Mark Charles

Mark Charles (born Mark Charles Heidinger on May 8, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist from Louisville, Kentucky. Primarily known as the principal singer and songwriter for the indie-folk outfit Vandaveer, Mark began a solo career under his given name in 2020.

Biography Mark was born in Canton, Ohio and grew up in and around Lexington, Kentucky. His music career began as the frontman for Kentucky-based indie-pop band The Apparitions. In 2004, Mark moved to Washington, D.C. and began performing under the name Vandaveer in early 2006.

Mark first founded his project Vandaveer as a solo venture, releasing their first album Grace & Speed in 2007. Later that year, vocalist Rose Guerin joined the project, officially making Vandaveer a duo. From mid-2007 through 2016, the group released five full-length LPs and three EPs, performing across the US and Europe with notable appearances at Glastonbury, SXSW, NPR's Mountain Stage, Forecastle, C3's Landmark Music Festival, among others.

On July 7, 2016, Vandaveer performed at Ringo Starr's annual Peace and Love gathering at Capitol Records in Los Angeles, celebrating Starr's 76th birthday. Following the performance, Vandaveer was invited to record as the backing band on two tracks of Ringo Starr's release Give More Love. They were featured on reimagined versions of Starr's hit song "Photograph", and The Beatles' "Don't Pass Me By", from their White Album. Give More Love was released in September 2017.

Vandaveer went on an extended hiatus in 2017,