Mark’s first gig with Trouble With Monday and Scott Greeson was Feb. 7, 2004 at Abbie’s Place in Mulberry, Ind. He had played in a band with Mr. Bassman, Greg Brassie. Greg told him about a band he was in that was working on a project with Lee Anna Atwell. They were working on several of her original tunes to put a CD project together.
Mark had expressed an interest in maybe sitting in on sax sometime. After he talked with the rest of the band, Greg invited Mark to attend one of their practices. He feels blessed to have been able to play with this great band ever since.
Mark became enamored with music when he was 5 years old listening to his oldest brother’s high school rock band and his 60s vinyl collection. He later developed a love for jazz when following his other brother’s high school jazz band in the 70s and listening to his dad’s Glenn Miller albums. He would spend countless hours improvising on his brother’s alto sax with records by artists such as Maynard Ferguson, Spyro Gyra, Chicago, Stevie Wonder, Ohio Players and Earth Wind & Fire.
He started learning alto saxophone formally in sixth grade and went on to play baritone sax in the high school jazz band in eighth grade and alto sax in high school. In high school, Mark formed a band, Lotus, with his brother and some friends. The highlight of Lotus’ career was playing to a gym full of screaming high school girls at a Sunshine Society convention. While at Purdue University, he played alto sax in one of the Purdue Jazz Bands. Since college, Mark has been involved with several bands and recording projects and plays bass and woodwinds in the worship band for his church. He is part of the Molter Brothers, a family band, and has played in another family band, the Groove Catz. Mark enjoys spending time with his family and being involved with music-related community events. He has been actively involved with the entertainment committees for both the Taste of Tippecanoe, Ouibache Music Festival, and the Uptown Jazz & Blues Festival. In addition to saxophone, Mark plays flute, ukulele, electric bass, Akai EWI (electronic wind instrument), and acoustic guitar.
