| Mark was raised in Barstow, California. He began his career in music playing the violin in fourth grade and switched to trumpet in fifth grade. He played in the stage band and marching band in high school and, on weekends, performed with a rhythm and blues band called the Trojan Horse. They would book gigs at the NCO and Enlisted Men's clubs throughout California. In 1975, Mark started his first country band called the Barstow Express. In 1977, Mark appeared on the Gong Show and won a three-way tie with the Ray Stevens version of Misty. In 1978, he fronted a band called the Harmony Brothers. They entered a talent contest sponsored by the Los Angeles radio station KLAC and was awarded Best Vocal Group Combo. They later appeared in the Showcase Theater at Six Flags' Magic Mountain in Valencia, CA. During Mark's career, he has opened for such headliners as Jerry Nalor, Bobby Bare, Hank Williams, Jr., Eddy Rabbit, Rick Nelson, and Red Simpson. Mark joined the Country Club Band in 1990 and later formed Tommy Swing in 1998. After the Tommy Swing reformation in 2006, adopting the name of his uncle’s band from the Big Band era, Tommy Swing became the “Stardusters." |
