Mark Carroll — NOLA Music

MarkCarroll

Based: New Orleans, LA — Active

Mark Carroll is a New Orleans guitarist, songwriter, and film composer — co-founder of the Americana band Cast Iron Cactus, and one half of a 30-year musical marriage with singer Carmela Rappazzo that took three decades and a nudge from Paul Sanchez to actually share a stage.

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🎸 Signature Sound

Rock & Americana Guitar

📍 Regular Spot

Buffa's, with Cast Iron Cactus

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"Mark Carroll spent thirty years married to a fellow musician before finally sharing a stage with her — turns out Paul Sanchez had to make it happen."

Why We Love Mark Carroll

Mark Carroll and singer-songwriter Carmela Rappazzo have been married for thirty years, and for most of that time, they kept their music entirely separate — a few overlapping gigs in Newport and Los Angeles aside, they built distinct careers rather than a shared one. It took their friend Paul Sanchez inviting them up together at his own gigs to finally get them performing as a duo. Carroll's own path ran from New England through New York, Los Angeles, and New Mexico before landing in New Orleans, picking up skills along the way that took him into scoring independent films, including the critically acclaimed Ten Tiny Love Stories. These days he's best known as half of the songwriting and guitar core of Cast Iron Cactus, the Americana quartet he co-founded with Patrick Cooper in 2021, but the whole arc of his career — coast to coast, genre to genre, decades before he'd finally share a stage with his own wife — is what makes him worth knowing.

Biography

Thirty Years Married, One Stage Shared

Mark Carroll is originally from New England, where his love of music took hold early, playing guitar and several other instruments. His career carried him through New York, then Los Angeles, then New Mexico, then back to New York again, before he and his wife, singer-songwriter Carmela Rappazzo, settled in New Orleans. He has played in numerous rock and Americana bands over the years and led a large ensemble while living in Los Angeles, where he also composed scores for independent films and documentaries, including the critically acclaimed Ten Tiny Love Stories.

Carroll and Rappazzo have been married for thirty years, and for most of that time kept their music on separate tracks — a handful of overlapping gigs in Newport, a stint playing World Cup parties in Los Angeles, and a few film soundtracks aside. It took their friend Paul Sanchez inviting them up together at his own New Orleans shows to finally get them performing as a duo. The pair have since been featured together in the New Orleans Museum of Art's Musicians from Home virtual concert series.

In New Orleans, Carroll co-founded the Americana and country blues band Cast Iron Cactus with guitarist and vocalist Patrick Cooper in July 2021, forming the songwriting and guitar core of the group alongside bassist Keith Esparros and drummer Guy Duplantier. He has also led his own project, Mark Carroll & Friends, at venues around the city.