stands on its own two feet and speaks for itself. “Unbound” is the voice of all things uncontrollable, the timber of nature personified. The forces locked up inside the human spirit, embattled in a continuous effort to free themselves.
I am nowhere, I am everywhere
I am free, I’m unbound
I am emotion, I am instinct
I am music, I am sound
Writing this song started during the pandemic. On happenstance, I came accross the video recording of me just ad-libbing with a guitar in hand. The lenses on my iPhone camera were cracked, as was the world around me. When I rewatched the recording, I had no doubt the song was complete, the rest of the lyrics were written as fast as I could write. Sometimes that’s how it works.
About the Video:
Originally I was supposed to head home to make a ZZ Top type music video with my brother, and My Uncle Tommy’s Black 57 Chevy. The summer went way too fast, and it looks like Im going to have to have it done this spring and that video is going to have to be set to a different song. That’s the last song of the set. What a great show, and what a great weekend. I hope you all had a great 2024 Thanksgiving weekend. This concert was released in support of the new single “Perpetual Change” (released on November 8, 2024). We started video taping and recording our live shows consistently in 2023, when I took over the live sound. Prior to that the recording sound quality was a bit spotty.
Related stories tied to the December 6, “Unbound” release:
Unbound: Official Music Video
Unbound: Studio Notes
Live Performance of Unbound, Performed at the Camp Store
Perpetual Change
About the Song:
The premise of “Perpetual Change“ is simple, life is short, don’t waste it. There is so much that is out of our control, we need to focus only on the things that we can control, while having absolute and utter faith in ourselves and our actions. Our loved ones in time will pass on, so love them with all you have while there still here on earth. If they’ve already passed, never stop thinking about them, telling their stories and appreciating what they sacrificed so that you’d live.
Ancestry is powerful, genetics tie us to the natural world. Our ancestors taught us consciously and gave us instinctual gifts in our DNA, those are the tools we need to be successful in life. The world is ever changing and evolving, you can put money on it. Never rest on your laurels, always seek to continuously improve yourself until you die. That all that matters.
It’s fitting that I put footage from dropping off my son at school in the music video for the song. My own life is changing faster than I care it to, my hair is white, my face at 55 far older looking than I feel inside. I’m glad to be at this point in life. writing and performing music with friends and family. My biggest drive, is to record the brilliant musicians I play with regularly while I still can.
Each day we rise is a gift of, unspeakable cost
The only thing guaranteed, is that all’s not lost
People come, drift away
The love they bring is everything
Everything, everything
Related stories tied to the November 8, “Perpetual Change” release:
Perpetual Change: Official Music Video
Perpetual Change: Studio Notes
Live Performance of Perpetual Change, First Time We Played It at the Camp Store
Space Cowboy
About the Song:
"Space Cowboy" is a shout out to all the cosmic cowgirls and cowboys from East to West. All summer long, the band has been playing this new funky new jam to our local fanbase. It tells the story of a local surf break in Encinitas that we sometimes surf by moonlight. A few times, psychedelics were involved, the Milky Way stars exploded around us, our imaginations were set on fire, and the sky's constellations came to life.
Such is the life and times of a soul surfing space cowboy. Enjoy.
Related stories tied to the September 27, “Space Cowboy” release:
Live Performance of the Song (First Time We Played It Live)
Space Cowboy: Design Behind the Music
Making the Space Cowboy Music Video
For more information about the Ram and his music, go to www.TheRamMusic.com
Warmth of the Fire
About the Song:
A deep cut from the Ram’s upcoming album, “Warmth of the Fire” is a prayer to rural America. A subdued reflection on being raised on a small farm in Southeastern Pennsylvania; five children, two widowed grandmothers, and legendary parents.
We were raised to help others. Neighboring farmers worked together, and supported one another. With the family’s blessing, our neighbors kept their livestock free roaming by the farmhouse. In the evenings, they’d come over and bring the horses to water. My father’s bond with the land was his gift to each of his children, his spirit looks over those farmlands.
“With love comes sustenance.”
Everything
About the Song
The title track of the Ram's new album 'Everything' was written close to his family home, in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Surrounded by friends and family, it was in between holiday celebrations when he would settle down and get to work writing. Thanks to the room, in the old Pennsylvania log cabin house, a new album will be released in 2024.
Quote: In His Own Words
I put pen to paper in the front room of the old family farmhouse, where my brother Tommy left me a guitar to use while I was in town. In that room, lives the memories of my ancestry and the friendly ghosts of my past. So much has happened in that house that it overflows with soul. All those acts of unconditional love, like condensation gathering.
Places like these are where songwriters belong. A place where the mind swims in a river of inspiration. It saturates the heart with ancient emotion. That room has millions of songs in it, all you have to do is take a seat and listen to your heart.
Our ability to find beauty in the world around us is a gift. It's the very definition of art, and at the core of thinking that translates tragedy, pain, and loss into something that helps us grow. 'Everything' is a nod to this gift, written for those who see riches where others would only see nothing and the creator in every single one of us.
Design Library
Here are the visuals, a lush, throwback vibe evolving out of live concert videos I’ve been making. Looks like I’m playing the Cotton Club in the 1930s. When you download and use any of the imagery on any media, credit the photographer. All music, video, and designs are owned by OD Soul, Inc.
Landscapes
Still from official music video of Listen to the Cold, taken outside Mammoth Lakes, CA. Photography by Mark O’Donnell | Instagram: @therammusic
Still from official music video of Listen to the Cold, taken outside Mammoth Lakes, CA. Photography by Mark O’Donnell | Instagram: @therammusic
Still from official music video of Unbound, taken in Benton Hot Springs, CA. Photography by Mark O’Donnell | Instagram: @therammusic
Still from official music video of Unbound, taken at the Kelly Slater Surf Ranch, CA. Photography by Mark O’Donnell | Instagram: @therammusic
Still from official music video of Perpetual Change, taken in the Aegean Sea. Photography by Mark O’Donnell | Instagram: @therammusic
Still from official music video of Perpetual Change, taken in the Big Sky, MT. Photography by Mark O’Donnell | Instagram: @therammusic
With the band performing Space Cowboy for the first time to the public. Photography by Mark O’Donnell | Instagram: @therammusic
Still from official music video of Space Cowboy. Photography by Mark O’Donnell | Instagram: @therammusic
Still from official music video of Space Cowboy. Photography by Mark O’Donnell | Instagram: @therammusic
Warmth of the Fire single release horizontal graphic with text. Photography by Mark O’Donnell | Instagram: @therammusic
Everything single release horizontal graphic with text. Photography by Mark O’Donnell | Instagram: @therammusic
Everything single release horizontal graphic with no text. Photography by Mark O’Donnell | Instagram: @therammusic
Everything album cover release horizontal graphic. Photography by Mark O’Donnell | Instagram: @therammusic
Everything album cover release horizontal graphic with text. Photography by Mark O’Donnell | Instagram: @therammusic
Everything album cover outtake. Photography by Mark O’Donnell | Instagram: @therammusic
Indo Moonlight Photography By Geni Larosa | Instagram @genialbum
Portraits
I Am Nowhere, I Am Everywhere Poster. Photography by Mark O’Donnell | Instagram: @therammusic
Space Cowboy Concert Poster. Photography by Mark O’Donnell | Instagram: @therammusic
Live Ram. Photography by Daniel Hernandez | Instagram: @drhphotsd
Ram stylized portrait. Photography by Daniel Hernandez | Instagram: @drhphotsd
Live Ram Portrait. Photography by Daniel Hernandez | Instagram: @drhphotsd
Grid Squares
I Am Nowhere, I Am Everywhere album cover release. Photography by Mark O’Donnell | Instagram: @therammusic
Listen to the Cold release. Photography by Mark O’Donnell | Instagram: @therammusic
Listen to the Cold release. Photography by Mark O’Donnell | Instagram: @therammusic
Perpetual Change album cover release. Photography by Mark O’Donnell | Instagram: @therammusic
Space Cowboy album cover release. Photography by Mark O’Donnell | Instagram: @therammusic
Warmth of the Fire album cover release. Photography by Mark O’Donnell | Instagram: @therammusic
Everything album cover release. Photography by Mark O’Donnell | Instagram: @therammusic
Everything album cover release with text. Photography by Mark O’Donnell | Instagram: @therammusic
Everything album cover out take. Photography by Mark O’Donnell | Instagram: @therammusic
Saltwater and Music podcast logo. Photography by Mark O’Donnell | Instagram: @therammusic
Indo Surf. Photography by Mark O’Donnell | Instagram: @therammusic
Stylized Portrait. Photography by Mark O’Donnell | Instagram: @therammusic
Video & Social Ads
Q&A
What's your background?
If my story is a reflection of my surroundings, then the cityscapes we’re talking about are Philadelphia, New York City, Bar Harbor, and San Diego. I was drawn to these cities like a moth to a flame, they represented high adventure to me. Being raised a farm boy, those cities were everything I was not. I was a hick looking for a little city slick, closer to a bull in a china shop. Cities tamed my wildness for a time, their great museums, cathedrals, urban architecture, and transit systems set my imagination on fire. From a rural background, going to NYC was the spiritual equivalent to climbing Mount Everest.
While I am made up of all things from the country, America’s cities have housed my dreams and ambitions. My path to a life in art and music was a country highway that led to the city. Probably the first steps were at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Followed by a walk through the living heart and the planetarium at the Benjamin Franklin Museum. Seeing Prince’s Purple Rain tour at the Spectrum didn't hurt the journey.
What's your interests?
Finding inspiration is a constant exploration of people and the world around me. Like most people my interests change and evolve. Art and music are just expressions of who I am and what I see. Surfers have the physicality of ballet dancers, and draw lines on waves like visual artists. When we find inspiration, it’s only natural to share it with others. To tell a story. What better way to share our experience with others than through music, art, and film? For me, it’s an easy choice, and today the tools we have at our disposal puts us in a creative renaissance of invention.
Any discipline we choose to undertake opens a community, as well as universe of potential learning. Those of us who are students at heart, can get lost in the technical underbelly of our pursuits. Right now, my life revolves around snowboarding and sound engineering. 10 years ago, my mind was preoccupied with surfing and software development. The only thing guaranteed is perpetual change.
What was the impetus to this year’s songs?
This year especially, everything started with the feeling you get being home and being around family. It’s a good feeling. Everything I do tracks back to building and being an active part of a vibrant community. I come from a large American Irish Catholic family from the East Coast, you can call it what you will, a clan, a tribe, a gang, a mob, a red hot mess (laughing), but it’s given me a sense of belonging to something bigger than myself.
Family has taught me that I’m only as good as those around me, we help each other out and we rise together. See the best in your surroundings, and be the best for those who depend on you. This translates directly to being a bandleader and taking care of the musicians that help me in bringing my own music to life. It makes it easy to look at each song as a thank you for being able to live a good life, and to play music with interesting human beings who just so happen to rip on their instruments.