Todd & Chris OwyoungA lot of things have changed since Hootie & the Blowfish put out their last new album in 2005. Lead singer Darius Rucker is now a bonafide country star, and the band now has their first country hit with “Hold On,” co-written by Chris Stapleton.
While the guys have continued to play charity gigs while they were on a break, ultimately, it was an important milestone that led to their new album, Imperfect Circle.
“2019 being the 25th anniversary of Cracked Rear View seemed like a good time to shoot for, so that lined up nicely for us too,” says guitarist Mark Bryan. “We had something to celebrate when we toured…so it was kind of cool.”
About that tour, which wrapped up October 16 in the U.K.: It was the band’s first in 12 years and it was a massive sold-out success, even though Darius admits he thought would be a total disaster.
“I said in no uncertain terms that I just did not think this was going to work,” he admits. “It was shocking to me…this was the biggest tour we’ve ever done. And there was a moment in our life where we were the biggest band in the world! And this is the biggest we’ve ever done. That was crazy!”
Even though Imperfect Circle features songs co-written by collaborators like pop superstar Ed Sheeran, the band has no qualms about their foray intro country, admitting they’re not too worried about trying to fit into the current pop scene, anyway.
“Once Darius starts singing and we get our parts in place, it sounds like us,” notes Mark. “We’re not necessarily concerned about what genre our songs end up in. That’s for our fans…to decide…We just enjoy making the music.”
Copyright © 2019, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
