When Harry Met: Singer, doctor Mark 'Moke' Ivey, former Gadsden resident

“Any minute now, my ship is coming in, I'll keep checking the horizon, I'll stand on the bow.”

“Waiting for My Real Life to Begin,” Colin Hay’s great song from a few years back, is a fitting way to launch the story of Dr. Mark “Moke” Ivey.

He’s a former Gadsden resident who made it big in Nashville as a backup singer, retired 10 years ago, but now has stepped into the forefront and released his first solo album.

“Moke Ivey, Volume 1” will be released on Nov. 18 and is available for download or CD preorder at his website, https://mokeivey.com.

How time flies! It wasn’t that long ago that the ninth-grade kid got his first solo gig when he sang for my youngest daughter’s wedding.

I knew he had left home headed for a far different world than the preacher’s home he was raised in — and I had heard through the years that he was “doing good” in Nashville’s music world.

“Doing good?” I recently read a list of the more than 200 albums he’s appeared on as a background singer with top country, pop, and rock artists, that have sold in the millions of copies.

They include Martina McBride, Eddy Arnold, Carman, Don Moen, the Gaither Vocal Band, Steve Green, Andy Griffith, Garth Brooks, Chris Isaak, Glen Campbell, George Strait, and Lee Ann Womack, and there are dozens more.

Not bad for a “PK” (preacher’s kid, y’all) from North Gadsden.

Ivey was born in Anniston when his father pastored in that city. The family moved several times as Bro. Ivey was called to various churches in other cities before the family settled in Gadsden, where he would pastor Ewing Avenue’s North Gadsden Baptist Church.

The music program at Gadsden High School is where young Ivey honed his vocal skills. He was a member of the Velvetones under Director Gene Barnes. He later joined the local Sameah Choir, a youth group that traveled throughout the state giving musical programs in churches, and took singing lessons from a local teacher to enhance his talent.

All along, Ivey sang at his church and was asked to sing at a myriad of city programs and other churches. People recognized his talent and “invitations came that I never would have thought I would be invited to,” he recalled. “Sometimes, I would even be paid for singing.”

Ivey, during Gadsden High’s three-month summer hiatus in 1982 and ’83, used those funds to travel the United States and overseas with the Continental Singers, an international Christian musical ministry.

After graduation in 1984, Ivey moved to Atlanta for a singing job at Six Flags over Georgia. A bit later, he wound up in Nashville. where he received a music degree from Belmont College and began singing with various groups, leading to his career as a backup singer in recording sessions.

During one period, his yearly income reached six figures as a performer on a Nashville TV country music show starring Lori Ann Crook and Charley Chase, and he also was also a background vocalist on the Ralph Emery Show on that network.

He has performed with multiple artists on television shows including “The Tonight Show,” “The Wayne Brady Show,” “CMA Country Christmas,” the CMA awards, and “Live with Kelly and Ryan.” His voice can be heard on TV commercials, movie soundtracks, and video games.

A few years back, realizing that he might not be able to “sing forever,” Ivey enrolled at Belmont to train as an occupational therapist. Later, with that work in play, he returned to college to earn a doctorate in his chosen field.

He's been retired from singing professionally for more than a decade, except for Christmas tours with Martina McBride from 2012 to 2019.

In an interview a year ago, I asked Ivey why he had never done a solo album. His answer: “Back then I never wanted to, I just enjoyed doing background vocals and adding harmony to everything I heard.”

This past spring, however, Moke (as he’s called by most everybody) had a change of heart. He began to sing again, probably more than ever before. “I found myself singing at home, at work, in patient rooms, in the hospital, in hallways and stairwells,” he said, “and decided to record an album of self-written songs and a few cover songs from other artists.”

Noted arranger, composer, singer and musician Bergen White has written “Right Place at the Write Time,” a book about his years as part of Nashville’s music scene. The 83-year-old author devoted a chapter to Ivey, writing, “Mark is without a doubt the best tenor I ever worked with. He’s a singer who can take it and read like crazy. I like to hire great musicians and singers because they make me look good. That’s the reason I always hired Mark.”

So, from a studio he built in his home, with arrangements furnished by Greg Foresman, McBride’s guitarist, Ivey went to work on 13 songs for his debut album.

“Writing on the four songs I’ve written has been a total God thing,” he said. “The song ‘Grace’ comes from a dark place in my life when I felt completely lost, but there was always an underlying assurance of grace on my life.”

One of his songs, “In Your Arms,” was written for his mother, Quida Ivey. It was recorded in Los Angeles with eight singers from there.

There are many different sounds on the album — from lush strings to bass and drums, and even a cappella.

There are no specifically religious songs on the album, but the theme of grace, glory, life choices and, specially, redemption runs through its 13 songs.

A news release in connection with the album observed: “Moke’s” music connects with fans of eclectic tastes, and is categorized as Americana, a genre that includes a conglomeration of folk, blues, rock, etc.”

Ivey’s older siblings, Mike and Teresa, still live in Gadsden; Kathy Ivey Musselman lives in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Harry D. Butler, a former broadcaster, is a motivational speaker and author of “Alabama’s First Radio Stations, 1920-1960.” Butler periodically sits down with someone of note, then brings the conversation to readers. 

This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Profiling singer, former Gadsden resident Mark "Moke" Ivey