About Mark Counts
Mark T. Counts, The Nutty Drummer.
I was born February 27th. 1961 in Louisville Kentucky. Before I was 2, we moved to
Lexington Kentucky. My mother was Margaret (Peggy) Cowgill Davis and Father was
Robert T. Davis. My mother was a music teacher and Alto Soloist for the Lexington Singers
and sang for many Church choirs and my father was a Tenor soloist and a great Clarinetist
and later played for the Detroit Symphony and then went to work as a sound engineer for
Paramount Pictures in Ca. He was involved in the first filming of the movie Jaws. At age 5
my mother and father divorced and my mom later married Dr. Edward Frank Counts. My
step father was the lowest bass in the Lexington Singers and sat first chair French Horn in
college. I came from a very musical family. I was born Mark T. Davis and my step father
adopted my brother and I and our name became Counts.
My first vocal Solo was in a play in first Grade, age 6. I took piano lessons early on and
switched to Trombone then Saxophone and then Trumpet for 3 years. In fifth grade I
switched to French horn and started singing for the Christ Church Episcopal Men and Boy's
choir in Lexington. While singing for that choir, I attended 3 Royal Schools of Church music.
One was in Canterbury England. I had the opportunity to sing and train with a Choir from
Scotland and two Choirs from England and one Choir from Michigan. My younger Brother
Paul Counts still sings for that choir today. On my 9th birthday my mother bought me my
first Drums. I quit playing French horn and got more serious about Drumming. My first
band came only about 1 year later with a couple of neighborhood guys named Richard and
David Dzubak. I went from church music to Led Zeppelin. I have been hooked on Rock-n-
Roll ever since. In 1975 there was Dwaine Cornett on Rhythm and Tom Paulson on lead.
Dwaine and I still talk to each other from Tampa to here several times a year. Dwaine
worked with Double Take as the manager and then moved to Florida. See him every few
years .Friend for Life. I played for many bands through the 70's but the ones that stick out
are the ones that involved Steve Wasson (Wire) and Dennis Kidd (Doc). The bass players
were Brian McNeese, Chris Dunn and Jeff Brown. The bands were RIP and Double Take.
Just before I went into the USN, I played music with a Keyboardist and singer named Paul
Corio and a Guitarist named Gary Grigsby, the bass player was a professor at the University
of Kentucky. In July 1979 I joined the Navy. I formed a band with David Wendell on guitar
and Jeff Roach on bass. When Jeff got out of the Navy I formed a new band and we called it
Main Control which they called the ships band. We played in the middle of the Atlantic
Ocean, Cuba, Porto Rico, Virginia and Florida. The two Guitarists were Roland Tey, Carl
Simon, John Hamrick played bass and me on Drums and Vocals. I had always done
background Vocals and harmonies but this was the first band that I played Drums and sang
Lead vocals at the same time. I still talk to Roland Tey to this day and he lives in San
Antonio TX... I got out in 1983. I played with many bands throughout the 1980's. Steve
Manis, Jeff Honchell Guitars, Paul Corio Keys and vocals in Lexington.
Another band in Louisville was Tony Hall on guitar and Robert Summers bass. In the 90's I
got involved with many different Cover and Original bands. Mike Roberts was a great song
writer and lyricist, and so was Benny Pollard, Mike (Bull Dog) Robert’s and Benny played
Guitars and (Hurricane) Mike Mitchell was the bass player. This band was called Geezer. I
also played music with Bob Wynkoop, my brother in-law. I later played music with a
guitarist named Gary Kapfhammer, and Jill Mayor was the second guitar. Gary was really
into Joe Satriani and Van Halen. Great Guitar player and capable of playing very technical
music. We invited Mike Mitchell to play bass. We called this band KopfJammer. We played
Kapfhammer Originals and some great covers that you wouldn't normally hear any band play
like Dragon Fly by Frank Marino and You Can't Kill Rockin Roll by Ozzy. We played
together for 2 1/2 years. After that I went back to Mike Roberts for about a year with the
band name Fat Jane which came from a Guitar player that had sat in with us on bass in 1997
named Jeff Bridges. Jeff wrote the song Fat Jane. He moved to Austin TX. and we still talk
today. In 2002 Fat Jane split up. I asked a guitar player that I had been jamming with named
(Fat Fingers Willie) Bill McClure if he would like to start a band. He agreed but we need a
bass player. He and I asked a bass player we worked with named (Blues Man) Jerry
Misczyk if he would like to join us and 2 days after Fat Jane split up we formed Triggerfish.
We played cover songs ranging from Led Zeppelin to Stevie Ray and Hendrix. We got into
some STP, and Lynyrd Skynyrd. We tried to play what people wanted to hear. We pulled
Dennis Kidd and Steve Wasson in after I had not played with them for 25 years and put on
one great 25th Henry Clay High School Reunion. Triggerfish stayed together 4 years as the 3
man nucleus stayed together. We worked with many people. Tim Coons was another guitar
player we worked with some.In the first part of 2006 I met a drummer named Herman
Mendonca from London England. TriggerFish recorded about 9 songs that were aired on UK
Blues Radio out of London and were being played in over 15 countries.
I never had a drum lesson or even attended a seminar until 2006. I learned much
like a lead guitar player learns. I stole licks from every drummer that I have every tried to
play. Combine them all and we say that we developed our own style. There are many
favorite drummers, and I can't say that any one of them is my favorite. My greatest
influences were John Bonham, Carl Palmer, Ansley Dunbar, Neil Peart, Allen White, Bill
Buford, Tommy Aldridge, Billy Cobham, Carter Buford, Gregg Bissonette, Jonathan Mover,
any drummer that works with Joe Satriani and Alex Van Halen, which I believe is the most
under rated drummer there is. He is killer. There are many more great drummers but these
stand out to me.
Today I am playing for a Christian Church playing Christian Rock. At age 46, I feel that I am
as good as or better than I have ever been. I have gotten involved in a drummer forum called
”The Drummer Café. I have also started taking custom drum lessons for the first time in my
life from a drummer named Bart Elliott. Hopefully I can keep getting better. I met a IT guy
that has become a great friend and also my web page designer named Craig Gosselin. My web
site is www.thenuttydrummer.com. Craig is a guitar player himself and plays an awesome
Breed Love acoustic. He is into more jazz style music but has been very supportive of my
musical projects. Dennis Kidd and I, have formed a great band with a great bass player
named Greg Harrod. All three of us are capable of singing lead vocals so the harmonies are
very good. We have been playing together as a three man band and we have also been jamming
with other people. The three of us have been working with a band in Frankfort called Every
Day People. We have also jammed with Keyboard player Paul Corio and Guitar Player Jeff
Honchell.
I want to thank all of the musicians and friends that have put up with me and supported me
over the years. I know that I am a perfectionist and more serious than some. Jamming is fun
but to be a good band takes practice and homework. I still have several sayings that I am
going to stick with!!!
People do what they want to do. You are only as good as the people you surround yourself
with, and It is not about me or you, it is about the music.
Thank You All,
Mark T. Counts
The Nutty Drummer
Mark T. Counts, The Nutty Drummer.
I was born February 27th. 1961 in Louisville Kentucky. Before I was 2, we moved to
Lexington Kentucky. My mother was Margaret (Peggy) Cowgill Davis and Father was
Robert T. Davis. My mother was a music teacher and Alto Soloist for the Lexington Singers
and sang for many Church choirs and my father was a Tenor soloist and a great Clarinetist
and later played for the Detroit Symphony and then went to work as a sound engineer for
Paramount Pictures in Ca. He was involved in the first filming of the movie Jaws. At age 5
my mother and father divorced and my mom later married Dr. Edward Frank Counts. My
step father was the lowest bass in the Lexington Singers and sat first chair French Horn in
college. I came from a very musical family. I was born Mark T. Davis and my step father
adopted my brother and I and our name became Counts.
My first vocal Solo was in a play in first Grade, age 6. I took piano lessons early on and
switched to Trombone then Saxophone and then Trumpet for 3 years. In fifth grade I
switched to French horn and started singing for the Christ Church Episcopal Men and Boy's
choir in Lexington. While singing for that choir, I attended 3 Royal Schools of Church music.
One was in Canterbury England. I had the opportunity to sing and train with a Choir from
Scotland and two Choirs from England and one Choir from Michigan. My younger Brother
Paul Counts still sings for that choir today. On my 9th birthday my mother bought me my
first Drums. I quit playing French horn and got more serious about Drumming. My first
band came only about 1 year later with a couple of neighborhood guys named Richard and
David Dzubak. I went from church music to Led Zeppelin. I have been hooked on Rock-n-
Roll ever since. In 1975 there was Dwaine Cornett on Rhythm and Tom Paulson on lead.
Dwaine and I still talk to each other from Tampa to here several times a year. Dwaine
worked with Double Take as the manager and then moved to Florida. See him every few
years .Friend for Life. I played for many bands through the 70's but the ones that stick out
are the ones that involved Steve Wasson (Wire) and Dennis Kidd (Doc). The bass players
were Brian McNeese, Chris Dunn and Jeff Brown. The bands were RIP and Double Take.
Just before I went into the USN, I played music with a Keyboardist and singer named Paul
Corio and a Guitarist named Gary Grigsby, the bass player was a professor at the University
of Kentucky. In July 1979 I joined the Navy. I formed a band with David Wendell on guitar
and Jeff Roach on bass. When Jeff got out of the Navy I formed a new band and we called it
Main Control which they called the ships band. We played in the middle of the Atlantic
Ocean, Cuba, Porto Rico, Virginia and Florida. The two Guitarists were Roland Tey, Carl
Simon, John Hamrick played bass and me on Drums and Vocals. I had always done
background Vocals and harmonies but this was the first band that I played Drums and sang
Lead vocals at the same time. I still talk to Roland Tey to this day and he lives in San
Antonio TX... I got out in 1983. I played with many bands throughout the 1980's. Steve
Manis, Jeff Honchell Guitars, Paul Corio Keys and vocals in Lexington.
Another band in Louisville was Tony Hall on guitar and Robert Summers bass. In the 90's I
got involved with many different Cover and Original bands. Mike Roberts was a great song
writer and lyricist, and so was Benny Pollard, Mike (Bull Dog) Robert’s and Benny played
Guitars and (Hurricane) Mike Mitchell was the bass player. This band was called Geezer. I
also played music with Bob Wynkoop, my brother in-law. I later played music with a
guitarist named Gary Kapfhammer, and Jill Mayor was the second guitar. Gary was really
into Joe Satriani and Van Halen. Great Guitar player and capable of playing very technical
music. We invited Mike Mitchell to play bass. We called this band KopfJammer. We played
Kapfhammer Originals and some great covers that you wouldn't normally hear any band play
like Dragon Fly by Frank Marino and You Can't Kill Rockin Roll by Ozzy. We played
together for 2 1/2 years. After that I went back to Mike Roberts for about a year with the
band name Fat Jane which came from a Guitar player that had sat in with us on bass in 1997
named Jeff Bridges. Jeff wrote the song Fat Jane. He moved to Austin TX. and we still talk
today. In 2002 Fat Jane split up. I asked a guitar player that I had been jamming with named
(Fat Fingers Willie) Bill McClure if he would like to start a band. He agreed but we need a
bass player. He and I asked a bass player we worked with named (Blues Man) Jerry
Misczyk if he would like to join us and 2 days after Fat Jane split up we formed Triggerfish.
We played cover songs ranging from Led Zeppelin to Stevie Ray and Hendrix. We got into
some STP, and Lynyrd Skynyrd. We tried to play what people wanted to hear. We pulled
Dennis Kidd and Steve Wasson in after I had not played with them for 25 years and put on
one great 25th Henry Clay High School Reunion. Triggerfish stayed together 4 years as the 3
man nucleus stayed together. We worked with many people. Tim Coons was another guitar
player we worked with some.In the first part of 2006 I met a drummer named Herman
Mendonca from London England. TriggerFish recorded about 9 songs that were aired on UK
Blues Radio out of London and were being played in over 15 countries.
I never had a drum lesson or even attended a seminar until 2006. I learned much
like a lead guitar player learns. I stole licks from every drummer that I have every tried to
play. Combine them all and we say that we developed our own style. There are many
favorite drummers, and I can't say that any one of them is my favorite. My greatest
influences were John Bonham, Carl Palmer, Ansley Dunbar, Neil Peart, Allen White, Bill
Buford, Tommy Aldridge, Billy Cobham, Carter Buford, Gregg Bissonette, Jonathan Mover,
any drummer that works with Joe Satriani and Alex Van Halen, which I believe is the most
under rated drummer there is. He is killer. There are many more great drummers but these
stand out to me.
Today I am playing for a Christian Church playing Christian Rock. At age 46, I feel that I am
as good as or better than I have ever been. I have gotten involved in a drummer forum called
”The Drummer Café. I have also started taking custom drum lessons for the first time in my
life from a drummer named Bart Elliott. Hopefully I can keep getting better. I met a IT guy
that has become a great friend and also my web page designer named Craig Gosselin. My web
site is www.thenuttydrummer.com. Craig is a guitar player himself and plays an awesome
Breed Love acoustic. He is into more jazz style music but has been very supportive of my
musical projects. Dennis Kidd and I, have formed a great band with a great bass player
named Greg Harrod. All three of us are capable of singing lead vocals so the harmonies are
very good. We have been playing together as a three man band and we have also been jamming
with other people. The three of us have been working with a band in Frankfort called Every
Day People. We have also jammed with Keyboard player Paul Corio and Guitar Player Jeff
Honchell.
I want to thank all of the musicians and friends that have put up with me and supported me
over the years. I know that I am a perfectionist and more serious than some. Jamming is fun
but to be a good band takes practice and homework. I still have several sayings that I am
going to stick with!!!
People do what they want to do. You are only as good as the people you surround yourself
with, and It is not about me or you, it is about the music.
Thank You All,
Mark T. Counts
The Nutty Drummer
Call Me Nutty
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