Half of Hootie and The Blowfish, Mark Bryan and Dean Felber, are graduates of Seneca Valley High School in Germantown. Mark Bryan, lead guitarist of Hootie and The Blowfish, will be returning to Maryland for a show at The Weinberg Center in nearby Frederick. His band, “The Screaming Trojans” is a nod to the high schools the group attended. “I’m a Seneca Valley Screaming Eagle and a couple of my best buddies are Gaithersburg Trojans, so we mixed the two mascot names.” Bryan told WTOP in a recent interview.
Bryan, who was born at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, is a founding member, songwriter, and the lead guitarist for the band Hootie & the Blowfish. In 1986, Bryan and his friend Darius Rucker formed a duo called The Wolf Brothers while attending the University of South Carolina. Eventually, friends Dean Felber (also a Seneca Valley alumnus) and Jim Sonefeld joined the band, which led to the founding of Hootie & the Blowfish in 1989 with Rucker as the lead singer. They have sold over 21 million albums in the United States alone. Their album, Cracked Rear View, went on to earn the Billboard’s Band of the Year Award in 1996 and the RIAA’s Diamond Award for sales of 10 million units. Cracked Rear View remains the 12th best selling album in music business history, and all albums combined have moved over 25 million worldwide. Part of the video for “Only Wanna Be With You” off of the album was shot at the old pro shop/bar of the Poolesville golf course.
The band has since gone their separate ways, however Hootie & the Blowfish still perform together numerous times each year. Bryan is a consistent participant in the Hootie & the Blowfish Monday After the Masters Celebrity Pro-Am Golf Tournament. All proceeds from this tournament go to the Hootie & the Blowfish Foundation which makes donations to education and junior golf charities. Hootie & the Blowfish also holds Hootie HomeGrown, an annual event in which they perform a concert to benefit area schools. Bryan moved to Charleston, South Caroline in 1999 where he has produced full-length albums, as well as co-written and produced songs for other artists. He was also involved in founding the College of Charleston Radio Station, and is helping to develop a music industry concentration there.
'
