Mark grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina, learning to play music with some neighborhood friends, eventually forming the bluegrass band Chicken Hot Rod and playing colleges all over the eastern states.
He met Sally, a fine Scruggs-style banjo player, in 1970 around a campfire at a bluegrass festival. A few years later, they married and settled in Winston-Salem, raising a family there and continuing to play music for fun with area bluegrass musicians (including Brevard City Council member Gary Daniel) and for the local contra dances.
Daughter Sarah Siskind’s songwriting prompted a move to Nashville in 1996. There they connected with the music community, playing for dances, participating in the local bluegrass and acoustic music scene. Sally joined with four other women to form the bluegrass group Tennesse Heartstrings. Mark played in the acoustic trio Kindling Stone, mixing original music with songs from the shape note and Shaker traditions.
Since relocating to Brevard, NC, in 2015, Sally and Mark play every Friday with the Blue Ridge Bakery Band and occasionally in various combinations around town.