Mark's Bio

I was watching "The Midnight Special with Wolfman Jack" on TV one Friday night when I was 8 years old. My brother showed me who the bass player was for this certain band that was playing. The band happened to be called "The Band" and from there on I wanted to play bass. I naturally heard bass quicker than any other instrument, even though the guitarists were soloing and drummers were being flashy. The bass fit me perfect.

I didn't start learning how to play until I was about 12, when my brother and I were jamming in our music room; well he was jamming and I was pretending to play this certain KISS song. There was a bass lick that would come around in the verse that I always pretended to play, but this particular time I pretended and it actually came out perfect. My brother and I were amazed since I didn't really know how to play a single note. From then on I practiced non stop throughout high school. I didn't know that I wanted to do it for a living until I went to a concert where I saw a guy by the name of Jackie "One Way" Street playing. He, in just one hour, made me want to do nothing else in my life but play bass. So from then on I made it my priority, whether I earned money or not.

When I was 18 I competed in a National competition for string players. I performed against all stringed instruments, including guitars, fiddles and even a harp. I won and got a scholarship to a liberal arts school. I went for 3 years and decided that I wanted to be on the road and I had the grades to prove it. They were awful! I was not very interested in school.

I then went on the road with a group called TRUTH, where I was able to play in actual concerts with my brother Mike. He taught me how to play correctly and make things feel good. There was a man named Gordon Twist who lives and works in New York City that came out during Christmas tours for TRUTH. He taught me how to phrase through a whole song but not be so busy. I moved to Nashville in 1994 with no gig and got a couple things, but finally started touring steadily with different tours from 1995 to the present.

I have always worked steadily. There are some slow times, but God has always provided places for me to play. I never feel as if it is me that gets the gigs on my own. In fact, I haven't gotten one gig on my own. Thanks for checking out the website and keep Christ first.