Article published October 05, 2008
He's gone country: Darius Rucker, lead singer for Hootie & the Blowfish, is a hit in a new genre
Darius Rucker’s new album, ‘Learn to Live,’ debuted recently at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart.
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By BRIAN DUGGER
BLADE STAFF WRITER
As the frontman for Hootie & the Blowfish, Darius Rucker was a rock star, living the rock star life.
'We started that band in college. For years, it was all about drinking. That's what we did all the time on the road — drink. We were living the party lifestyle,' he says.
Now?
'I want to coach my little kids' football team and go to dance recitals. Seriously, that's what I want to do,' he says, laughing, as he talks by phone from his car.
It's not an exaggeration to say a lot has changed for Rucker, 42. In 1994, he, Mark Bryan, Dean Felber, and Jim Sonefeld were on top of the pop world after releasing Hootie's debut album, 'Cracked Rearview,' which has sold more than 16 million copies and spawned hit singles 'Hold My Hand,' 'Let Her Cry,' and 'Only Wanna Be With You.'
Today, he's a rising country music star. Last week, his first single, 'Don't Think I Don't Think About It,' reached No. 1, making Rucker the first African-American artist to reach the top of the charts since Charley Pride did it in 1983 with 'Night Games.'
Capitol Records released Rucker's album, 'Learn to Live,' at the end of September
and it debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart with first-week sales of 60,414 copies.
Even though it appears to be an unlikely change for a black lead singer of a successful pop band to take on a career as a solo country artist, Rucker dismisses that notion. Growing up in South Carolina, he listened to Buck Owens, then later was a fan of Dwight Yoakam, New Grass Revival, and Radney Foster. He jokes that he wanted Hootie to be a country band but was outvoted.
'I didn't have any trepidations about making a country album. I'd wanted to do it for a long time. I was going to make one. My trepidations were whether I'd be accepted by country music,' he says. 'Selling 16 million albums was a cool thing to get me in the door, but it's also a good and bad thing. My voice is so familiar with Hootie & the Blowfish. Was country radio going to accept my voice and a country album? It's cool that they did.'
The world of country music has been eye-opening for Rucker. Superstars Brad Paisley, Vince Gill, and Alison Krauss each agreed to appear on his record — without any arm-twisting.
'In the pop world, if you want someone on your record, it's like pulling teeth, and 99 percent of the time it doesn't happen. If it does happen, you have to pay someone $50,000.'
Not on this record, which was produced by Frank Rogers, who has worked with Paisley several times in the past.
Paisley came down to the studio on a day off and provided guitar on the album's second track, 'All I Want.'
'He's sitting there getting frustrated because he was trying to play something no one had ever played before. Then he plays this cool solo at the end of the song, and I told him, ‘Oh man, you just took the record up four notches,'?' Rucker says.
Rogers ran into Gill at the gym and told him Rucker wanted him to sing with him on 'If I Had Wings,' a powerful ballad that ended up being track number five. Gill didn't think twice.
'A couple of days later, he comes down and does it. Are you kidding me? This is Vince Gill — [19]-time Grammy winner. This is music royalty. I'm on cloud nine.'
Rogers then ran into Krauss at dinner, and she agreed to add her vocals to 'If I Had Wings.'
'The stars just aligned for this record, they really did,' Rucker says.
Rucker wrote or co-wrote 11 of the 12 tracks, many of them from personal experiences.
'I love writing country music. Pop lyrics can be abstract, and that's cool, but country is about telling stories, and that's what I like to do,' he says.
'Don't Think I Don't Think About It' was a song Rucker wrote with Clay Mills. It's not your average come-back-to-me song.
'We wanted to write a song that was more adult. It's about when you're 42, married, happy, and you hear that some girl you dated 12 years ago is getting married. You think back to those times,' he says. 'I don't think it's the best song on the album, and it's probably the least country, but it was the perfect song for my introduction to country radio.'
Over and over when putting together this album, the former self-proclaimed wild man and think-only-about-me rock star turned to his wife, Beth, for advice.
'I love my wife. I hope I'm 80 years old in a rocking chair next to her, holding her hand, watching our great-grandkids walk up our steps,' he says. 'She influences every aspect of my life, and I respect her opinion above all else. Capitol could tell me a million times how good a song is, but if she doesn't think it's cool, it won't be on the record.'
Beth single-handedly got 'I Hope They Get to Me in Time' on the record. It was one of the last songs picked for the album, and it was the only one Rucker wasn't involved in writing. It tells the story of a man trapped in his car after an accident. His life is flashing before his eyes as he waits for help to arrive.
'I couldn't decide whether to put this song or another one on the record. Frank [Rogers] was opting for the other one. I asked Beth. One thing she said is that it hurts to listen to and she wondered if people would think it's morbid. The next day she said, ‘You can't take this off the album,' and that was the definitive decision.'
Another song that tugs at the heart strings is 'It Won't Be Like This for Long,' a story about Rucker's 13 and 7-year-old daughters. It was written with Ashley Gorley and Chris DuBois, who also have daughters. It's all about watching your kids grow up.
Talking about the album cut, the conversation gravitates back to Rucker's family.
'I'm trying to get guitar lessons going for my 7-year-old right now. My kids
have to play an instrument. But trust me, I'm not going to teach my kids how to be a band guitar player. I'm going to let someone else teach them how to be a good guitar player,' he says, chuckling. 'There was a time I wanted to be on the road all the time, being a rock star. I have different priorities in life. I don't think of myself that way — not as a rock star.'
More and more he's thinking of himself as a country music singer, a thought he had often dreamed about but never expected to actually happen.
'To play country records, that's the only plan I have right now. I'm going to make country records as long as Capitol will let me. As long as I have something to say and Frank Rogers wants to produce me, I'll be making these records.'
Contact Brian Dugger at:
bdugger@theblade.com.
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