Do your kids love broccoli? If they’ve ever met Wilmington’s delightfully funky music teacher ‘Mr. Mark’ and his performance group the Broccoli Brothers Circus, it’s safe to say they just might! A legend of rock star status in the Port City’s preschool scene, Mark Herbert has been entertaining local families for over 15 years with his unique, interactive shows brimming with positive messages and laughs.
Originally from Charlotte, Herbert moved to Wilmington to study art at UNCW. His father was a musician, but Herbert’s focus in school centered on his passion for painting.
“I only played a little bit of guitar before college. Once in school, my roommates played and I just sang and read poetry, but then one of them taught me more chords, and I started really playing,” recalled Herbert.
After college, Herbert created a folk band, the Cosmic Groove Lizards, with friends Dave Hervey, Perry Smith and Ed Somech. Although performing kept him busy nights and weekends, Herbert still needed a daytime gig. He took a position in social work that allowed him to help people, something he’d always enjoyed. However, the endless amount of paperwork that came with the job soon began to take its toll.
“I was really frustrated one day and just praying that I could do something different. Then out of the
“I went in and they asked me to put on a tree costume because it was Earth Day, and it happened to fit me. So I just started improvising, rapping the ‘Cat in the Hat’ and being silly, and somehow managed to get the job over other people with lots of experience!”
From there, Herbert made it his mission to learn as many classic children’s songs as possible, and he started playing at other preschools around town, as well as booking birthday parties and other family-friendly events.
When the boredom of playing the same basic kids songs day after day hit, Herbert decided to do some rewriting, adding reggae tunes and silly lyrics to make his performances more funky and fun.
“One day I came up with a song about eating your vegetables, and one of my band mates, Dave Hervey, made a ‘Broccoli Man’ puppet for me. So the concept was born there, and several years later, we officially formed the Broccoli Brothers Circus.”
Along with Dave Hervey, Harry Paterson and a few other rotating band members, Herbert and the Broccoli Brothers Circus perform at child-oriented festivals and charity events across the Cape Fear region, including regular appearances at family-friendly Wrightsville Beach Brewery. He also continues to teach music at Milestones Learning Center, The Learning Tree, Childcare Network locations, and several local church preschools.
At the same time, Herbert still follows his passion for art, selling his paintings and prints at portcityart.com. His wife, Laurel, is also an artist, and his two daughters, 16 year-old Cammy and 10 year-old Karma, have both had guest appearances on his music CDs.
“It’s all just been a really wild ride, and I’m excited about what’s coming up this year. We’re going to focus on getting our YouTube channel going, and we’re working on a new album, which is going to have a lot of parodies on it.”
“We have the philosophy that you don’t have to dumb down music for kids. Kids will automatically appreciate a good rhythm and beat.”
Herbert says he loves the unexpected path that life has taken him on. Although he never planned on teaching music or working with children, he appreciates getting the opportunity to see the wonder in his young audience’s eyes and hear their excitement over his songs and the silly puppets and props he brings along with him.
“Music is fundamental, and it can be a great tool for learning other things, like history or science or math. It’s also one of the best forms of visual art and therapy. Sometimes there are kids that seem to be having a
For more information about Mark Herbert and Broccoli Brothers Circus, visit www.futureshine.com or connect with them on Facebook.