As a former journalism major at the University of South Carolina, Hootie & the Blowfish guitarist Mark Bryan has a better attitude than most rock musicians about negative reviews. No matter how bad someone rips the band's regular-guy image and radio-friendly rock songs, Bryan says fine, OK, everyone's entitled to an opinion.

The only time Bryan gets miffed is when the band is criticized because it's not hard enough, or angry enough, or angst-ridden enough. He remembers a headline in a Pittsburgh paper that said something to the effect of "Hootie Delivers Hard Rock Without the Teen Anger."

"It's that kinda stuff that bothers me," says Bryan, calling from Denver. "People think we want to be a hard rock band but we're just not good enough. Well, we're not teen-agers. We're not angry. If we're not groundbreaking, fine."

And that's fine, too, with the 4 million people who have snapped up Cracked Rear View, the band's major-label debut album.

Less than a year ago, Hootie & the Blowfish was that band with the funny name and the lead singer with the cool voice (Darius Rucker). Now they've got three top singles to their credit - Hold My Hand, Let Her Cry and Only Wanna Be With You - and are headlining concerts (they are booked Saturday at Miami's Bayfront Park Amphitheater).

David Letterman loves 'em, so much so he said there's just something wrong with anybody who doesn't. All those laid-back college guys and gals who are into the Grateful Dead love 'em. Heck, your mom loves 'em.

And why not? Bryan, Rucker, bassist Dean Felber and drummer Jim Sonefeld have come by their success honestly, grinding out 250 to 300 gigs a year up and down the East Coast after forming at the University of South Carolina 10 years ago.

In that time they've developed a sound - clean, hook-filled rock 'n' roll that makes the most of Rucker's soulful, unusually strong voice. They're regular guys singing about regular feelings, regular relationships run aground, regular Saturday nights in any college bar in any city in the United States.

Even the band's name is symbolism-free, the product of normal college life. Rucker had two college buddies. One had big eyes and wore glasses (owl, Hootie, get it?) and other was fat and had big cheeks. Hence, blowfish. The two came into a party one night and Rucker said, "Look, Hootie & the Blowfish."So, no, Rucker is not Hootie.

The band recorded three independent releases (basically just to have something to sell at shows), kept on working and built a large state and regional fan base. They got a few breaks and, as Cracked sold more and more, discovered that a huge segment of young Americans would rather listen to music that sounds more like Bob Seger or John Mellencamp than Nirvana or Green Day.

"We're not out to pave new ground," says Bryan. "We're just out to play music. I'm a songwriter, and if I write something that's not totally original, that's fine with me.

"And what's weird is, now that's being considered groundbreaking by some people. I've seen stories that are like 'Hootie's breaking ground by not breaking ground."'

Unlike many bands, Hootie & the Blowfish didn't meet in some small town and then migrate to New York or Los Angeles looking for a deal. They stayed home and kept playing, figuring that if they never got a major-label deal, they could continue to earn decent livings playing the clubs.

The band's sound is often a mixture of upbeat, catchy rock over lyrics that tell sad stories.

"That's one thing I've noticed about us," Bryan says. "We tend to have positive emotions in depressing songs. Take Running From an Angel. The song is about Darius' brother going to jail and running from an angel, his mom, and to the devil. But the music is happy, almost bluegrass. And there are positive things in the lyrics, too.

"That's what a lot of the songs say: Even though bad stuff is going on, it's still your life and you should do what you want. I think that's what people get from us."

That the audience for this seems to be growing on a daily basis, Bryan says, is less jarring than one might expect.

"Maybe it all is too much," he says. "We're never home anymore, we never see our families or friends anymore. But I wouldn't trade it. I'm young and it's a good time for me to see the world. We won't always be in this much demand."

-- Hootie & the Blowfish is booked with Edwin McCain for a sold-out show Saturday at Bayfront Park Amphitheater, 301 N. Biscayne Blvd., Miami. Doors open 6 p.m., concert at 8. Call Ticketmaster, 966-3309 Palm Beach, 523-3309 Broward, 358-5885 Dade.