How do you put a heart into
a short biography? It seems impossible, bit it’s worth a shot. These
following paragraphs will represent an artist who lives to bring his art
to the masses through music.
This is the dream and vision of Mark Goffeney, A.K.A. “Big Toe”.
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 and by 1973 had become a Poster
Child and principal; fund-raiser 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 dollars for
children’s charities.
He appeared on Real People, the Mike Douglas Show and Regis Philbin
Music was a big part of Mark’s
family and he remembers being deeply touched by it at a very early age.
By age nine, Mark was attempting to create his own music, but choosing
an instrument would prove to be a challenge. For a while he played trombone
in the school band, then his dad brought home an old guitar he had found
on a jobsite. Mark asked his neighborhood friend and mentor for instruction
With his friend’s help, Mark soon developed his own technique.
He would lay the guitar on the ground, supporting the neck with whatever
he could get his feet on. He would strum with his left foot and make
chords with his right.
By early adulthood, Mark was committed to a full-fledged career in music
and by the end of the nineties, Mark had successfully completed his
first CD, titled “Big Toe”. 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” Two Korean network shows,
“Amazing World” on SBS and “Amazing People”
on MBC.
