Mark Goffeney was born into a family of musicians. He was expected to take after his parents and play a musical instrument. That plan changed when Mark was born without arms. Many people questioned how he would make music without hands and fingers.
Mark wasn’t going to give up, and neither was his family.
He had two perfectly good feet, and he found early in life that he could use them the same way most people use their hands.
In grade school, he began playing the trombone. He found that he loved music and wanted to play more. His father found him a guitar at a dump, and a friend taught him how to play.
It took a while to get used to things, but eventually, he got the hang up it and never looked back. He started the band Big Toe and released his first album in 1999.
He talked about how it felt to perform in front of people.
He said:
“Sometimes when I’m performing live and I get a reaction from the audience where I can tell that they are totally with me. It’s in their face. It’s in their movement. It’s in their smiles. And there’s no feeling like that.”
Mark is able to do almost anything with his feet. He won an Emmy in 1998 for his work on the commercial called “Feet.” In it, he plays a man who can’t stop looking at his TV long enough to change his baby’s diaper. He ends up changing it with his feet.
He has also worked with some big names in the music industry.
Over the years, he has opened for artists such as Journey, Def Leppard, and Tom Petty. He enjoys playing for both big and small crowds but stresses that he wants to make sure people are enjoying his music and not pitying him. He said:
“I only want people to tip me if they feel entertained – it’s a tip, not a donation. I know how to work a crowd of 10 to 10,000 and would love the opportunity to play in some big venues. I feel qualified to and those turning up would have a good time.”
His website talks about his music, saying:
“Mark Goffeney is a native San Diegan whose talent and ambition have helped him to achieve ongoing success as a performer, speaker, and television personality. Mark has been recognized for his work internationally and was nominated for an Emmy award in 1998 for his principal role in the Fox Network commercial, ‘Feet.’”
Born without arms in 1969, Mark was raised to see himself as an equal in society and to value independence.
With these values instilled, Mark was soon noticed by several charities. By 1973, he had become a poster child and principal fundraiser for both the Variety Club and March of Dimes.
For the next decade, Mark co-hosted hundreds of telethons, working side by side with celebrities including Monte Hall and Kathy Lee Gifford. By 1981, Mark was credited for having raised over $6 million for children’s charities. He appeared on “Real People,” the “Mike Douglas Show,” and “Regis Philbin.”
By age 9, Mark was attempting to create his own music, but choosing an instrument would prove to be a challenge.
He would strum with his left foot and make chords with his right. By the end of the Nineties, Mark had successfully completed his first CD, titled “Big Toe.”
It was sponsored by PSB Records and produced by Steve Dudas (known for his work with Aerosmith and Ozzy Osbourne). This CD is a collection of Mark Goffeney’s greatest original songs and was featured in the San Diego Reader’s “Best of the Best.”
In recent years, Mark and his band Big Toe have appeared on ARD TV in Germany, where he opened for Lee Ann Rimes on the hit show “Lippe Blofft” and “Explosive,” and two Korean network shows, “Amazing World” on SBS and “Amazing People” on MBC.
At home in the U.S., Big Toe was given two thumbs up by producer David Foster, (winner of 16 Grammy Awards for his work with Celine Dion) and Travis Barker (of Blink 182) on “NBC Star Tomorrow” in 2006.
One year later in October 2007, Big Toe performed on the Fox network show “The Next Great American Band.”
The show was created by Simon Cowell of “American Idol.” After the performance, Johnny Resnik, lead singer of the Goo Goo Dolls, said, “You kick ass on the bass guitar!”
Mark’s band appears nationwide, and Mark often travels solo to Japan, Korea, Germany, and the Netherlands.
Mark has never let his disability stop him. He has actually embraced it and used it to make a name for himself. He is still learning to play new instruments and growing as an artist. It doesn’t look like anything can stop him.
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