Hootie and the Blowfish

Mark Bryan – guitars, background vocals
Dean Felber – bass, background vocals
Darius Rucker – vocals, guitars
Jim Sonefeld – drums, percussion, background vocals

YEAH, they’ve got it all covered…

In planning their fourth Atlantic release, Hootie & the Blowfish opened the vaults of their recorded archive this year, uncovering an extensive collection of live and studio cover versions. In cooperation with their active Internet fanbase, the band has now assembled the 15-track rarities collection, “SCATTERED, SMOTHERED AND COVERED.”

The odds n’ sods album is the result of a unique online campaign, one in which the band’s fans participated in shaping the set’s ultimate content. The South Carolina-based quartet – Mark Bryan, Dean Felber, Darius Rucker, and Jim Sonefeld – lined-up their 10 favorites from the pool of available tracks, before offering fans the opportunity to select five more from a remaining list of eight.

“The reason we wanted to release this album in the first place is because of the fans, seeing as we can’t be sure when the next Hootie studio album will come out,” explains Jim Sonefeld. “So getting those folks involved seemed to make perfect sense. At the same time, the band was thinking about all the negativity that has surrounded the issue of music and the Internet over the past year. We just figured, ‘Wow, we can do something here that makes good use of the Internet and does it in a truly positive way.’ Everything just took off from there.”

Hootie & the Blowfish have always enjoyed performing songs by their favorite artists – such as R.E.M., Bill Withers, and Austin, Texas cult heroes, the Reivers – both on stage and in the studio. While many of these cover versions have been available as overseas B-sides, soundtrack cuts, or bonus tracks, none of these recordings has previously been included on a domestically released Hootie album.

“I’ve never been a huge fan of cover albums, but I’ve also never seen a cover album that contained mostly obscurities,” says Sonefeld. “We did these songs because we love playing them, but we love to share them as well. As it turned out, two of the songs I really wanted on the album didn’t make it – so now I really feel like we gave something to the fans! Still, it’s a refreshing and interesting way to put an album together.”

Beginning in August, Hootie fans, aged 21-and-over, started registering their song choices at www.budweiser.com (devotees under the legal drinking age were routed to an Atlantic-hosted site where they could cast their ballots). Audio clips of the eight Hootie cover versions were made available to help voters narrow down their selections. In addition to picking five songs for inclusion on “SCATTERED, SMOTHERED, AND COVERED,” fans also determined the album’s artwork by selecting one of three cover designs.

“Listening to all the songs we had to choose from really took me back and put this whole ride in perspective,” says Sonefeld. “We tend to forget the reason we all got here, which was a recording session in Los Angeles in the spring of 1994. To go back and hear outtakes from that session made me feel kind of goosebumpy. It really made me proud of all the work we’ve done over the years.”

“It was either ‘Musical Chairs,’ or ‘Dan Patrick’s Greatest Hits.’ So the choice was obvious.” – Darius

It’s the summer of 1998 and Hootie & the Blowfish are about to step on stage downtown in New York City’s Battery Park as part of the opening ceremonies of the Goodwill Games. On the surface, you wouldn’t think all that much had changed with the band. It’s still the same four unassuming guys who introduced themselves in the summer of 1994 with the release of their Atlantic Records debut; the same band that went on to sell more than seventeen million albums across the U.S. and earn a pair of Grammy Awards along the way. Not to be overlooked, they’re also the same South Carolinians who, when they find themselves with a day off on the road, might just as well book themselves into a club for a surprise show…for the fun of it.

Sure, the Hootie family has been enlarged by marriage and the late nights out may not be quite so frequent, but it’s the release of “Musical Chairs” – their third Atlantic album, following the #1 chart hits of “CRACKED REAR VIEW” and 1996’s “FAIRWEATHER JOHNSON” – that sheds dramatic light on what’s really going on with Hootie.

Produced by longtime associate Don Gehman (John Mellencamp, R.E.M., Tracy Chapman), “Musical Chairs” represents an assured step forward in the band’s evolution as songwriters and a new-found confidence in negotiating a wide variety of musical styles.

“In the past, while we all had different influences – country, bluegrass, R&B, or whatever – any time the band completed a particular song, it ended up being kind of up the middle,” says Jim “Soni” Sonefeld. “What may have started out as a country song would often wind up sounding a lot more rocked up. On this album, we’ve allowed the songs to live within their original genres.”

In the case of “Desert Mountain Showdown,” a true bluegrass song written by guitarist Mark Bryan, instead of transforming the demoed cut by upping the tempo and adding electric guitars, the band went a different route. They added violin and mandolin and enhanced the song’s rootsy personality. While Darius Rucker has again stepped forward as the band’s main lyricist, Dean, Mark, and Soni have also made extensive lyrical contributions. Most notable among those is “Michele Post,” penned entirely by Dean Felber. “It’s like a total drunk ditty you write at four-in-the-morning after you’ve been at bars too long and your head’s in the wrong place,” explains Dean.

With all four members making significant creative contributions, “Musical Chairs” stands as the band’s most collaborative effort to date. “Having input on a song from all four people is key,” says Mark. “I can write what I might think are fantastic lyrics, but if Darius doesn’t vibe on them, then they’re not making it into a Hootie song.”

The fruit of the first uninterrupted nine-months off in Hootie history, “Musical Chairs” reverberates with the passion and energy of a band refreshed. “It was a matter of resetting our batteries and getting some perspective on life for the first time in six years,” says Dean of the break that began with the conclusion of the band’s 1996 world tour. “In some ways though, the time off made this album that much harder,” says Soni. “When you’ve been touring for five years and you’re in a groove, making a new record isn’t that hard.” “Still, we needed that balance,” adds Mark. “We busted our asses for a long time and needed to get away before we started to suffer both creatively and as people.”

The extended time apart also served to underscore the depth of friendship felt within the band. “Darius’ daughter had a birthday party and it was just a really good hang with a lot of family,” says Mark. “It felt so un-band related that it made me realize, ‘Wow, we really do enjoy being together.’” “During our break, Darius phoned me all the time,” adds Sonefeld. “Yeah, Soni was my five o’clock phone call,” says Rucker with a laugh.

A number of “Musical Chairs ” tracks were specially road-tested in April during a series of sold-out Northeast club dates (which concluded with a hometown gig in concert with the band’s annual Monday After The Masters charity event). With their veteran soundman, Squirrel, working the board, the two-week “Guerrilla 1998” tour was the band’s first since the fall of 1996. “It got us playing the songs in front of people before we went into the studio,” says Dean, then recalling the two occasions that ESPN’s own Chris Berman stepped on stage as a guest backing vocalist.

In a review of the band’s three-hour performance at Boston’s Avalon, The Boston Globe praised the group’s set of ten new songs for revealing a “greater depth and expanded songwriting chops,” adding that “the band has matured and is not afraid to take chances. The increased song variety, and its lyrical richness, suggested that the Blowfish is not resting on any laurels…”

After the tour, the quartet entered California’s Royaltone Studios. During the course of some fifteen days worth of recording, the band was joined by such contributors as longtime collaborator and Continental Drifters chief Peter Holsapple (dB’s founder), fellow Drifter and former Cowsills member Susan Cowsill, and percussionist (and Hootie family member) Gary Greene. Three tracks – “I Will Wait,” “Desert Mountain Showdown,” and “What Do You Want From Me Now?” feature contributions from Boyd Tinsley (violin) and Leroi Moore (soprano and alto sax ) of the Dave Matthews Band. This combination of players results in the greatest wealth of instrumentation yet to be heard on a Hootie album – included on the lengthy list are Dobro, chamberlin, pedal steel, and accordion.

Making his third, and most extensive, appearance on a Hootie album is multi- instrumentalist Jon Nau, who performs on Vox Jaguar, Hammond organ, Wurlitzer, piano, and harmonica. “Once again, Jon came to play,” says Soni. “This time, he was in the studio cutting a lot of live tracks, often times without a practice run. We were able to catch a lot of spontaneous new moments that way.”

Taking the instrumentation idea a step further, the band is complemented by a full string section on the stirring “Only Lonely,” as directed by David Campbell, the veteran arranger who also happens to be Beck’s father. “Bringing the string section into the song was a really big challenge,” says Dean, “because we didn’t want strings that sounded…” “… like Celine Dion,” adds Darius. “David stepped up with an amazing string part,” continues Dean. “It has that Eastern influence that just pushes it in the right direction.” In addition to arranging string parts on such historic albums as Jackson Browne’s debut and Carole King’s “TAPESTRY,” Campbell’s vast arranging credits include recent work with Green Day, the Goo Goo Dolls, and Cracker. “Don Gehman brought David into the studio,” explains Darius. “It was so funny, because while we were sitting in the control room and listening to the play- back of ‘Only Lonely’ – which, thanks to David, sounded so awesome – we couldn’t help thinking, ‘Man, that’s Beck’s dad.’”

The four band members also took the opportunity to venture out into new performance territory. On “Michele Post,” debuts include Mark on banjo, Soni on bass, and Dean on acoustic guitar. In addition, Mark steps out with his first co-lead vocal part on “Wishing,” while Darius is heard playing mandolin on “Desert Mountain Showdown.” Rucker also brought a new focus to his signature powerful vocals. “I wanted the record to be the best vocal record we’ve ever made,” says Darius. “There was a lot of mumbling in the first records. It’s kind of like that R.E.M. syndrome. I think it was just the big influence of the Eighties creeping in, where you just said what you felt, but didn’t have to enunciate it. Though I don’t think I enunciated any more on this record, the meaning behind the songs is brought out that much more.” The brilliant evidence of the band’s concentrated vocal work is “I Will Wait,” a song that complements a gutsy, soulful Rucker vocal with bright, clarion backing parts.

“Musical Chairs” shines even more brightly in that it finds Hootie enthusiastically exploring the sounds and styles that have emboldened them as both students and fans of music. In that way, the album is by far the band’s most diverse and autobiographical, in that it traces four lifetimes worth of shopping for records and going to concerts. “I love the fact that we have ‘What Do You Want From Me Now?’ – which I think is just so straight R&B – on the same record alongside ‘Desert Mountain Showdown,’” says Darius. “Then there’s a song like ‘One By One,’ which reminds me of the Flying Burrito Brothers, the Byrds, and even that early Drivin’ N’ Cryin’ stuff. There’s also ‘Las Vegas Nights,’ which sounds like a Paul Simon song, or ‘Wishing,’ which reminds me of Eighties college rock like Bob Mould or Dumptruck. When I listen to those songs together, I don’t think, ‘Wow, that’s weird,’ because it still sounds like us.”