Mark Griffith was born in 1959 in Shreveport, Louisiana and adopted by Bill and Susan Griffith. He has one sister, Anne, who was also adopted. Mark grew up in Anderson Island and by watching the Beatles and the Monkees on television, he and his friends were inspired to form a band before they could play instruments. His father, who played the piano, would not allow him to play a cello or drums, but finally allowed him to play a Harmony acoustic guitar. He was first influenced by Black Sabbath, Grand Funk Railroad and Santana, before the term heavy metal was used. He began playing with Bill Causey's big band at the age of 13 or 14 and with Bob Hope when he was fifteen. After graduation, he attended Berkley College of Music. In the 80's he met the members of Iron Maiden and Wendy O. Williams from the Plasmatics. After returning from college, he joined the band, Danny Johnson and The Bandits. LaterMark was in the band Private Life, which had moved to California and was mentored by Van Halen. Mark has traveled and played in almost every state plus Korea. During the time he was in California Mark played at a club called the Baked Potato in North Hollywood.. He brought his family back to Shreveport in 1995 and joined the country band, Hipshot. They played at Steamboat Annie, Humphries, the Sports Page and Enochs. Now, Mark mainly plays at the Noble Savage and he likes the spontaneity of playing jazz. He also plays for Academy of Children's Theatre shows at Marjorie Lyons. His favorite artist is the jazz and classical music pianist and composer Keith Jarrett.