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GREENSBORO — These days, Mark Kano plays his guitar on his back deck.

He’ll sit there, with his two sons, Noah and Emery, picking through new tunes, asking them what they think. But sometimes, he’ll pull out something called “The Piggyback Ride” and his boys sing along.

How times have changed.

I’ll always remember the Mark Kano of Athenaeum, the Korean American from Greensboro who made America swoon.

Young women used to gather beneath his microphone in a big cluster. They’d look up all doe-eyed and expectant, wanting to be … oh … so … close as he sang about love and longing in a baritone as smooth as top-shelf whisky.

It was downright goofy.

For eight days 11 years ago, I followed Athenaeum through three states. I watched them perform, do radio and TV interviews, and meet thousands of screaming fans as their first single, “What I Didn’t Know,’’ rocketed up the charts.

“What I Didn’t Know’’ reached No. 9; the group’s debut CD, “Radiance’’ — named for the short street in Greensboro where they once lived — sold 100,000; and music critics called Athenaeum the sound of the new millennium.

Hype can do that. So can Atlantic Records, the group’s label. Athenaeum was the first local artist that Atlantic had signed since High Point’s own John Coltrane.

I love that fact. But I also love the fact that Athenaeum went as far as it did. The band flirted with the big time. Yet, like so many bands, it became a casualty of the music industry’s falling profits.

After two CDs, Atlantic cut Athenaeum. The band still plays occasionally. But the members have disappeared into the collective daily grind as guitar teacher, graphic designer, college student, studio owner and budding novelist.

Kano has no regrets.

Athenaeum brought him a legion of friends, a scrapbook full of memories, an introduction into his new profession, and a teenage fan who drove her mom’s Volvo station wagon so she could sneak into local bars to see him play.

That fan, Kellie Bailess, eventually became his wife.

So, Kano calls himself lucky. He was a Smith High grad, Class of ’92, living every kid’s dream. He got signed, played his own music, toured the country and heard crowds 10,000 strong sing every word he ever wrote.

And mind you, this all happened before the explosion of “American Idol.’’

Today, Kano is 35, a married father of two who runs his landscaping business as he writes music, records and plays gigs whenever he can.

And he’s comfortable in his own skin.

You hear it in his first solo CD, “Walking On Broadway,’’ a project Kano has worked on for seven years.

Sure, there are love tunes. But there’s also Kano talking about the price of fame, the need for balance and the realization of who he is.

Of course, “Walking On Broadway’’ sounds like Athenaeum. There is the soaring chorus, the ringing guitars and Kano’s whisky voice. But there’s something … else.

Kano has grown up.

“There’s more space in my life for other people, you know what I mean?’’ he says. “Sometimes, life delivers what you need so you can make that next step to being a better person.

“And by not succeeding in the way I wanted to forced me to gain some new perspective of how I wanted to choose to live.’’

Kano will play his new tunes Friday night at The Blind Tiger, one of his old musical haunts.

But after a day of dealing in dirt, you can bet he’ll park himself on his back deck and play his guitar for Noah, 8, and Emery, 5.

Why? Oh, he likes to. He’ll tell you that. But Kano also never knew his father, and he wants to make sure his boys know him.

For “The Piggyback Ride.’’ And a whole lot more.

Contact Jeri Rowe

at 373-7374 or jeri.rowe

@news-record.com

GREENSBORO — These days, Mark Kano plays his guitar on his back deck.

He’ll sit there, with his two sons, Noah and Emery, picking through new tunes, asking them what they think. But sometimes, he’ll pull out something called “The Piggyback Ride” and his boys sing along.

How times have changed.

I’ll always remember the Mark Kano of Athenaeum, the Korean American from Greensboro who made America swoon.

Young women used to gather beneath his microphone in a big cluster. They’d look up all doe-eyed and expectant, wanting to be … oh … so … close as he sang about love and longing in a baritone as smooth as top-shelf whisky.

It was downright goofy.

For eight days 11 years ago, I followed Athenaeum through three states. I watched them perform, do radio and TV interviews, and meet thousands of screaming fans as their first single, “What I Didn’t Know,’’ rocketed up the charts.

“What I Didn’t Know’’ reached No. 9; the group’s debut CD, “Radiance’’ — named for the short street in Greensboro where they once lived — sold 100,000; and music critics called Athenaeum the sound of the new millennium.

Hype can do that. So can Atlantic Records, the group’s label. Athenaeum was the first local artist that Atlantic had signed since High Point’s own John Coltrane.

I love that fact. But I also love the fact that Athenaeum went as far as it did. The band flirted with the big time. Yet, like so many bands, it became a casualty of the music industry’s falling profits.

After two CDs, Atlantic cut Athenaeum. The band still plays occasionally. But the members have disappeared into the collective daily grind as guitar teacher, graphic designer, college student, studio owner and budding novelist.

Kano has no regrets.

Athenaeum brought him a legion of friends, a scrapbook full of memories, an introduction into his new profession, and a teenage fan who drove her mom’s Volvo station wagon so she could sneak into local bars to see him play.

That fan, Kellie Bailess, eventually became his wife.

So, Kano calls himself lucky. He was a Smith High grad, Class of ’92, living every kid’s dream. He got signed, played his own music, toured the country and heard crowds 10,000 strong sing every word he ever wrote.

And mind you, this all happened before the explosion of “American Idol.’’

Today, Kano is 35, a married father of two who runs his landscaping business as he writes music, records and plays gigs whenever he can.

And he’s comfortable in his own skin.

You hear it in his first solo CD, “Walking On Broadway,’’ a project Kano has worked on for seven years.

Sure, there are love tunes. But there’s also Kano talking about the price of fame, the need for balance and the realization of who he is.

Of course, “Walking On Broadway’’ sounds like Athenaeum. There is the soaring chorus, the ringing guitars and Kano’s whisky voice. But there’s something … else.

Kano has grown up.

“There’s more space in my life for other people, you know what I mean?’’ he says. “Sometimes, life delivers what you need so you can make that next step to being a better person.

“And by not succeeding in the way I wanted to forced me to gain some new perspective of how I wanted to choose to live.’’

Kano will play his new tunes Friday night at The Blind Tiger, one of his old musical haunts.

But after a day of dealing in dirt, you can bet he’ll park himself on his back deck and play his guitar for Noah, 8, and Emery, 5.

Why? Oh, he likes to. He’ll tell you that. But Kano also never knew his father, and he wants to make sure his boys know him.

For “The Piggyback Ride.’’ And a whole lot more.

Contact Jeri Rowe at 373-7374 or jeri.rowe@news-record.com