LANCASTER – Mark Riegel is at home in both the courtroom arguing a case and also performing music onstage.
The Dagger Law attorney is also an accomplished blues musician who sings and plays the harmonica.
He has performed with a variety of local bands over the years and has also been on the Lancaster Festival board and served on its artistic committee. Riegel was instrumental in creating a night for local bands to take the festival spotlight.
Riegel, 69, specializes in civil litigation, insurance and injury claims, wills and estate planning and also handles some real estate issues.
He has been an attorney since 1977. Riegel graduated from Wittenberg University in Springfield before earning his law degree at Ohio State. He said he got into law because he wanted to help people.
“What I do with litigation is kind of competitive,” Riegel said. “Because there’s always somebody on the other side wanting to bang heads with you, and you hope you end up with a fair resolution. That part adds some stress, I’m sure.”
He said he has cut back on his hours the last couple of years because of his age and outside interests. Music, of course, is one of those interests.
“The harmonica is heard quite a bit in blues music, and that (blues) is kind of my thing,” Riegel said.
His start in music came in a unique way. He and a friend hitchhiked to Colorado in 1973, and Riegel took a harmonica along to learn to play.
“So I took it up in my 20s,” he said. “I got better by my late 20s to my 30s and I’d play at gatherings with friends. I might accompany the guitar player. Then in my 40s I finally played out for the first time with a group.”
Riegel has been playing in public ever since, including with one of his first bands, Leadbelly Catfish. He has also played with Mr. Lucky and now plays with the Buck Run Stompers.
“We play sort of a cross section,” Riegel said he said of the Stompers. “Yes, we do blues. But we also do rockabilly and rock. But I’m playing blues-style harmonica. I sing, but other guys sing as well.”
He said it was intimidating years ago when he first started singing.
“Yeah, but I had already been in court,” Riegel said. “You do have stage fright, but you just have to get used to it. Then if you get some positive feedback it helps to get over it. Now I’m a lot more comfortable with it.”
He is also comfortable using social media, as he started Fairfield County Ohio Music on Facebook in 2017 to help promote the local music scene.
“It’s an open venue where bands and bars, restaurants and venues can all post on it for music events in or around Fairfield County,” Riegel said. “It looks to have taken off a little bit. It’s just a good place to go see what’s going on. And it’s just a good sounding board or publicity place.”
He said Fairfield County has a good music scene.
“We’ve been hurt by COVID in terms of the ability to get out and play and have people come out,” Riegel said. “But I’m very optimistic it will come back strong. I’m hoping it all gets back to normal and people can get out and about and enjoy the music and the offerings this area has.”
Besides music, Riegel enjoys being outdoors. He likes going to the Hocking Hills and he enjoys turkey hunting in the spring.
“So I spend a lot of time in the woods,” Riegel said.
jbarron@gannett.com
740-304-9296
Twitter: @JeffDBarron