Hootie & the Blowfish's new album is called "Fairweather Johnson," a phrase referring to conditional sports fans.
"Year after year my sister has a new team and they're always in the Super Bowl, and it's a new team every year, and she's always happy and I'm always (angry)," said Blowfish guitarist/keyboardist Mark Bryan during a recorded group interview earlier this year.To some the album's title is a little too prophetic. The band's first big-label release, "Cracked Rear View," topped the charts and sold more than 13 million copies. "Fairweather Johnson," the band's follow-up album that was released earlier this year, did hit No. 1 but has only sold 2 million copies. While that number is considered a success in some cases, critics are calling the album a failure.
"You have to stick with your teams even during the hardest times," said guitarist/vocalist Darius Rucker.
Hootie & the Blowfish - Rucker, Bryan, drummer Jim "Soni" Sonefeld and bassist Dean Felber - will play the Delta Center Tuesday, Nov. 12. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. and will begin with the uniting groove of Speech.
The Blowfish roots can be found at the University of South Carolina campus in Columbia. Rucker, who was part of the U.'s Carolina Alive choir that sang for Presdent Reagan in 1986, formed the Wolf Brothers with Bryan. The duo played in the college bar scene until they added Felber and drummer Brantley Smith.
The band's name was changed to "Hootie & the Blowfish," a compound of the nicknames of Rucker's two choir friends - Ervin Harris and Donald Featser. After gigging around and garnering a loyal local following for three years, Sonefeld replaced Smith.
A five-song, self-titled tape was released in 1990, which was followed by a four-track cassette, "Time," a year later. The band's first extended play disc, "Koot-chypop," was released in 1993. It was that release that caught the ears of Atlantic Records.
"(We're) grateful for those days," said Rucker of the band's formative years. "I mean, I don't think we could have easily gone through the last year and stayed the same and be who we are without going through what we went through with all the other stuff. Like playing in the clubs to 10 people."
"It's real easy to think back to a year and half ago, when we went into some clubs in North Carolina and there weren't that many people there," said Felber. "It wasn't that long ago. We've been playing arenas for only a year. That kind of gives you some indication of how grounded we are."
"Cracked Rear View" debuted in 1994 but took nearly a year to hit No. 1. The title, which some accused of being a double entendre, was taken from a John Hiatt song, "Learning How to Love You."
"It's so funny that the people who come up with that are just looking for something, I guess," said Bryan.
"Yea, who wants to name their song after a (butt)," said Rucker.
"We're 30 years old and too old for (those types of) jokes," said Bryan. "That album means too much for us to name it after that."
From there, the band took to the road for a year-long tour, only stopping to collect Favorite New Artist award in the 23rd annual American Music Awards. Hootie was also honored by Garth Brooks. who refused to accept that year's Favorite Artist award after he explained backstage the trophy should have gone to Hootie. And later that year, the band picked up the Grammys for Best New Artist and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group.
Though the awards are nice, the band wants to keep its creative integrity.
"We aren't in this for awards," said Felber. "Our award is the fact that we can make music for another five or 10 years and have fans that will come see us live."