Lightfoot Tribute Band

Ed Mullen

Ed was born in 1950 into a house full of music - from Tommy Dorsey, Frank Sinatra, and the other icons of his parents' generation, to Elvis, to classical, to church and choir music. His older sisters introduced him to the folk music boom of the 60s. Ed sang in school and church choirs, ensembles, and even barbershop quartets (receiving a scholarship award from the local barbershop society his senior year in high school.)

At 15 he picked up his sister Fran's largely ignored $35 Sears Silvertone guitar and started to teach himself how to play. He formed a folk group with 4 other classmates and performed locally. He was introduced to Gordon Lightfoot's music by the two guitar players in the group. He's been a Lightfoot fan for 35 years.

Ed performed part-time in the bars and clubs around Penn State University during the 1970s while working his day job at WPSX-TV as an audio engineer. Moving to Maryland in 1978, he took up performing full-time in the Washington, D.C. area. After about a year, Ed woke up one day with his Black Labrador Retriever (Lightfoot) licking his face. As he explains it: "I realized that I was spending my life late at night in bars with drunks. Which had seemed like a good idea at first but got kind of old after a year. So I decided to get a real job." Over the next 16 years he had a career as a marketing executive in the professional electronics industry. During that time his two guitars lay idle for about 8 years until, in between jobs, he picked them up again. He hasn't stopped playing since.

Now retired, his hobbies include his computer systems and music. He volunteers at a local seniors center, teaching computer skills and also performing music. His favorite singer-songwriter is Lightfoot, although John Prine and John Stewart are very close behind Gord. He also sings music by Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Jimmy Buffett, Stan Rogers, The Beatles, The Eagles, Sarah McLachlan, and others. Ed occasionally writes and records his own songs, some of which are available on his web site at: http://edmullen.net. His current guitars are a 1965 Guild Mk-II nylon string, a 1973 Hagstrom 12-string, and a 1999 Martin HD-28 six-string.

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