“Hootie & the Blowfish” EP
November 19, 2018{Fall 1989} Dick Hodgin, music producer and owner of M-80 Management, Raleigh, NC was going through his mail full of demo cassette tapes one morning. He came across one from “Hootie & the Blowfish,” but didn’t recall meeting Mark a few weeks prior at a gig and hated the band name, so it was thrown into the pile for his intern, Rusty to look through. ⠀
⠀
The next day, Rusty burst into the office raving about the band, insisting Hodgin listen… they called Mark just minutes into the demo to come up to JAG Studios to record. They recorded five songs, including ‘Hold My Hand,’ for their self-titled EP and Rusty moved to Columbia soon after to manage the band!