5 minute read
Rockstar Roadies!
WRITTEN BY ALYSSA HELMS, Media Manager
We have all heard the song “Only Want To Be With You,” by the Grammy award-winning, and platinum-selling band Hootie & the Blowfish. What would you think if I told you that the song was written about dogs?! While that fact can not be confirmed, one may think so after meeting Mark Bryan. He’s one of the founders and songwriters for Hootie & the Blowfish. The band started in 1986, when Mark met Darius Rucker at the University of South Carolina, and they started gigging as the duo called The Wolf Brothers. The band we know today formed shortly after with friends, Dean Felber and Jim Sonefeld. Their 1994 debut album, Cracked Rear View, reached the Top 100 charts around the world and is still one of the best-selling albums in music history. Mark and Hootie have sold over 21 million albums, and Mark has spent the majority of his life traveling the world and performing, but along with being a musician and songwriter, he is a big dog-lover!
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Mark says, “Dogs are the model of unconditional love, humans strive for it… and dogs make it look so easy, loving all the time.” The one thing he loves more than making music and enjoying the Charleston area with his kids, is doing things with his Golden Retrievers, Riggins and Rosie, who Mark thinks are the absolute coolest, and certainly the smartest.
He loves taking Rosie out to the woods behind his property - she loves to go on deer hikes. Once, he remembers Rosie taking her favorite deer toy out to where Mark and she usually see them roam so the stuffed deer toy could be with his own kind. Riggins loves to play ball with his dad - he is really good at football. Riggins knows how to snap the ball to Mark with his nose, on ‘down, set, hike,’ then go out for a pass and catch the ball off a onehop. Those are some of Mark’s favorite memories of them. Super smart right? And I’m sure that has much to do with their dad teaching them.
Mark had several special dogs throughout the years that all left an impact on him: Rocky, Ripken, and Rolly, incidentally also beginning with R- but none being Goldens. He got Riggins and Rosie four years ago when they were puppies. Since then, the brother-sister duo accompanies him to as many places as possible. From the horse stables to Capers Island and studios to stages... Riggins and Rosie go anywhere and everywhere with their dad, including the Hootie and the Blowfish Group Therapy Tour, visiting 44 cities in the US, Canada and the UK. Mark was grateful he got to travel to so many places and let his pups have experiences they may have not gotten otherwise, especially letting them swim around and play where he grew up in Maryland. On tour, Mark always complied with rules of whether spaces were dog-friendly or not, and says he wouldn’t want to be unfair to anyone if no one else can bring their pets, but at some amphitheaters like Hanahan Amphitheater, where Lowcountry Dog Magazine holds Woofstock Music Festival, dogs are allowed and Riggins and Rosie will be there! Hopefully, the pups will come out to Woofstock Music Festival on March 25th to support their dad as he takes the stage to perform alongside his friends, Drivin N Cryin. Grab tickets at woostock.live
He has produced hit records heard all over the world and helped create Carolina Studios in 2005, a non-profit, after school program that provides students a creative space to write, and record music. Mark has been an influential person for a lot of people. He also wants everyone to know that cleaning poop is part of the commitment you make when you get a dog, so you gotta live up to it. Hootie & the Blowfish are playing PNC Arena in Raleigh on February 17th and are throwing their annual HootieFest: The Big Splash, in April, in Cancun, Mexico. You can also catch Mark’s latest solo album released last year, Midlife Priceless.
It was such an honor to talk to musician, family man, and dog-lover Mark Bryan. Riggins and Rosie along with Mark’s past dogs have given so much companionship, hope and inspiration to his music and life. He even came out with a song and video about them called, ’The Puppy Song’ - https://youtu.be/ewXVYRlQCZ8 Following in his dad’s footsteps, Mark’s son Kenny will be releasing an EP later this year. Mark has also curated a special new single called, “Make It Right” with all of the instruments, vocals, and video done entirely by him! It will be streaming on all platforms Feb 3. Check out his site, markbryanmusic.com and head to Woofstock Music Festival on Saturday, March 25 at Hanahan Amphitheater.■
Photos provided by Mark Bryan, except cover and page 26 by Kirk Chambers.
