He is a folk singer, Mark Dvorak is. He has been since his teenage years when, growing up in a Cicero house with three brothers (two older, one younger), their parents and grandparents nearby, he read Anthony Scaduto’s 1971 book “Bob Dylan: An Intimate Biography.” In its pages, he met not only the compelling title character, but such other colorful giants as Pete Seeger, Lead Belly and Woody Guthrie. He also discovered, though he didn’t realize it at the time, a way of life that has been filled with rewards beyond riches and fame.
It started with that book and, oh yes, there was soon a guitar involved.
“I was the last of my brothers to get a guitar and I used the money I was making working at a xylophone factory to buy one for $40,” he says.
His father worked for a chemical company and his mom was, with four active boys to care for, more than a mom. “Oh, she worked very hard,” he says, a smile crossing his face. “It took her a lot of work just getting us all through (Lyons Township) high school.”
He and his brothers and many neighborhood pals were all creatively inclined, one brother forming a band that played such clubs as the Kingston Mines. Dvorak and a friend spent a summer riding their motorcycles around the country and when he returned home, he walked into Old Town School of Folk Music.