Mark was born in Shelbyville, Tennessee
on November 23, 1954. As the only child, his parents moved the family
to Nashville and then Madison. Family weekends were spent boating
on Old Hickory Lake.
In his early teens
he played drums in junior high school, the hippie movement rolled
in and he wanted more. While in a record store an Emerson, Lake, and
Palmer album was playing 'Tarkus' and he astounded with who this bass
player was. Greg Lake started it all. Jaco Pastorius influences were
not far behind. Mark picked up the Alembic bass and taught himself.
The numerics taught him to groove.
Joining
ranks with Costo Davis (keyboards), Randy Bowles (drums), and Stan
Lassiter (guitar) the four of them practiced 5 to 7 hour days for
3 years before their first gig as the Stan Lassiter Grupe. (Mark did
this while working as a machinist AND getting his papers to be a Journeyman
in that arena.) The visionary behind it all was Costo Davis, playing
his signature time counts with no variation. Mark still insists to
this day that Costo's left hand was from another universe. The SLG
had a following of musicians as well as home based fans. The band
later signed with BMI and Mark was told if he wanted to make it he
would have to move to Europe. He declined, stayed close to home, and
the band later broke up. Even though they never played together again
the music, which was on tape and in a hot attic, has since been restored
on 2 CDs by a friend.
Mark pushed himself
in another direction. Around 1982 or 1983 he formed another band named
'Wires'. He opened his mouth to sing recreating himself all
over again to the signature sound that he is today. The members of
Wires included Joe Rae Phillips (guitar), Dave Adams (drums), and
Mark (bass & vocals).
In 1986 Mark
started learning Midi. He put down the bass and began absorbing all
the information he could. He learned, gathered sounds from recording
studios, and also taught Midi. This now gives Mark another creative
signature sound that he applies in his music today. Speak was
formed during this time and they created music for about 2 years.
Band members were Neal Merrick and Jim Sandefur.
His last band was formed with Larry Little (keyboards), Chris Whitt
(guitar), and Mark (Midi & vocals). Mark will tell you when listening
to the recordings of their music that Chris is a 'muther' on the guitar
and a great song writer, and Larry was a creative little monster.
Finding humor in the names and since it rolled off the tongue easily
they called themselves Little, Whitt, and Tallent. They created music
together for a couple of years. No gigs were ever played. Even
though tapes from this band were made all copies were given away.
Fed up with it all he wanted to escape from the madness. He turned
his gear off and life took him into many different directions. Years
later, a childhood friend told Mark he had a copy of the tape and
that it was his favorite. He asked Mark if he would like to borrow
it to make a copy. Mark said yes and retrieved it. A couple of weeks
later his childhood friend died.
Before his
father's death in December, 2001 Mark bought a boat and returned to
the lake he grew up on. Mark leads a quiet life today enjoying
summer days on the lake. He spends time with close friends, his wife
that does NOT make him crazy, and fishes; really hoping not to catch
anything but a summer breeze and feel the sun on his face.
And
every now and again - the artist - he does emerge.
