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.”

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.”

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

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).

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).

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 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.

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.

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

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – SEPTEMBER 07: (EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE) Dean Felber, Jim Sonefeld, Darius Rucker and Mark Bryan of Hootie And The Blowfish performs at Bridgestone Arena on September 07, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for Essential Broadcast Media)

Twenty-eight years after performing their first Nashville show at the revered rock club Exit/In, Hootie & The Blowfish brought their Group Therapy Tour to the city’s Bridgestone Arena for a sold-out show Saturday night. 

The trek coincides with the 25th anniversary of the band’s breakthrough album, Cracked Rear View, now certified 21-times Platinum, and the crowd was on their feet throughout the night singing along to the album’s classic songs “Hold My Hand” and “Time” before raising their lit-up cell phones for the GRAMMY Award-winning ballad, “Let Her Cry.” 

The show also included Hootie & The Blowfish’s new track, “Rollin’,” from their upcoming studio album, Imperfect Circle, due out November 1. Lead singer Darius Rucker’s solo country hits “Alright” and “Wagon Wheel” dotted the setlist along with Hootie fan favorites “Running From an Angel” and “I Go Blind.” Rucker called R.E.M. “the band that made us want to play music” before paying tribute to them with a cover of “Losing My Religion.” 

Towards the end of the night, Hootie welcomed show openers Barenaked Ladies onstage for a cover of The Beatles’ “I Get By with a Little Help from my Friends.”  For the encore, the band treated fans to an intimate performance of “Goodbye” before bringing the energy back up with a little bit of Kool & the Gang’s “Get Down on It” mixed into their final song, “Only Wanna Be With You.” 

Hootie & The Blowfish’s Group Therapy Tour continues with a three-night stand in the band’s hometown of Columbia, S.C. on September 11, 12 and 13 before the band takes their show to the U.K. & Ireland next month. 

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 among the Top 10 most-certified studios 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, due out November 1 under a new record deal with Universal Music Group Nashville.

Nine months after delighting fans with the news of their first album in nearly fifteen years, Hootie & the Blowfish share the first taste of what’s to come with Imperfect Circle’s November 1 release via “Rollin’,” now available at all digital retailers and streaming platforms.

Written by Hootie & the Blowfish together with Adam Doleac, Zach Kale and John King, the track premiered exclusively with Billboard yesterday, September 5th.

“When we started getting that one going I was like, ‘Man, we’re a Southern rock band when we play this,’” frontman Darius Rucker shared. “I loved it. It’s like us trying to play a Black Crowes or Allman Brothers cover. I love the feel of that ’cause we don’t do that a lot.”

Billboard also broke the news of Imperfect Circle’s track listing, with highlights including a Lucie Silvas feature 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.

Set for release November 1st on Universal Music Group’s Capitol Nashville imprint, the album is now available for pre-order HERE.

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

Remaining Group Therapy Tour Dates:
September 6      Pelham, Ala. | Oak Mountain Amphitheatre
September 7      Nashville, Tenn. | Bridgestone Arena
September 11    Columbia, S.C. | Colonial Life Arena
September 12    Columbia, S.C. | Colonial Life Arena
September 13    Columbia, S.C. | Colonial Life Arena

October 4          Dublin, Ireland | 3 Arena
October 6          Bristol, England | O2 Academy
October 7          Leeds, England | O2 Academy
October 9          Glasgow, Scotland | Barrowland
October 10        Glasgow, Scotland | Barrowland
October 12        London, England | Eventim Apollo
October 15        Manchester, England | O2 Apollo
October 16        Birmingham, England | O2 Academy

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 among the Top 10 most-certified studios 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 due out November 1 under a new record deal with Universal Music Group Nashville.

As a summer of sold-out shows celebrated by fans and critics alike nears its celebratory three-night U.S. finale in Columbia, S.C., the band Billboard praises as “back and better than ever” will continue the excitement into the fall with today’s announcement of Imperfect Circle, the first new album from Hootie & the Blowfish in nearly 15 years.

Due out November 1st on Universal Music Group’s Capitol Nashville imprint, the album is available for pre-order today.

“There’s something timeless about their sound,” proclaimed USA Today in a story breaking the news of the album. “From their stupendous 1994 debut Cracked Rear View, which is certified 21x Platinum (equivalent to 21 million certified units sold), to their anticipated reunion album, Imperfect Circle…Hootie & the Blowfish appear ready to pick up where they left off as a pop music phenomenon. Yet they haven’t forgotten where they began because, really, they never left that place.”

Despite a decade-long hiatus that followed their initial wave of success punctuated only by occasional charity shows, the band’s return to the spotlight with this year’s Group Therapy Tour has brought out the “highest attendance figures of their career,” according to Billboard’s Boxscore, proving that the two-time GRAMMY Award winners have withstood the test of time.

“Whatever the descriptive shorthand used — roots rock, alt-country, jangle-pop or country-rock — Hootie and the Blowfish’s material has aged extraordinarily well, fond remembrances aside,” noted the Dallas Observer at a recent show, proclaiming that “the honey-voiced Rucker is still, 25 years on, one of the best singers in any genre, full stop.”

“Rucker has — no exaggeration — one of the great voices in contemporary pop music, a dynamic and sophisticated baritone that’s full of gravity,” agreed the New York Times in a June Arts & Leisure cover story after sitting in on the recording process for Imperfect Circle. “The rest of the band makes spry work of otherwise staid idioms. Bryan is a patient decorator with guitar, never overpowering an arrangement, and as a rhythm section, Felber and Sonefeld are insistent but amiable.”

Following the nostalgic summer tour, fans now eager to hear new music by the iconic band can get early access to a first track called “Rollin’” available exclusively at www.Hootie.com, before it becomes available for purchase and streaming on September 6th.

Remaining Group Therapy Tour Dates
August 8           Columbia, Md. | Merriweather Post Pavilion
August 9           Canandaigua, N.Y. | Constellation Brands-Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center
August 10         New York, N.Y. | Madison Square Garden
August 11         New York, N.Y. | Madison Square Garden
August 16         Detroit, Mich. | DTE Energy Music Theatre
August 17         Noblesville, Ind. | Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center
August 18         Des Moines, Iowa | Iowa State Fair
August 22         St. Paul, Minn. | Minnesota State Fair
August 23         East Troy, Wis. | Alpine Valley Music Theatre
August 24         Tinley Park, Ill. | Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
August 29         Toronto, Ont. | Budweiser Stage
August 30         Hershey, Penn. | Hersheypark Stadium
August 31         Hartford, Conn. | XFINITY Theatre

September 5      Charlotte, N.C. | PNC Music Pavilion
September 6      Birmingham, Ala. | Oak Mountain Amphitheatre
September 7      Nashville, Tenn. | Bridgestone Arena
September 11    Columbia, S.C. | Colonial Life Arena
September 12    Columbia, S.C. | Colonial Life Arena
September 13    Columbia, S.C. | Colonial Life Arena

October 4          Dublin, Ireland | 3Arena
October 6          Bristol, England | O2 Academy
October 7          Leeds, England | O2 Academy
October 9          Glasgow, Scotland | Barrowland
October 10        Glasgow, Scotland | Barrowland
October 12        London, England | Eventim Apollo
October 15        Manchester, England | O2 Apollo
October 16        Birmingham, England | O2 Academy

For more information, visit www.hootie.com or 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 due out November 1 under a new record deal with Universal Music Group Nashville.

For audio from the band on the album title, click here.

Hootie & the Blowfish just announced the release date of their new album, Imperfect Circle. The collection will be released November 1st on Capitol Nashville. Their last studio album, Looking for Lucky, was released August 9th, 2005 with a live album, Live in Charleston, coming one year later (August 8th, 2006). The band – comprised of Darius Rucker, Mark Bryan, Dean Felber and Jim “Soni” Sonefeld – were huge fans of R.E.M, considered to be the first alternative rock band on record. Hootie & the Blowfish based the title of their new album on one of their favorite R.E.M. songs.

We have some news for you! Our new album, Imperfect Circle, will be available everywhere November 1! Preorder an exclusive package at https://t.co/UTCCn0Bgav today and hear our new song, Rollin', now. pic.twitter.com/ZqvHYU0ujN

— Hootie & The Blowfish (@HootieTweets) August 8, 2019

“We were sitting around before going into the studio and talking about album names and stuff and of course REM came up because they’re such an important band to us,” says Darius. “‘Perfect Circle’ is an REM song that we all love a lot (“One of the best”), and I said, ‘Perfect Circle,’ and then we thought Imperfect Circle was a better name, because just looking at us, our career, it’s the 25th anniversary of Cracked Rear View, but we’ve been playing together 30-something years and for us to be here, to be doing this tour and to be making a record, it just seems like Imperfect Circle was perfect.”

The title has some similarities to the band’s 21-times platinum debut album, Cracked Rear View. “Imperfect Circle kinda has the same ring to it as Cracked Rear View, where it’s like you’re looking back and you realize nobody’s journey is perfect, but here we are,” says Hootie member Mark Bryan. “We’re all still here, and I think a lot of people can relate to that.”

The process of coming up with a title has always been a lot of fun for the group. “As usual, the process of finding the right names is always the most fun for us,” says Soni. “We sat around the studio – and we knew this is how it would be – for six months throwing out names that are utter, just dumb, funny, perverse or whatever, and that’s part of the fun we’ve always had is naming albums, giving album titles that really aren’t going to be the album title.”

Hootie & the Blowfish are currently on their Group Therapy Tour with Barenaked Ladies with dates tonight (August 8th) in Columbia, Maryland, Friday (August 9th) in Canandaigua, New York and a two-night stand at Madison Square Garden Saturday (August 10th) and Sunday (August 11th) in New York City.

Hootie & the Blowfish “clearly seemed thrilled to be back on stage with a sellout crowd in front of them,” as the Raleigh News & Observerremarked of Friday night’s concert, the second of three shows launching the Group Therapy Tour which drew over 19,000 in attendance in spite of a rain delay.

The third night of opening weekend, Atlanta Journal Constitution proclaimed, “this is a well-produced nostalgic romp featuring a setlist stacked with singalongs, an effective stage show (sharp lighting, major video screen action) and a band that sounds record perfect,” also noting that “what this return to the road will demonstrate for those who have been out of the Hootie orbit [as the band continued to play select annual concerts] is that the hits still hold up.”

The Gwinnett Daily Post also raved about the “crowd-pleasing” show, emphasizing that “frontman [Darius] Rucker’s raspy vocals are even more mesmerizing in person and his gaze seemed to reach back to the viewers on Lakewood’s berm. Lead guitarist [Mark] Bryan frolicked barefoot on stage with a stage presence that comes with a band rejuvenated with its first full tour in more than 10 years — 15 years since its last studio album.”

Like fans, the band was ready to celebrate memories of their early days as both Rucker and Bryan shared nostalgic memories of their first forays into each market, with tales of coming up in the Carolinas on Friday night in Raleigh and of early gigs in Athens, Georgia the talk of Saturday night in Atlanta.

Hootie & the Blowfish took the stage after a hit-filled opening set by special guest and fellow 90s stalwartsBarenaked Ladies, whose set included their catchy theme song for “The Big Bang Theory” as well as fan-favorites “One Week” and “If I Had $1000000” plus well-received covers of Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love” and “Shallow” from A Star Is Born.

Rucker and Bryan then took the stage with bandmates Dean Felber and Jim “Soni” Sonefeld for a set list that began each night with “Hannah Jane,” track one on their 21X-Platinum debut album Cracked Rear View which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year and remains one of the best-selling albums of all time. The show continued with Hootie classics such as “Let Her Cry” and “Hold My Hand,” plus covers of Rucker’s solo No. 1 “Alright” and GRAMMY-Award winning take on “Wagon Wheel,” as well as R.E.M.’s “Losing My Religion,” a natural fit for the band which also shared stories of R.E.M.’s influence on them as young artists. Keeping fans on their feet until the very end, “Only Wanna Be With You” sent a satisfied crowd into the night.

The trek continues with 44 additional U.S. & Canada dates throughout the summer, including stops at the iconic Hollywood Bowl, a two-night stand at Madison Square Garden and a three-night homecoming finale in Columbia, S.C. before the band heads overseas for a run of eight U.K. and Irelands dates in October. The tour also comes with news of a forthcoming album, expected later this year under a new record deal with Universal Music Group Nashville.

For more information, visit www.hootie.com or follow on Facebook @hootieandtheblowfish, Twitter @hootietweetsand Instagram @hootieofficial.

Remaining Group Therapy Tour Dates
June 6               Orange Beach, Ala. | The Wharf
June 8               West Palm Beach, Fla. | Coral Sky Amphitheatre
June 9               Tampa, Fla. | MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
June 13             Austin, Texas | Austin360 Amphitheater
June 14             Houston, Texas | The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion presented by Huntsman
June 15             Dallas, Texas | Dos Equis Pavilion
June 19             Phoenix, Ariz. | Ak-Chin Pavilion
June 21             Chula Vista, Calif. | North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre
June 22             Las Vegas, Nev. | T-Mobile Arena
June 23             Irvine, Calif. | FivePoint Amphitheatre presented by Mercury Insurance
June 25             Los Angeles, Calif. | Hollywood Bowl
June 28             Wheatland, Calif. | Toyota Amphitheatre
June 29             Mountain View, Calif. | Shoreline Amphitheatre

July 11              Englewood, Colo. | Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
July 13              Maryland Heights, Mo. | Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
July 14              Rogers, Ark. | Walmart AMP
July 19              Monticello, Iowa | Great Jones County Fair
July 20              Cincinnati, Ohio | Riverbend Music Center
July 21              Burgettstown, Penn. | KeyBank Pavilion
July 26              Cleveland, Ohio | Blossom Music Center
July 27              Bristow, Va. |  Jiffy Lube Live
July 28              Camden, N.J. | BB&T Pavilion

August 2           Guilford, N.H. | Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion
August 3           Mansfield, Mass. | Xfinity Center
August 4           Saratoga Springs, N.Y. | Saratoga Performing Arts Center
August 8           Columbia, Md. | Merriweather Post Pavilion
August 9           Canandaigua, N.Y. | Constellation Brands-Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center: CMAC
August 10         New York, N.Y. | Madison Square Garden
August 11         New York, N.Y. | Madison Square Garden
August 16         Detroit, Mich. | DTE Energy Music Theatre
August 17         Noblesville, Ind. | Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center
August 18         Des Moines, Iowa | Iowa State Fair
August 22         St. Paul, Minn. | Minnesota State Fair
August 23         East Troy, Wis. | Alpine Valley Music Theatre
August 24         Tinley Park, Ill. | Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
August 29         Toronto, Ont. | Budweiser Stage
August 30         Hershey, Penn. | Hersheypark Stadium
August 31         Hartford, Conn. | XFINITY Theatre

September 5      Charlotte, N.C. | PNC Music Pavilion
September 6      Birmingham, Ala. | Oak Mountain Amphitheatre
September 7      Nashville, Tenn. | Bridgestone Arena
September 11    Columbia, S.C. | Colonial Life Arena
September 12    Columbia, S.C. | Colonial Life Arena
September 13    Columbia, S.C. | Colonial Life Arena

October 4          Dublin, Ireland | 3Arena
October 6          Bristol, England | O2 Academy
October 7          Leeds, England | O2 Academy
October 9          Glasgow, Scotland | Barrowland
October 10        Glasgow, Scotland | Barrowland
October 12        London, England | Eventim Apollo
October 15        Manchester, England | O2 Apollo
October 16        Birmingham, England | O2 Academy

Darius Rucker and his band Hootie & the Blowfish will perform on the season finale of NBC’s The Voice this week. The group is expected to sing “Let Her Cry,” which is featured on their multi-platinum album, Cracked Rear View, which is celebrating its 25^th anniversary. Taylor Swift is also slated to perform during the show. The Voice will air on Tuesday (May 20th) beginning at 9pm ET on NBC.

Kacey Musgraves will perform during the Today Show’s 2019 Citi Concert Series this summer. She’ll take the stage in Rockefeller Center July 19^th. Other artists as part of the lineup include Sheryl Crow, Thomas Rhett, Jonas Brothers, The Chainsmokers, Dan + Shay, Maggie Rogers and Lizzo, among others. Additional performances will be announced throughout the season.

Keith Urban, the reigning CMA and ACM Entertainer of the Year, has been announced as headliner for this year’s Stars for Second Harvest Show (produced by songwriter Craig Wiseman), taking place June 4th at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium.

Shania Twain will appear in the new film, I Still Believe, the follow-up to 2018’s I Can Only Imagine. She’ll portray Terry Camp, the mother of Jeremy Camp, a real-life Christian music star who has scored numerous No. 1 songs and several awards. Shooting begins this month in Alabama, according to Variety, and is set to open March 2020.

Travis Denning will be heading across the pond this fall on the CMA’s Introducing Nashville Tour. The trek, which also features Chris Lane, Danielle Bradbury, Rachel Wammack and Devin Dawson, will kick off October 10th in Oslo, Norway and will wrap October 20th in Brighton, England. Stops include Stockholm, Hamburg, Berlin, Amsterdam, Manchester and Glasgow.

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