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S H O T
O N
L O C A T I O N
A T
P A G E ’ S
T H I E V E S
M A R K E T
darius
rucker
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I
t’s a Friday evening in early December, and North Charleston’s Gap and Old Navy are oddly quiet,
as are the stores in Tanger Outlets. No, the big holiday sales aren’t the draw tonight—Rucker is.
On this night, the North Charleston Performing Arts Center is a vortex, pulling in all the area traffic.
Taillights are a long red ribbon as cars crowd into the parking lot. Inside, the performance hall is
all bustle and energy. It’s a big night; all 2,260 seats are filled. The audience ranges from older and
middle-aged couples to boppy young teens, mainly in button-downs and sweater sets, with a couple
of cowboy hats in the mix. Seated about midway back on the main floor is a wholesome-looking
family of four—mom, dad, and two tween boys. Behind them is some poor guy on a date, only his
date is ignoring him. “Darius, you’re the only one for me,” she yells, swooning as the hometown
heartthrob takes the stage. It’s hard to compete with a rock star.
T R A V I S
B Y
( 2 )
P H O T O G R A P H S
town debut as rock-and-roller-turned-countrycrooner. And the crowd loves it. There’s no
sense of betrayal or skepticism here in the
land where Hootie & the Blowfish once
reigned, and now Darius, heretofore the
pivotal and inimitable Hootie front man, is
trying to one-up himself—this time as a solo
country artist. He’s left behind the ragtag
straw cowboy hat that used to be his Hootie
concert staple. Now it’s just Darius—accompanied by a fiddle and a steel guitar—in a
black shirt and jeans, some killer cowboy
boots, and that blow-your-mind baritone.
Fans are on their feet, clapping and singing along through his recent No. 1 hit,“Don’t
Think I Don’t Think About It.”They’re smiling
and swaying when Rucker roars into the feelgood “Alright,” and they’re at full tilt when
he delivers one or two Hootie classics—
the enduring “Hold My Hand” and “Let Her
Cry”—for old-time sake. These tunes are as
close as any to regional anthems, and Rucker
devotees gladly pledge allegiance.“I LUUVV
Charleston,” he belts out in between songs.
The feeling is obviously mutual.
This concert is a homecoming for Rucker
in more ways than one. “It’s great being
home,” sighs the Mount Pleasant family
man, who spent big chunks of the last two
years in Nashville writing and recording
D E W
And it’s really hard to compete with Grammy
Award-winning, multiplatinum, silver-throated
Darius Rucker—even when you’re Darius
Rucker. Which, in essence, is what he’s
doing these days. This concert is his home-
Stage Presence: Whether playing to an intimate crowd at the Windjammer (above and
below) or a sold-out performance hall, Rucker is the consummate showman. “There’s
definite charisma; Darius has that X factor,” says Nashville producer Frank Rogers.
Learn to Live with Capitol Records. Prior
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to its release last September, Rucker rodeoed
radio station program directors from Texas
to Toronto, doing PR the grueling old-fashioned way, in person, visiting four cities a
day, more than 80 stations in all.Afterwards,
it was on to sing for David Letterman, Ellen
Degeneres, the Country Music Awards, the
Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, and the
Grand Ole Opry, among others. He’s been
on one heck of a whirlwind cowboy trail,
to be sure, so playing at home in Charleston is a welcome reprieve. It means Rucker
gets time with his wife, Beth, and gets to tuck
three-year old Jack and seven-year old Danielle in bed after the show (daughter Cary, 13,
lives in Baltimore with her mother). And, it
represents a coming home artistically as well.
Rucker’s country roots are right here in
the Lowcountry.“I’ve always loved country
music. Growing up, I listened to my Aunt
Jeannette singing Willie Nelson, watched
Hee Haw every Saturday night, and listened
to Buck Owens on Charleston AM radio,”
says Rucker, who cites Radney Foster and
Dwight Yoakam as influences. Early on he
tried to sway his Hootie brethren to move
toward twang, to no avail. “This is really
more of a return than a departure for me,”
he adds. “Country is as much a part of me
as R&B and rock.”
“
Watching his childhood friend become
a music megastar hasn’t surprised David
Campbell, at least not too much. “Darius
always wanted to be a musician, and he’s
definitely a go-getter,” notes Campbell, who
grew up right across the street from Rucker
in West Ashley’s Orleans Woods neighborhood. Buddies since age five, David and
Darius went to Orange Grove Elementary
together, then on to Wallace Middle School
and Middleton High, where the easygoing,
amiable Rucker, a standout with the Middleton Singers, was voted class president.
“We had a great neighborhood. We just
did what kids do. We hung out, played
sports,” Rucker reminisces. He and his
neighborhood pals—including Campbell,
Simmons—played football and basketball
together at nearby St. Andrew’s Park. Rick
Johannes became good buddies with Darius and his pals during middle school. The
group was, and remains, tight. “They’re my
boys,” Rucker says.
Playing sports was formative for Rucker,
who now at age 42 is a passionate golfer and
close pal of Tiger Woods. (Johannes’ dad gave
Darius his first set of clubs at age 14.) The
second youngest of six, Rucker was raised
by his mother and grandmother in a threebedroom house, with lots of aunts, uncles,
and cousins living nearby.“St. Andrew’s [Recreation Department] was where I got most
of my adult male supervision,” he notes.
When not playing ball or obsessing about
the Miami Dolphins, the boys hung out on
Campbell’s front porch or at Darius’ house.
His mom, an Al Green fan, would be singing,
Campbell says, and Darius was always listening
to a wide range of music, from R&B to KISS
to the Stones.
Sheldon Snipe, Juan Ferguson, and Sheldon
“We’d talk about our dreams—about
a young boy’s dream
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going to college,” recalls Campbell. “Sheldon
Snipe wanted to be a lawyer; Juan wanted to
be a doctor; I wanted to play college ball;
and Darius always wanted to be a singer.
I remember once in my garage, he was
belting out some Barry Manilow song,
and he was so into it he started crying.
I gotta give him grief about that one,”
Campbell laughs.
As a postscript (file under “dreams do
come true”), they all went to college: Sheldon Snipe is a lawyer in Atlanta; Juan went
to Duke Medical School and now works
for the Department of Social Services in
Los Angeles; David, now director of community education at St. John’s High School,
earned a college football scholarship; and
Darius, well, he’s a singer all right, singing
about those dreamy days on Campbell’s
porch. The title track on Learn to Live
begins with a grateful nod to David’s father:
“Grandpa Campbell would sit upon his
front porch/and I’d be right there just sitting on his knees….”
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P H O T O G R A P H S
( 4 )
C O U R T E S Y
O F
B E T H
R U C K E R
west ashley to west nashville
Darius and his Orleans
Woods pals hung out,
played sports, and
dreamed big. Many
continue to stay in touch.
Clockwise from left: With
friends at the home of
neighborhood buddy
Todd Lapin; celebrating
Lapin’s birthday at Ye
Ole Fashioned Ice Cream
parlor; Darius (#11) on
the St. Andrew’s basketball team; the former
rec-league football player
now plays big stadiums,
but the same team values and work ethic help
him score on the country
music charts.
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T R A V I S
B Y
Rucker’s Grand
Ole Opry debut
on September 8,
2008
P H O T O G R A P H
“Then I left home and went to Carolina,” the
song continues (at this verse, the Charleston
audience roars). And there, in a University
of South Carolina dorm in 1989, is where
Rucker’s dream began to take flight. Fellow
freshman Mark Bryan, a budding guitarist,
overheard Rucker singing and suggested
they jam together. They recruited Dean Felber on bass and Jim Sonefeld on drums, and
soon Hootie & the Blowfish (named after two
college classmates—an owlish guy and a kid
with Dizzy Gillespie cheeks) was packing
campus events and Columbia bars. Their
irresistible melodies attracted a widespread
following and, before long, a record deal. In
1994, they released Cracked Rear View, to
this day one of the recording industry’s alltime bestselling albums—16 million sold in
the U.S., and counting. As David Letterman
said when introducing Hootie & the Blowfish
on Late Night in the mid ’90s,“If you don’t have
this record, something’s wrong with you.”
“We were a bar band that got really, really
lucky,” says Rucker, a veteran of more than
two decades in the music biz—plenty long
to get a taste of the industry’s vicissitudes.
“Yeah, I think we made a great record, but
16 million? Grunge was dominating the
airwaves; people were tired of being depressed; and here come these little guys
from South Carolina singing ‘Hold my
Hand.’ ‘Sure, I’ll hold your hand,’ they said,
and they bought our record.We were at the
right place at the right time.”
Indeed, Hootie has taken some hits for
being lightweight (a New York Times critic
dubbed them “the most popular inconsequential band”), but their enduring appeal
speaks, or sings, for itself: eight albums, 25
million sold altogether, and successful tours
year in and year out for 20-some years. Even
now Rucker claims the gig’s not over. The
band will continue to regroup to play
several annual charitable events and possibly record again in the future, he says, but
this is his time to chase his country dream,
time to “take some chances” as the refrain
in “Learn to Live” preaches. And it appears,
once again, Rucker’s timing is right.
D E W
take some chances
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discography
HOOTIE & THE BLOWFISH:
!"LIVE in Charleston
2006 | The Homegrown Concert Event
!"Looking For Lucky
2005 | Vanguard Records
!"The
Best of Hootie & The
Blowfish: 1993-2003
2004 | Rhino/Atlantic Records
!"Hootie
& The Blowfish
2003 | Atlantic Records
!"Scattered, Smothered, &
2000 | Atlantic Records
Covered
!"Musical Chairs
1998 | Atlantic Records
!"Fairweather Johnson
1996 | Atlantic Records
!"Cracked Rear View
1994 | Atlantic Records
The band’s debut album, including “Hold My Hand,”
“Let Her Cry,” and “Only Wanna Be With You,” sold
more than 16 million copies (and counting) in the
U. S. alone.
!"Kootchypop
DARIUS RUCKER:
!"Learn
to Live
2008 | Capitol Nashville
Rucker’s debut country album hit No. 1 on the Billboard Country Music Charts, as did his hit single “Don’t
Think I Don’t Think About It.” “It Won’t Be Like This for Long” reached the Top 10.
1993 | Fishco
!"Hootie &
1991 | Fishco
the Blowfish (Demo)
Hootie & the Blowfish
Soundtracks/Compilations
!"Please No Profanity (1992)
“Drowning”
!"AWARE II (1994) “The Old
Man and Me”
!"White Man’s Burden (1995)
“Sweet Dream Baby”
by Roy Orbison
!"Friends Television Series
(1995) “I Go Blind” by 54-40
!"Enconium, A Tribute to Led
Zeppelin (1995) “Hey, Hey
What Can I Do” by Led
Zeppelin
!"Sweet Relief II (1996)
“Gravity of the Situation”
by Vic Chestnutt
!"1996 Grammy Nominees
(1996) “Let Her Cry”
!"A Very Special Christmas 3
(1997) “The Christmas Song”
!"Mad About You: The Final
Frontier (1997) “She Crawls
Away”
!"Back To Then
2002 | Hidden Beach Records
Including “Sleeping In My Bed” with Snoop Dogg
!"The Bob Dylan Tribute
(1998) “The Ballad of Hollis
Brown” by Bob Dylan
!"The Civil War, The
Complete Work (1998)
“Freedom’s Child”
!"Atlantic Records The Gold
Anniversary Collection (1998)
“Hold My Hand”
!"Message in a Bottle
(1999) “Only Lonely”
!"The Absolute Hits Collection (1999) “Hold My Hand”
!"Today Show, Summer
Concert Series: Vol. 1 (2000)
“Hold My Hand”
!"Music from and Inspired
by Jesus: The Epic MiniSeries (2000) “City by a
River” by Hootie & the
Blowfish, featuring Bebe
Winans and the Gospel
Mission Choir
!"Me, Myself & Irene (2000)
“Can’t Find The Time To
Tell You” by Bruce Arnold,
originally performed by
Orpheus
!"Stop Handgun Violence
(2000) “Lovely Day” by
Bill Whithers
!"Shallow Hal (2001) “This
Is My World” performed by
Darius Rucker
Darius Rucker on Other
Artists’ Albums
!"Honor Among Thieves by
Edwin McCain (1995); duet
on “Solitude”
!"Blue Roses From The
Moons by Nanci Griffith
(1997); duet on “Gulf
Coast Highway”
!"Dust Bowl Symphony by
Nanci Griffith (1999); duet
on “Love at the
Five and Dime”
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D E W
T R A V I S
B Y
P H O T O G R A P H
Encore: With Hootie & the Blowfish having sold 25 million albums, Darius could have traded in his guitar for golf clubs, but
country music was calling him. And country fans are responding with hearty applause (above) at the Grand Ole Opry, and a
standing ovation when he played for the 2008 Country Music Awards.
musical chairs
Country music today is a hotbed of crossover wannabees, rock and pop acts trying
to don some boots and ride off with some
bucks. Jessica Simpson, Bon Jovi, Jewel,
and Kid Rock are already crowding the
field, and here comes this black guy from
Charleston, a guy with a big, big pop following already (i.e., a potential hard-sell to
country faithful), a guy with a big, big decadent baritone—a voice that Rolling Stone
described as a “warm fuzzy blanket.”
“I’m thinking about signing Darius
Rucker,” Capitol records president Mike
Dungan mentioned to producer/songwriter
Frank Rogers one night in a Nashville restaurant. “Am I crazy?” Dungan asked. “Absolutely not,” Rogers replied. “And if you do,
call me.” Dungan did.
Rogers, a South Carolina boy and Gamecock fan himself, certainly knew of Rucker
(“Well, who didn’t?” he laughs). He knew
“that voice, that unmistakable voice,” and
he knew Rucker to be a “great interpreter
of songs.” But he didn’t know the singer
was so well-versed in traditional country (a
la Waylon and Willie and Buck) way before
Darius and the Hootie boys not only give a good show, they give their time and
talent to support causes important to them, especially public education
! Their annual Homegrown Concert on Daniel Island has netted six school-bus loads of
supplies (estimated value $30,000) for underprivileged students in the Charleston County
School District (CCSD).
! Their annual Hootie’s Homegrown Roundup has helped 3,000 children with backto-school needs, outfitting them with backpacks, shoes, shirts, necessary school supplies,
haircuts, and dental exams.
! The Hootie & the Blowfish Foundation has donated more than $200,000 to
various educational programs in Charleston, including CCSD, VH1 “Save the Music” to
promote music education in schools, the Family Learning Center, South Carolina First Steps,
Carolina Studios, Pattison’s Academy, MUSC, and SeeWee Association.
! The foundation also supports education programs all over the state, donating more than
$1 million total since it was established in 2000.
! Rucker has performed three solo Big Band Shows for MUSC and has donated private
shows, generating more than $700,000 for the Children’s Hospital.
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M O O R E
R E E S E
B Y
P H O T O G R A P H
B Y
T R A V I S
D E W
All I Want: Family time is precious for Darius and wife, Beth, pictured with son Jack in their
Mount Pleasant neighborhood. Below, left to right: Jack, age four; daughter Cary, 13; and
daughter Danielle “Dani,” seven.
P H O T O G R A P H
“contemporary country” became popular. “After 30 minutes, we knew we could
work well together. We got excited about
the same type of music, we were on the
same wavelength,” says Rogers, who gave
Rucker’s Learn to Live the same fine tuning that he’s given to the records of Brad
Paisley,Trace Adkins, and others.
It didn’t take long for Rucker to earn
the respect of the Nashville establishment.
Rogers and seasoned writers like Clay Mills
and Chris Dubois initiated him in Country
Songwriting 101, typically a collaborative
effort driven by lyrics rather than melody
(Hootie members usually wrote songs individually). The album’s instant country
resonance proved Rucker’s knack for the
genre’s narrative “hook”—he nails the bittersweet ballad (“Don’t Think I Don’t Think
About It”), the hard-living humor (“Drinkin’
and Dialin’”), and the ode to innocence (“It
Won’t Be Like This for Long”).
“Darius brings real excitement and honesty about making great music,” says Rogers.
“He’s not just going through the motions.
He’s doing this because he really loves
country. He’s singing from his heart, and
it shows. Here’s a guy who’s been so successful in rock but still has this incredible
work ethic. The main thing I’ve learned
from Darius,” Rogers continues,“is that you
can be a big rock star and still be one of
the nicest guys in the world. The true joy
of this whole project has been getting to
know him and his family.”
Rucker’s wife of eight years, Beth
Leonard, was drawn to that genuineness as
well. The two met in New York while Beth,
a New Jersey native, was working for VH1,
organizing events, dealing with artists and
managers, and booking talent. Hootie &
the Blowfish were regulars, and Beth was
charged with keeping them happy. “I’ve
got a gift for reading people,” she says,“and
I had this sense that Darius was sincere.
Turns out I was right. He has one of the biggest hearts I know. Yes, he’s a great singer, a
great performer, and I’m incredibly proud
of him, but that’s what he does, not who
he is. That’s not all of the man.”
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giving back
P H O T O G R A P H
B Y
C H U C K
A R L U N D
What doesn’t get a nod at red-carpet award
ceremonies or by rowdy concert ovations
is Rucker’s generosity and commitment
to the community. A verse in his song “If
I Had Wings” asks, “What can I do while
I’m here to make someone’s life better?”
and it’s not just stock country sap. “Darius
means it,” affirms Beth.
Over the years, The Hootie & the Blowfish Foundation has given hundreds of
thousands of dollars to support public
education and arts and sports programs for
children throughout South Carolina. This
spring, Rucker, Bryan, Felber, and Sonefeld
will host the 15th annual Monday After the
Masters Celebrity Pro-Am golf tournament
in Myrtle Beach, usually a sold-out event
On the Road Again: Following the Paisley Party Tour, Rucker has a few
upcoming gigs with his Hootie bandmates (pictured left to right: Mark
Bryan, Jim “Soni” Sonefield, and Dean Felber)
Rucker is winding down his latest three-month tour, but if you’re up for a road
trip, here are the nearest opportunities to see him:
! March 14, Sommet Center, Nashville, TN (Paisley Party Tour)
! March 19, The Paramount Theater, Charlottesville, VA
! April 18, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS
Upcoming chances to see Hootie & the Blowfish:
! March 27, The Animal Mission Benefit “Party Animals,” The Clarion Hotel,
Columbia, SC
! April 3 & 4, World Premiere of the Hootie & the Blowfish Ballet (Hootie performs
live with the Columbia City Ballet), Koger Center for the Arts, Columbia, SC
! April 13, Hootie & the Blowfish Monday After the Masters Celebrity Pro-Am,
The Dye Club at Barefoot Resort, North Myrtle Beach, SC
that raises thousands for the foundation’s
causes. Each fall, the band hosts a Homegrown Concert to gather school supplies for
needy children, and Darius has performed
several solo concerts in support of MUSC
Children’s Hospital, where Beth serves on
the board. “I’m proud of everything we’ve
done: the kids we’ve helped go to college,
the schools we’ve helped,” says Rucker.“But
mostly I’m happy that the four of us were
people who wanted to give back. I love my
home state, and I want it to be the best it
can be. For me, it’s like what Springsteen
did for New Jersey. I want everyone to
know I’m from Charleston.”
So what’s next for a guy who’s first country album soared to No. 1 on the country
charts, whose career includes playing for
luminaries like Big Bird and Ernie and
presidents Bill Clinton and George W.
Bush; serenading Sinatra on his 80th birthday; performing in front of George Strait
on the Country Music Awards; sharing the
hallowed Opry stage with Charley Pride—
the only other African American artist to
have a No. 1 country hit. What’s the next
dream for a guy who has made millions
and has given millions to good causes?
“Well, I’ve never played Spoleto,” Rucker
demurs. “That would mean a lot, to get to
play Spoleto.”
Meanwhile, Rucker will rest up after his
recent three-month Paisley Party Tour (with
country sensations Brad Paisley and Dierks
Bentley) and do what he loves most of all:
hang out with his family as much as possible. “I’ve seen Darius so happy on stage
singing,” says Sonefeld. “It’s damn good fun
watching my buddy get what he deserves
from all his hard work, using one of the best
voices in the business. That’s golden to me.
But to see him really light up, put him on
the couch with his kids and some video
games and grilled cheese sandwiches he
made himself.That’s Darius happy.”
Yeah, kids on the sofa with a gooey grilled
cheese—that’s “alright, alright,” as his current song affirms: “It may be a simple life
but that’s okay/If you ask me baby, I think
I got it made.”
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