Howard began his career in Hamilton, Ontario, mixing shows in local clubs, and touring across Canada with King Biscuit Boy. After a motorbike accident which left him unable to lift heavy equipment, he began working as an assistant at Grant Avenue Studios.[1] In 1986, while working at Grant Avenue Studio, he met Daniel Lanois and began working on his solo album, Acadie. Lanois invited him to New Orleans to help set up a studio and begin work on The Neville Brothers album Yellow Moon, beginning a 23-year-long musical partnership. Howard worked on mixing, recording and engineering, as well as studio installations. They had studios in New Orleans, Kingsway, Emila Court on St Charles Ave, and a Victorian mansion at 1305 Soniat St, Mexico, and in San Francisco.[1] In 1987, Howard recorded the Neville Brothers' Yellow Moon at Emila Court. In 1989, Bob Dylan's Oh Mercy was recorded on Soniat St.[2]
This is the house on Soniat St, New Orleans where Bob Dylan's Oh Mercy was recorded in April, 1989 by Mark Howard.
In 1993, Howard went solo as a producer, producing The Tragically Hip's Day for Night. He was nominated at the Canadian Juno awards for producer of the year. In 1994, Howard worked on post-production for Emmylou Harris's Wrecking Ball at the studio he shared with Lanois in San Francisco.
Howard then opened a studio called the Teatro, in Oxnard, California,[3] in an abandoned 1920s theatre. At this studio Howard and Lanois co-produced the soundtrack to the movie Slingblade,[citation needed] and Howard then produced Chris Whitley's Terra Incognita. In 1995, Howard co-produced with Ian Moore the latter's second studio album, Modernday Folklore.
In 1996, Bob Dylan began work with Howard and Lanois on Time Out of Mind at the Teatro,[4] and recorded at Miami's Criteria Studios for a month before returning to the Teatro to finish recording the album. The record went on to win three Grammys, including Album of the Year. In Dylan's acceptance speech, he thanked Mark Howard, commenting that "we got a particular sound on this record which you don't get every day".[5][6]
The Teatro studio in Oxnard, California, an abandoned theatre that Howard turned into a recording studio.
In 1997, Howard and Lanois recorded Willie Nelson's Teatro, named after the studio. In July 1998, Howard produced Marianne Faithfull's, Vagabond Ways. Faithfull was introduced to Howard by Bob Dylan, who said to her that "You know Marianne, people like us with funny voices, you have to be very careful who you let produce you."[7]
