The power of a DCSA polygrapher's music to tell real-life stories is resonating throughout an expanding world-wide audience. His latest album – blending soulful melodies with raw, impassioned lyrics - takes listeners on a journey through themes of love, loss and triumph over personal hardships and challenges. Since Mark Pszenny sang “Smokey Bourbon” – a ballad he wrote out of the depths of his adversity – thousands of people, captivated by the intensity of his passion, identified with its lyrical message.
They are also listening to him sing “Baby Cries,” “Trouble with the Man,” “I Get Lost,” and “Funked Up” – among 18 songs he wrote that are played on radio stations in the U.S., Australia, Germany, France and England and via Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube.
“Smokey Bourbon is about struggle – not whiskey,” said Pszenny, who has been struggling with ongoing health adversities since he responded to an alarm during a 1988 Army exercise, resulting in spinal stress fractures, accelerated degenerative disc disease, and multiple surgeries.
“There were highly classified weapons on site, and we responded as if we were going to battle,” Pszenny recounted. “It wasn't uncommon for any of us to trip and fall into holes while running in the middle of the night, and that’s what happened when I was injured and put out of commission for a couple of months. It was a tailspin from there.”
The high energy traumatic injury required several operations decades later. A 2011 surgery fused the L5 (fifth lumbar) with the S1 (first sacral) vertebrae. Another operation in 2019 fused his sternoclavicular joints. At this time, he is recuperating from a Feb. 24 surgical procedure on his cervical spine.
Pszenny battled cancer, which is now in remission, and depression. His cancer diagnosis and treatment occurred between his right and left hip replacements in 2021 and 2023 while he taught polygraphy at the National Center for Credibility Assessment (NCCA), Fort Jackson, S.C. He has been teaching polygraph students there since 2018 when NCCA fell under the Defense Intelligence Agency.
Pszenny’s wife, Margaret – who’s encouragement was crucial to his many recoveries – was recently diagnosed with lupus. As he supports her and prepares for another surgery, he continues to learn. The polygraph expert recently completed a DCSA leadership course and credits it with transforming his mindset, outlook on career goals, leadership skills, and ability to positively impact his DCSA colleagues and polygraph students.
Meanwhile, Pszenny – who played in a band when he was younger – turned to music once again. This time he would write and sing his own tunes for therapy while playing lead and rhythm guitar. A drummer and guitarist would join him in jam sessions to record songs and albums that were eventually uploaded on the internet.
“I played music my whole life but never wrote songs until recently putting my thoughts and feelings into words,” he said. “It was a bucket list thing. Then I decided to release the music worldwide through a public distribution site, and it started to take on traction.”
The traction’s scope around the globe was unexpected and leaves deep impressions in the hearts and minds of his fans. Pszenny describes his genre of music as a “bluesy, jazzy, rock and roll.” There’s no comparison to Taylor Swift’s enormous popularity, he said while laughing about the contrast. However, his music is gaining momentum having been played more than 4,000 times on FM radio and amassing 10,000 plays in more than 20 countries on social and listening platforms as it becomes therapy for many who enjoy it.
In 2024, the Smokey Bourbon album secured the number 45 position among the top 200 Blues-Rock albums nationally after making the top 50 albums week after week over the course of 11 months. What’s more, Pszenny’s first release – self titled, ’The Pszenny Project’ – reached 58 on the charts. His prolific writing, singing, producing and releasing of new music included two albums listed in the top 200 blues-rock albums of 2024.
“You can search under my name and titles for videos of my favorites like ’Baby Cries’ and the very jazz fueled ’Smokey Bourbon’ on YouTube,” said Pszenny. “Many of the critics like my music because some songs sound jazzy, some come across as really bluesy, and some really rock. It's hard to put me into a genre, actually.”
Pszenny commends his DCSA supervisors and leadership with enabling his success as an NCCA instructor and burgeoning part-time career as a musician.
“The music I write, compose and play is always in my heart and always will be,” he said. “The leadership at DCSA, especially here at NCCA, bent over backwards to make my career a success, not to mention possible, in spite of my health conditions. And you can't ask for anything better than that. I'm incredibly blessed and very grateful to be here. And what did my supervisors do to make me feel this way? They listened. I really think the most important leadership trait is listening. Good leaders will listen to employees on their team about any struggles or issues they may be facing, career possibilities, questions – and respond with advice, ideas, solutions and mentoring. Kudos to NCCA leaders Amy Kiefer and Nick Adams who didn't give up on me at any point in time.”