Mark Bryan (Hootie & The Blowfish)

Mark Bryan is a founding member, songwriter and the guitar player for multiplatinum Hootie & the Blowfish. While Hootie continues to tour and proves to be endlessly successful, Bryan constantly writes, records and produces solo material, and his latest efforts can be heard on the solo release End of the Front. Bryan offers up twelve new songs that range from punk to pop, to rock, to bluegrass on the debut.

While Bryan realizes his song selection could be construed as being formatindecisive, he believes that is what is so unique about this album. I don't think about formats when I write,? he explains. When I listen to music, I listen for good songs, regardless of what the genre is. When I write, I write lyrics from the heart, and hope that the music matches that emotion. I think the format diversity is one of the strengths of this project.End of the Front finds Bryan plunging into songs a slightly harder, faster, and with more distortion than we know him to do in Hootie. I discovered KISS in the fifth grade, and air-guitared my way through Destroyer. I had an Iron-Maiden-Black- Sabbath phase in high school, and The Who and Led Zeppelin are my two all-time favorite bands, he says. The Who's live energy is still probably the most inspirational thing I've ever heard. Bryan also credits modern influences as well, among them, The Replacements, Fishbone and Cowboy Mouth. Bryan recorded End of the Front at his studio outside of Charleston, South Carolina with the help of some close friends who lend their vocals and musical talents to the project. With three tracks featuring performance by co-producer Fred LeBlanc-- drummer, lead singer, and explosive device of Cowboy Mouth alongside Bela Fleck on banjo, Sam Bush on mandolin, and members of Charleston's Jump Little Children to play string parts, Front offers a glimpse into the colorful world Bryan entertains. Everyone was great to work with, he says. It was just another great experience inside the wonderful community of musicians and friends that I have been fortunate to establish over the years.

As Bryan hits the road in 2008 to support End of the Front, he will play select dates with his three-piece band, The Occasional Milkshake, featuring Hootie percussionist, Gary Greene, and The Blue Dogs bassist, Hank Futch. But whether his music is heard live or recorded, Mark just wants his songs to be heard and well received by his fans, both old and newly acquired. I would just like for the songs to touch people the way my favorite stuff touches me.