Solo albums are designed for band members to explore their own ideas.
That's what Hootie & the Blowfish guitarist Mark Bryan said about his first such venture, "30 On the Road," which is slated for release March 14.
"I had a lot of songs that weren't Hootie songs," Bryan said during a phone interview from his home in Charleston, S.C. "There is always a surplus of songs that the band has left over."
Well, aside from Darius Rucker not singing on the new album — Bryan and a couple of South Carolina singers take the helm — the sound is unmistakably Americana-pop Hootie.
"To tell you the truth, I'd rather hear Darius singing instead of me," said Bryan, who revealed the Who's Pete Townsend, the Beatles, Mark Knopler and Paul Westenberg as influences. "But this is an album that I needed to make. Whether or not it sells is something else. I'm just glad that the songs have a chance at getting a life, regardless of whether they're hits."
Bryan said he isn't going to tour to support the album. However, he did say he's been thinking about Hootie for awhile. The band has been on hiatus for the past three years.
"Well, it still doesn't look like the band is going to come together for at least another couple of years," he said. "Everyone is doing their own thing now. Darius is recording his solo album, and we've just got other interests at the moment.
"But that's a good thing. We're going to come back together with a lot of new ideas, influences and wisdom."