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Hootie and the Blowfish are climbing the country charts with their single, "Hold On," which was written by Chris Stapleton and Jim Beavers, is the from the band's album, Imperfect Circle.
"The one thing we figured out through the years is that the Hootie and the Blowfish sound is just what it is. We can take any song and it's gonna sound like us, no matter what we try and do to it. I think it turns out to be a great thing for us 'cause it doesn't limit us to a certain category of song or genre. It just allows us to kind of pick the songs that are the best songs and not worry about anything else."
The band has sold over 25 million records worldwide after they hit the airwaves in 1994 with such smash hits as "Hold My Hand," "Let Her Cry" and "Only Wanna Be With You."
Audio / Dean Felber of Hootie and the Blowfish talks about the band's sound and why it works for them.
Hootie & the Blowfish (HB sound) OC: …anything else. :25
NEWS AND NOTES: Hootie, Carrie, Luke, Dierks, Brothers O, Travis, Vince
Brothers Osborne / Carrie Underwood / Dierks Bentley / Hootie & the Blowfish / Luke Bryan / Travis Denning / Vince Gill
Hootie & the Blowfish will perform on The Talk on CBS on Thursday (November 7th), followed by an appearance on ABC's Strahan, Sara, Keke on Friday (November 8th).
Carrie Underwood will appear on ABC's Good Morning America on Friday (November 8th), as well as co-host Live With Kelly & Ryan with Ryan Seacrest, leading up to next week's CMA Awards.
Luke Bryan and Carrie Underwood will make appearances during ABC's pre-CMA Awards Special, hosted by Robin Roberts. The special focuses on Dolly Parton, who is co-hosting the Awards show with Carrie and Reba McEntire. Dolly Parton: Here She Comes Again airs Tuesday (November 12th) at 10pm ET on ABC.
Dierks Bentley and Brothers Osborne's John Osborne are among the artists performing a tribute to Kris Kristofferson during Wednesday's (November 13th) CMA Awards. The Country Music Hall of Famer is being honored with the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award, which has only been given out four other times four other times, to Willie Nelson (2012), Kenny Rogers (2013), Johnny Cash, posthumously (2015) and Dolly Parton (2016). The artists, which also includes Sheryl Crow and Chris Janson, will perform the Kristofferson-penned classic "Me and Bobby McGee," which was made famous by Janis Joplin and Roger Miller, who released it first in 1969.
Travis Denning will hit the road with Dustin Lynch on the Stay Country Tour 2020, which kicks off January 30th in Detroit, Michigan. Tickets go on sale November 15th and November 22nd.
Can't think of a better way to kick off 2020 than with some country damn music. Hittin' the road with @dustinlynch on the #StayCountry Tour.
Tickets on sale Friday, November 15th. Tickets for Kansas City, MO and Bensalem, PA on sale Friday, November 22nd. pic.twitter.com/jbnrxRAHFK
— Travis Denning (@Travis_Denning) November 6, 2019
Vince Gill is among the nominees for this year's Songwriters Hall of Fame, along with Sonny Curtis, Kye Fleming, Bob McDill and Dennis Morgan. The official induction ceremony will take place June 11th (2020) in New York City.
HOOTIE & THE BLOWFISH RETURN WITH FIRST ALBUM IN NEARLY 15 YEARS.
Hootie & the Blowfish make a triumphant return today, Nov. 1, with the release of highly-anticipated album Imperfect Circle, their first in nearly 15 years. Named one of the "biggest albums to hear this season" by Entertainment Weekly and highlighted in The New York Times' fall music preview, the album arrives on the heels of the band's critically-acclaimed, sold-out Group Therapy Tour that played to nearly three-quarters of a million fans across the U.S., Canada, U.K. and Ireland this year. Stream and download the new album HERE.
As Billboard praised in a feature chronicling the final leg of the tour in Europe, the album encourages "good times and easy-to-love music, sure, but also an incrementally more just and inclusive world for everyone — black, white and otherwise," also noting that "Hootie now occupies an anomalous cultural space, residing on both Spotify's Fresh Country and All Out 90s playlists as once-severe critical backlash has receded into general warm nostalgia [and] the band is seemingly at home in both realms."
To celebrate the album's eagerly-awaited release, Hootie & the Blowfish stopped by "Good Morning America" earlier today, Nov. 1, for the live television debut of their current single, "Hold On." Watch the full performance HERE and view the song's recently released music video filmed in the band's birthplace of South Carolina HERE.
The band now travels to the West Coast for a series of appearances next week, beginning with a sold-out performance at L.A.'s iconic Troubadour on Monday, Nov. 4. The band will also perform on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" and "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" on Tuesday, Nov. 5, as well as "The Talk" on Wednesday, Nov. 6.
For more information, visit www.Hootie.com, and follow on Facebook @hootieandtheblowfish, Twitter @HootieTweets and Instagram @hootieofficial.
About Hootie & the Blowfish
With the rich, bluesy vocals of Darius Rucker and gleeful harmonies of guitarist Mark Bryan, bassist Dean Felber and drummer Jim "Soni" Sonefeld, Hootie & the Blowfish have sold over 25 million records worldwide to date after their infectious melodies hit the airwaves in 1994 with hits such as "Hold My Hand," "Let Her Cry" and "Only Wanna Be With You."
The quartet met at the University of South Carolina where endless gigs at frat houses and local bars built a major local buzz. Their blend of pop, folk, blues, soul and rock made them hard to pigeonhole, but easily accessible to anyone who loved good music.
Atlantic Records, impressed by their regional draw, signed them and released Cracked Rear View in 1994. The album had been out for six months before the band played on the Late Show with David Letterman which sent sales skyrocketing, eventually landing at No. 1 on the Billboard chart the following spring. Cracked Rear View and the band went on to win two GRAMMY Awards, an MTV Video Music Award, a Billboard Music Award, and multiple People's Choice Awards. Cracked Rear View went on to earn the band Billboard's Band of the Year Award in 1996 and the RIAA's Diamond Award for sales in excess of 10 million units. Cracked Rear View remains the 5th most certified studio album in music business history.
The band remained a top draw nationwide and released five more albums for Atlantic: Fairweather Johnson, Musical Chairs, Scattered, Smothered & Covered, Hootie & The Blowfish and The Best of Hootie & The Blowfish, as well as Looking For Lucky on their own Sneaky Long Records and LIVE in Charleston, The Homegrown Concert Event DVD and CD. The band took a break from full-time touring in 2007, reuniting annually for a variety of philanthropic events while also pursuing solo projects. 2019 marked the band's first full-time touring year in over a decade as they embarked on the Group Therapy Tour ahead of Imperfect Circle, their first album in nearly 15 years out now under a new record deal with Universal Music Group Nashville. The album's lead single, "Hold On," earned most-added distinction at Country radio upon its release and is currently climbing the charts.
Audio / MARK BRYAN FROM HOOTIE & THE BLOWFISH TALKS ABOUT THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PREVIOUS HOOTIE ALBUMS AND THEIR BRAND NEW ONE, IMPERFECT CIRCLE.
Hootie & the Blowfish (different from previous albums) OC: …in the songwriting. :23
"I think one thing you might notice different is there's 15 years since our last record, or 14 whatever it's been, and as humans, we've grown to a place where our songwriting is going to be coming from a little bit different place, a little bit more experience, hopefully some more wisdom and just a place that we couldn't have written from 15, 20 years ago. So, that might be a difference you'll hear is just a maturity in the songwriting."
Audio / LINER Hootie & the Blowfish (available now)
NEWS AND NOTES: Hootie, Carrie, LBT, Dierks, Maddie & Tae
Carrie Underwood / Darius Rucker / Dierks Bentley / Hootie & the Blowfish / Little Big Town
Hootie & the Blowfish are celebrating the release of Imperfect Circle, their first album in nearly 15 years, with multiple live appearances on national television. They appeared on ABC's Good Morning America on Friday (November 1st), and they'll head to the West Coast to perform on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Tuesday (November 5th) and The Talk on CBS on Wednesday (November 6th).
Carrie Underwood has been tapped to co-host Live With Kelly & Ryan with her friend, Ryan Seacrest, on November 8th. The two first met during Season 4 of American Idol in 2005. Guests include Maura Tierney (The Affair, The Report) and Brian Cox (Succession, Good Omens).
The members of Little Big Town are among the artists performing November 10th at Nashville's War Memorial Auditorium for the premiere of YouTube Originals documentary, The Gift: The Journey of Johnny Cash. Proceeds from ticket sales will go to MusiCares. Midland, Cam and Devin Dawson are also scheduled to perform.
Dierks Bentley and Darius Rucker are among the artists featured in the music video for Clint Black's new video for "This Old House" filmed primarily at the Grand Ole Opry. Trace Adkins, Sara Evans, Michael Ray, Travis Tritt, Steve Wariner and Cody Jinks are also featured.
And that's a wrap for Carrie Underwood's Cry Pretty Tour 360 with Maddie & Tae and Runaway June. They wrapped the all-female tour Thursday night (October 31st) in Detroit.
The #CryPrettyTour360 wouldn't have been complete without @MaddieandTae and @RunawayJune ! Loved having these ladies out on the road with me! 😘 pic.twitter.com/Oa8WAUts8t
— Carrie Underwood (@carrieunderwood) October 31, 2019
HOOTIE & THE BLOWFISH READY NEW ALBUM, IMPERFECT CIRCLE.
Hootie & the Blowfish are getting ready to release their new album, Imperfect Circle, on Friday (November 1st). Highlights on the album — their first in 15 years — include Lucie Silvas on "Wildfire Love," which features Ed Sheeran as a co-writer, as well as Chris Stapleton's penmanship on the only outside cut, "Hold On," and Sheryl Crow on backing vocals throughout the album.
"I think it's cool that Imperfect Circle kind of has the same ring to it as Cracked Rear View where you're looking back and you realize nobody's journey is perfect, but here we are," says guitarist Mark Bryan of the album's name. "We've been playing together for thirty-something years and for us to be here and to be doing this tour, to be making a record, it just seems like Imperfect Circle was perfect," adds Rucker.
"There's a lot of energy getting back in the studio to record Imperfect Circle," says Jim "Soni" Sonefeld. "It was good to gather again, it had been some years. Just the energy felt so strong recording brand new music and we're so proud of what we came up with."
Catch the band performing on ABC's Good Morning America on Friday (November 1st).
Imperfect Circle Track Listing:
1. New Year's Day (Hootie & the Blowfish, Tofer Brown, Eric Paslay and Jeff Trott)
2. Miss California* (Hootie & the Blowfish, Andrew DeRoberts and David Ryan Harris)
3. Wildfire Love (Featuring Lucie Silvas) (Hootie & the Blowfish, Joel Crouse, Kyle Rife and Ed Sheeran)
4. Hold On* (Jim Beavers and Chris Stapleton)
5. Turn It Up (Hootie & the Blowfish and Jeff Trott)
6. Not Tonight (Hootie & the Blowfish, Andrew DeRoberts and David Ryan Harris)
7. We Are One (Hootie & the Blowfish)
8. Everybody But You* (Hootie & the Blowfish and Frank Rogers)
9. Lonely On A Saturday Night (Hootie & the Blowfish, Eric Paslay and Jeff Trott)
10. Why (Hootie & the Blowfish, Chris August and James Slater)
11. Rollin' (Hootie & the Blowfish, Adam Doleac, Zach Kale and John King)
12. Half A Day Ahead (Hootie & the Blowfish)
13. Change (Hootie & the Blowfish)
Album Produced by Jeff Trott
*Produced by Frank Rogers
Audio / Jim "Soni" Sonefeld of Hootie & the Blowfish said the band experienced a lot of energy wen they went back into the studio together to record Imperfect Circle.
Hootie & the Blowfish (back in the studio) OC: (Soni) …came up with. :13
"There's a lot of energy getting back in the studio to record Imperfect Circle. It was good to gather again, it had been some years. Just the energy felt so strong recording brand new music and we're so proud of what we came up with."
Audio / Dean Felber of Hootie & the Blowfish says the band has a specific j sound, which is also present on their new album, Imperfect Circle.
"I mean the one thing we figured out through the years is that Hootie & the Blowfish sound is just what it is. We can take any song and it's going to sound like us no matter what we try, and I think it turns out to be a great thing for us because it doesn't limit us to a certain category of song or genre; it just allows us to kind of pick the songs that are the best songs and not worry about anything else."
NEWS AND NOTES: Kacey, Little Big Town, Luke, Hootie & the Blowfish, Jon, Eric, Jordan
Eric Church / Hootie & the Blowfish / Jon Pardi / Jordan Davis / Kacey Musgraves / Little Big Town / Luke Bryan
Kacey Musgraves set the Guiness World Record for the world's largest display of coloring pages on National Color Day (October 22nd) in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum's Mike Curb Conservatory in support of her Kacey Musgraves: All of the Colors exhibition.
Little Big Town appear on the Kelly Clarkson Show on Monday (October 28th). Check local listings for time.
Little Big Town unveil the video for their latest single, "Over Drinking," on Tuesday (October 29th). The clip will star actress Michelle Monaghan (Mission Impossible, The Bourne Supremacy, True Detective).
Luke Bryan chatted with Jimmy Fallon about being surprised with the ACM Album of the Decade Award at the Grand Ole Opry, American Idol and how his friends turned his live national anthem performance at the Super Bowl into a gambling extravaganza…AND he performed his brand new song, "What She Wants Tonight," on NBC's Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on a special football edition on Sunday (October 27th).
Hootie & the Blowfish will perform their new single, "Hold On," when they stop by ABC's Good Morning America on Friday (November 1st).
Jon Pardi has been announced as the support act for Garth Brooks' concert at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee on November 16th.
Eric Church, Darius Rucker and Jordan Davis are among the artists scheduled for next year's C2C: Country to Country Festival. The eighth annual festival, taking place in London, Glasgow and Dublin March 13th – 15th, will also feature performances by Old Dominion, Luke Combs, Brett Young, Charles Esten, Tanya Tucker, Eric Paslay, Runaway Jone, Tenille Townes and many more. Tickets go on sale Friday (November 1st).
HOOTIE & THE BLOWFISH TO PERFORM AT L.A.'S ICONIC TROUBADOUR TO CELEBRATE THE RELEASE OF IMPERFECT CIRCLE.
Following a summer of sold-out shows at major arenas across the country, Hootie & the Blowfish will bring their new music to a much more intimate crowd at L.A.'s 500-capacity Troubadour with an exclusive show taking place Monday, November 4th.
The show will feature music off forthcoming album Imperfect Circle, due out this Friday, November 1st, highlighted by Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times and more as one of this year's most highly-anticipated albums.
Tickets to the one-night-only event go on sale tomorrow (October 29th), at 10 a.m. local time at www.ticketfly.com. All tickets are WILL CALL ONLY and will be available for pickup night of show. No name changes, no transfers, no exceptions. Name on order must match the name on government-issued ID and credit card of purchase. Guest MUST go in with purchaser (NO EXCEPTIONS). There is a 2 TICKET LIMIT per customer/account/household. Any orders exceeding the stated ticket limit are subject to cancellation. Any orders placed for sole purpose of resale will be cancelled.
The concert announcement follows the release of Hootie & the Blowfish's first radio single in nearly 15 years, with "Hold On" climbing the charts at Country radio now and the band set to perform the song live on national television for the first time during ABC's "Good Morning America" on Friday (November 1st).
The band remained a top draw nationwide and released five more albums for Atlantic: Fairweather Johnson, Musical Chairs, Scattered, Smothered & Covered, Hootie & The Blowfish and The Best of Hootie & The Blowfish, as well as Looking For Lucky on their own Sneaky Long Records and LIVE in Charleston, The Homegrown Concert Event DVD and CD. The band took a break from full-time touring in 2007, reuniting annually for a variety of philanthropic events while also pursuing solo projects. 2019 marked the band's first full-time touring year in over a decade as they embarked on the sold-out Group Therapy Tour ahead of Imperfect Circle, their first album in nearly 15 years due out November 1 under a new record deal with Universal Music Group Nashville. The album's lead single, "Hold On," earned most-added distinction at Country radio upon its release and is currently climbing the charts.
HOOTIE & THE BLOWFISH MAKE LONG-AWAITED RETURN TO RADIO AIRWAVES WITH "HOLD ON."
After thrilling nearly three-quarters of a million fans on this summer's critically-acclaimed Group Therapy Tour, Hootie & the Blowfish are keeping the celebration going with the release of "Hold On," the first single off forthcoming album Imperfect Circle.
Penned by Chris Stapleton and Jim Beavers, "Hold On" serves as the forthcoming album's only outside cut – an uplifting track the band felt compelled to record as the perfect message for today's society.
People say, let it go
That's just the way it is, don't you know
But I don't see how it can do any harm
To keep reaching out with open arms, yeah
We gotta hold on, we gotta hold on
There ain't nothing that a little love can't get us through
We gotta hold on, when it feels like hope is gone
There is a remedy for you and me
We gotta hold on to each other, yeah
The song was the last the band recorded for the project, but frontman Darius Rucker notes that they had no doubts about it being the perfect choice to complete the album; "When I heard it, I was like 'this is the song.'" Adds bassist Dean Felber, "I remember listening to it in the back of the bus and it was just perfect – what it meant to me and what it would mean in today's world."
From there, the band made it their own. "Our producer, Frank Rogers on that track, did a really nice job taking the guitar lick and pepping it up," explains lead guitarist Mark Bryan, "and therefore we ended up kind of Hootie-izing it, which was fun." Adds drummer Jim "Soni" Sonefeld, "I don't think there was a song that summed up more of a vibe that we've had within our band, going back to the early nineties and sort of lifting each other up and looking out for one another."
The single follows "Rollin'," "Miss California" and "Lonely On A Saturday Night" as a preview of what's to come on Imperfect Circle. Set for release November 1 on Universal Music Group's Capitol Nashville imprint, the album is now available for pre-order HERE.
New Year's Day (Hootie & the Blowfish, Tofer Brown, Eric Paslay and Jeff Trott)
Miss California* (Hootie & the Blowfish, Andrew DeRoberts and David Ryan Harris)
Wildfire Love (Featuring Lucie Silvas) (Hootie & the Blowfish, Joel Crouse, Kyle Rife and Ed Sheeran)
Hold On* (Jim Beavers and Chris Stapleton)
Turn It Up (Hootie & the Blowfish and Jeff Trott)
Not Tonight (Hootie & the Blowfish, Andrew DeRoberts and David Ryan Harris)
We Are One (Hootie & the Blowfish)
Everybody But You* (Hootie & the Blowfish and Frank Rogers)
Lonely On A Saturday Night (Hootie & the Blowfish, Eric Paslay and Jeff Trott)
Why (Hootie & the Blowfish, Chris August and James Slater)
Rollin' (Hootie & the Blowfish, Adam Doleac, Zach Kale and John King)
Half A Day Ahead (Hootie & the Blowfish)
Change (Hootie & the Blowfish)
Audio / Jim "Soni" Sonefeld of Hootie & the Blowfish talks about the band's new single, "Hold On," which was just released to country radio.
Hootie & the Blowfish (Hold On) 1 OC: …your heart. :23
" 'Hold On' came very late in our recording sessions, but I don't think there was a song that summed up more of a vibe of our band going back to the early '90s of sort of lifting each other up and looking out for one another and a spirit of sort of helping each other as a way of therapy and just a way of rebuilding your heart."
Audio / LINER Hootie & the Blowfish (Hold On) 1