In April 1997, Mark Bryan from Hootie and the Blowfish joined Nestor Aparicio on his radio show to discuss their love for baseball and the Orioles. Mark, a Maryland native, shared his fond memories of attending Orioles games with his family and the band’s connection to sports, including their LP “Fairweather Johnson.”
He also mentioned their upcoming album release and single. Mark reminisced about meeting Cal Ripken and playing basketball with Orioles players, highlighting his deep-rooted Maryland sports fandom despite now living in South Carolina.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Hootie and the Blowfish, Mark Bryan, Maryland sports, Orioles fan, Cal Ripken, baseball love, rock week, 1997 interview, new album, sports references, charity event, Washington Redskins, Memorable games, pitching strength, team on paper
SPEAKERS
Nestor Aparicio, Mark Bryan
8
Nestor Aparicio 00:00
Welcome back wnst. Towson, Baltimore and wnst.net we are doing our wnst Rock week here this week, and here’s a guy that’s been a, I don’t see a frequent contributor over my 25 years on radio, but certainly has called in more than a handful of times over the course of time. And he’s still, my friend. Still lives down in South Carolina, but is from Maryland, and he’ll tell you all about it during this segment. This segment is from 1997 it was my rock and jock special. I did a rock and jock show every year in April and get some rock star buddies that love baseball to call in and talk about their love of baseball. And this is Mark Bryan from Hootie and the Blowfish. He’s a guitar player. All the guys in the band hooting the blowfish love sports. And if you do remember back in the day when they were one of the biggest bands in the world, and this was that period of time, this was between crack rear view and fair weather Johnson in the spring of 1997 when they were playing two sold out shows at at the Nissan pavilion in those days and at Meriwether post pavilion in those days. Just a an incredibly big band at this time and every I think that six or seven hits off the first album, but they played a lot of golf. They talked about Dan Marino in their songs. And, you know, Darius Rucker talked about being a Dolphins fan, that the dolphins make him cry. And they wrote about sports and a fair weather Johnson was about a sports reference. So when they would come to town, they would come to Orio games. And I once got him a gig singing the national anthem at an Orioles game. I think a Damn near killed their management that night, me and Jason Wright, but that was 20 years ago, and Mark Bryan has called in, and you’ll hear some more of that during W N, S T rock week, some more mature conversations and stuff that happened a little bit more recently, in 2014 2015 I know he called in, so that’ll be a part of this. But this is an early one. This is from 1997 Mark Bryan moody and the Blowfish, one of my favorite bands, and of course, Darius Rucker doing his country turn. And I’m always the one hoping for the Hootie and the Blowfish reunion. They do play once a year, a big charity event in August every year in Charleston, South Carolina. So that’s certainly something you can check out. Check them out online, one of the really, really good guys in rock and roll, and a really good sports fan, despite the fact that he pulls for the Washington Redskins. Mark Bryant here on wnst Rock week. Hope you’re enjoying these old school music conversations walking you back to the nasty rock and jock special. It’s true. We’re here, we’re up, and we’re running on a fantastic Thirsty Thursday edition, the Budweiser sports barn, the nastor went back. We got rock stars at the Yin Yang tonight. We’re hoping everybody calls up contributes. Don’t be afraid the guys that strum on the guitars and sing and all that good stuff. And we’ll have a good time Carolina, Mike riding shotgun. And Carolina, you’re from a different point in Carolina. I mean, the northern point, northern point of Carolina, the good point. Oh, I got a guy here that might contend to have a little problem with that. Mark Brian, from hoodie to blow fish, Mark, we got to play, hold my hand. I heard you damn thanks so much. And, you know, let her cry, and only one be so I’m playing the one that I dig the most, that, you know, we don’t hear a lot of, how are you
Mark Bryan 03:15
good, man, how are you I like that one. I’m glad you’re playing that one, nice little variety there.
Nestor Aparicio 03:18
Well, I tell you what, just when we thought we ran out of singles off of the the first album here looks like you got another album coming out. Yeah, that’s right, April 23 as a matter of fact, and you got a single that’s coming out like opening day. Am I correct in single second? April 2? Well, it must coincide with the baseball season and the return of a Cal Ripken in the national pastime here. Now you guys have obviously been along. I mean, last time you did the show we were May of last year. I think we were talking about you guys had a couple of number one hits. Did you ever expect it to get to this level, to where you are right now?
Mark Bryan 03:49
8No, not at all. And I don’t think anyone does. You know, like, when something was like this happens a sort of phenomenon type thing. I don’t think anyone can expect, you know, it’s just one of those things that happens and it hits you, and you try to deal with it
Nestor Aparicio 04:00
well before I get in between you and Carolina, Mike here about the state. Why
Mark Bryan 04:04
did you have to go there? Man, what’s up Chapel Hill? What
Nestor Aparicio 04:10
is South Carolina down there? Let’s talk about this Orioles campaign. Because I know just give a little bit of your background, as far as where you’re coming from, the trips with mom and dad up the 33rd street as a young man, and the fact that Cal Ripken your favorite all time athlete. I mean, a lot of people do not equate only to blow fish with the state of Maryland, and I think that’s a 50% wrong, at least, right. Yeah,
8Mark Bryan 04:30
that’s right. Dean the bass player and myself are from gaithersburg. And you know, when my dad’s from Bethesda, and when he was growing up, he was, it was all senators. But as you know, we didn’t have baseball in DC my whole lifetime. So for me, it was all o’s and these, my parents used to take me to Memorial. And I actually I went to the game that snowed out in 79 series. And I was talking to Flanagan the other day, and he was like, yeah, man, I was supposed to start that game. I remember that. So
Nestor Aparicio 04:59
I remember. I was, I was in the seventh grade, and I was in the library, my best still guy, still my best friend, Kevin Eck, and we’re looking at the window. We’re holding tickets for the ball game, and it snows falling out the window.
Mark Bryan 05:09
I was in the bleachers, man, and they called it. It was pretty upsetting. We’re aching
Nestor Aparicio 05:13
8here in Baltimore today. It’s about 38 and we got a month soon at the window right here in Baltimore. It’s even cold in the Carolinas right now we are, literally, we’re like, 41 hours away from first pitch. It at the Camden Yards on Saturday, an exhibition game. And this is not, this isn’t even football weather. It’s been a horrible spring so far. Man, it was gonna be 83 game
05:34
when I remember it snowed on opening day. They didn’t open the season, like Thursday or Friday, because it snowed all over the place. Yeah,
Mark Bryan 05:39
all we can hope for is that the rest of the spring will be as kind as the first part has been. Mean.
Nestor Aparicio 05:45
Now, I know you get to do a lot of traveling. You’re running around the last year, year and a half, your life, very topsy turvy. I know you’ve been keeping up with the birds. Now for this season, here we got some new players, some new blood. You interject the Roberto Alomar, BJ sur off a full season of Bobby Bonilla. You know, you go out and you get a Wells, you get a marker. What do you make of the oils this campaign? Well,
8Mark Bryan 06:05
it’s funny, because, you know, me and Dean have been going nuts with all the acquisitions, and we’re talking all time, all kinds of trash and and Darius being a reds fan.
06:15
Oh yeah, Sony,
Mark Bryan 06:18
Sony being a Cubs fan. Come come again. Those guys. Giving us the best team on paper syndrome. So, so what we got to do is come out and actually play some ball this year. Several years have had the best team on paper, and so hopefully this year will be the best team on paper that turns into a playing ball club. But it’s amazing. A lot of the key is going to be, going to be the pitching I really do, because we finally got some names in there, some guys that we know can can throw. So let’s hope they put up the numbers this
Nestor Aparicio 06:47
8year. Well, we had those homes for Sid Fernandez. We had those beliefs in Kevin Brown. We had been having those police for six and a half years regarding Ben McDonald and now he’s out of the organization. So you see it come and go, but I think on April 1. I mean, I remember back in 8788 when his team was just bad. I mean, he Owen, 2188 Orioles, April 1, we still said a couple breaks go our way. You know, we got a good team. On paper, he started 21 he’s got to the nature of baseball, but on paper right now the bullpen looks like we got a little bit of aging. Here. We got McDowell, we got Myers in the bullpen, Jesse Roscoe, and as your your buddy Sony, can tell you, coming from the cubbies, I don’t think they lost any sleep in Chicago to Randy. Myers was gone. You know, he actually,
Mark Bryan 07:30
he thought that that was a pretty good acquisition for so it may, it may turn out promising, but I’ll tell you what this year compared to last year, I’m a lot more comfortable with a starter leaving the game. So that’s one thing we can look forward to. Just, I mean, at least going in so well, at least,
Nestor Aparicio 07:44
you know, the guys, first names that are coming out of the bowl. That’s right. I mean, you see Clark, you see, you know, the Lewis’s and all they, who are these guys, as far as the Cal Ripken situation. Now, last time you and I got together, we went out to Oriole Park, the oils took it on a chin that they wouldn’t have. It was that machine and Clemens and let you were out there. I can’t even
Mark Bryan 08:00
remember. I think, as a matter of fact, it was because it was a big standoff there. I remember that. So you’re right, and
8Nestor Aparicio 08:05
the Red Sox won the game, and Cal Ripken and your and that was the night, no, it wasn’t to see a COVID. It was the night that Kevin Brown took the that’s what, he got hit in the hand, exactly. That’s it. And McDonald went on a DL on the same night. Remember that? And when that happened, you want to get down say hello to all the oils, and you were just so bummed that you couldn’t say hello to Cal.
Mark Bryan 08:24
I met everyone but Cal, and he was busy that night, and I didn’t want to, you know, press it since they lost and then
Nestor Aparicio 08:30
tell us what’s happened in the last nine months. I mean, dairy singing the national anthem sitting next to Cal Ripken at the World Series.
Mark Bryan 08:38
8That was amazing. He must have been taking gas well, I tell you, a really cool thing happened when we did the only want to be with you video, and Walt Williams was in the video, his agent, Mike Flannery, and I got to be good friends. And Mike’s friends with iranas, who works with cow. And so they spoke with Cal about me coming out and playing some hoops, and I got to play some hoops with some of the birds. It was great. Man, Billy Ripken was out there, Flanagan was out there, and hoyles, it was a lot of fun. Man,
Nestor Aparicio 09:06
okay, so you played a little hoop with cow. What does one say? Like, what do you do when you pull up to the to the driveway? Cows plays, because there’s a lot of people in Baltimore to play some hoop with cow. You know,
Mark Bryan 09:16
I have my dad with me because he just wanted to kind of hang out. And we were just walking up the driveway, my
Nestor Aparicio 09:21
dad passed away. You’ll be glad when it’s all over. What you took your dad with you? Yeah, that means a lot to your dad. I’m
8Mark Bryan 09:26
sorry to hear that. And and, you know, we were walking up the driveway just going, dad, I can’t stand I can’t believe this. We’re walking up to Cal Ripken house right now.
Nestor Aparicio 09:33
So, yeah, how did your game describe yourself? You met 6364, kind of skinny. Am I correct? Yeah, I got some game. Yeah, you got some Do you got some games?
09:41
Do you tell them that quite as good as Walt Williams, though, is he? Oh, hell, no, man.
Nestor Aparicio 09:44
8This is a guy from North Carolina. This and a guy from South Carolina.
09:49
Their coach, Eddie foger, was a Dean Smith disciple. So for the game, Cox, hey,
Mark Bryan 09:53
everybody’s a Dean Smith disciple. Pal. You.
