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DARIUS RUCKER

Learn to Live

It's a voice that needs no introduction. Darius Rucker's soulful, rich baritone instantly resonates as a comforting companion in this journey we call life.

On LEARN TO LIVE, his first project for Capitol Records Nashville, Rucker has created a work that is steeped in the country traditions of meaningful lyrics and resonant melodies, yet sounds completely modern.

As the best country albums do, LEARN TO LIVE takes the listener on a trip. The album's arc covers major life themes such as falling in love, birth and death. "This CD is a journey," Rucker says. "I realized I'm 42. I'm not going to write many songs about drinking, chasing girls or booty calls. I was going to write songs about having kids and stuff - songs about life."

Guests on the album include Brad Paisley on the humorous "All I Want" and Vince Gill and Alison Krauss on the inspirational "If I Had Wings." "Brad just showed up in jeans and a t-shirt. To me, he's one of the best guitar players around," Rucker says. Gill and Krauss made Rucker, the ultimate fan, dizzy with delight. "They sounded like angels. You have these two artists singing on top of my voice . . . it gave me chills."

Rucker has always had a close kinship to country music and country artists. "Growing up in South Carolina, it was always around, always on the radio," he says. First an acolyte of Buck Owens, Rucker naturally gravitated towards Dwight Yoakam, New Grass Revival and Radney Foster in his twenties. "When I first heard Radney's voice on Foster & Lloyd's 'Crazy Over You,' I thought, 'this guy's voice is bigger than Texas.' I'm thinking, 'this is cool songwriting.' "

Rucker's career path veered first into pop as the lead singer/co-writer for the wildly successful Hootie & the Blowfish. The Grammy-winning group's 1994 debut, CRACKED REAR VIEW, is one of the best-selling albums in history, surpassing the 16 million album mark.

Fans of the band, many of whom have made the natural migration from pop to country radio, realize that Hootie & the Blowfish's catchy songs were rooted in the same elements that make great country music. In fact, Rucker says, "We talked about being a country band, and I just got outvoted! They also used to kid me about how I always was bringing them country songs that they had to turn into rock songs . . ." Therefore, making his first country CD was not so much a big leap for Rucker as simply a slight shift in Rucker's musical evolution. As Billboard magazine noted, "There's a sense of purpose that makes Rucker feel like a member of the country family, rather than an interloper... Sounds like country may have a shining new star."

As a student of great songwriting, Rucker earned his advanced degree while working on LEARN TO LIVE. "Writing with those songwriters was like going to Songwriting University," he says. His professors/co-writers included such legendary writers as Rivers Rutherford (Brad Paisley, Tim McGraw, Gretchen Wilson); Frank Rogers (Brad Paisley, Trace Adkins) and Clay Mills (Diamond Rio, Reba McEntire). "So many people in pop try to write all these psychedelic crazy lyrics, and I'm sure I've been part of that - but that's something you don't find in country music. The thing I like most about country songs is that they keep it simple. I love that, and I love the melodies."

Fellow South Carolina native Rogers also served as the album's producer, a job he secured immediately after meeting Rucker: "In the first 30 minutes, we wrote 'All I Want.' The label asked if I wanted to meet the other [potential producers] and I said, 'Never mind. I met my guy'."

The success of first single, the bittersweet "Don't Think I Don't Think About It," shows that Rucker had country fans at hello. The single, co-written by Rucker with Clay Mills, soared into the top 15 at radio even more quickly than anticipated. "It just breaks your heart," says Rucker of the song. "And it was country enough that it wouldn't be perceived as me being pop and just putting fiddle on a song."

That song and the universal emotion it evokes typifies the stripped-bare nature of LEARN TO LIVE. "I want people to take away a sense of realness," Rucker says. "I want everybody to find a song on it that they can relate to and go, 'Wow, I did that, too.' "

For Rucker, the welcome mat that country radio has laid out for him has been extraordinarily gratifying. "The reception has been unbelievable," he says. But smart programmers know that teens raised on Hootie are now confirmed country listeners, so hearing Rucker is like hearing an old friend. "People listen to country music because they know it's where you can find songs."

While Hootie & the Blowfish are an ongoing project, Rucker's solo career is taking center stage for the foreseeable future. He is devoted to promoting LEARN TO LIVE. "We're taking a long time off," he says. "It's not, 'make one record and go back to Hootie,'" Rucker says. "I'm making country music."



Q&A with Darius Rucker

Darius Rucker's name is synonymous with one of top-selling bands of all time, and with a range that rivals top vocalists across all genres, it is no surprise that South Carolina native and frontman for Grammy award-winning pop group Hootie & The Blowfish is now changing the face of music once again with a debut country solo album on Capitol Records Nashville.

With co-writes from country industry leaders such as Rivers Rutherford, Frank Rogers , Dave Berg, Chris DuBois, and Clay Mills - with whom Rucker co-wrote the debut single, "Don't Think I Don't Think About It" - Rucker showcases his rich storytelling capabilities while maintaining a familiarity fans are sure to recognize.



"Don't Think I Don't Think About It" is the first single you've taken to country radio - what made THIS song the best way to introduce yourself to a country audience?

I really would have been happy with pretty much any of the songs being the first single, but I told (producer) Frank Rogers after we finished this song in the studio that this was going to be it . . . I think the feel, the tempo and the sentiment all had something to do with the decision – and, everybody wants to think that there is someone out there thinking about them, don't they?!? I wrote "Don't Think I Don't Think About It" with (songwriter) Clay Mills, who was one of the great guys I got to write with on this project; in fact, a few of the songs we wrote together made the record.


You recording a country album might surprise some people . . . should it?

No, I don't think it should surprise anyone. I love music and for years I've listened to country artists. I mean, I grew up in South Carolina in the 70's, you know. Some of my favorite memories of being a kid is sitting in front of an AM radio and flipping through stations. You would hear a Stevie Wonder song or something, then hear a commercial so you'd turn the dial . . . hear a Kiss song, hit another commercial so you'd turn the dial again . . . and then Buck Owens jumps out at you. His guitar has no bass and the high notes are higher than any thing you think you have ever heard - I didn't know who it was, but I listened to the DJ to find out. I just had to know. I grew up with a mom that let me listen to whatever I wanted to, and a grandmother that loved country music, so it's just naturally part of my background. It might sound funny now, but Hee Haw was a religion for me. Every country artist that existed was on Hee Haw, and I saw 'em all.


So, you wouldn't say that this is a big departure for you?

Not at all. I believe what we do with Hootie is not that far off from a lot of country music – I mean, when we first started out, I begged the guys in Hootie to be a country band, and I just got outvoted! And I have always written country songs - in fact, a big joke in the band is that I write these country songs that they have to make rock. So for me, this is really just part of the natural evolution of my career – inevitable, really.


You have a pretty distinctive voice - what country artists would you describe as "distinctive," either as a vocalist or a songwriter?

There are so many singers in country that have their "thing" that is just them . . . We can start with Dwight. I love Dwight Yoakam. Nobody sounds like Dwight, nobody dances like Dwight - and we both love a shuffle. I think my biggest country influence is someone with an amazing voice, Radney Foster. The first time I heard Foster & Lloyd's "Crazy Over You" on TV, I went into the record store where I worked early so that I could open the album and hear it – and I never went to work early. His Del Rio Texas 1959 album is one of the 10 best albums I have ever heard. As for other artists . . . well, Nanci Griffith is unbelievable. Patsy Cline, New Grass Revival, Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett, David Allen Coe, Hank Sr - these are all people that I have listened to for years, and with all of them, you recognize their voice the second you hear it. Oh yeah – don't want to leave out Hank Jr.! One of my goals is to record "Family Tradition" – I think that would be perfect for me.

You know, I've been in that little twangy rock cocoon for a while . . . But now I get to come out and sing these songs. I plan to be doing this for a long time. This isn't a one album deal – it's a career thing. Actually, I would like to have fun with this record and then get right back in the studio and start the next! I love working in Nashville.

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