Darius Rucker will release his new album, Carolyn’s Boy, on Friday (October 6th), and it’s his first since 2017’s “When Was The Last Time.” He co-wrote 10 of the 14 tracks on the album with such prominent songwriters as Ed Sheeran, HARDY, John Osborne, Ross Copperman, Josh Osborne, Lady A’s Charles Kelley and many more.

He named the new album after his mother, a nurse at Medical University of South Carolina and who raised him with his three sisters and two brothers, and he chose a photo of his mother to grace the cover of his new collection of songs.

“Once I decided I was going to name it Carolyn’s Boy, like when I decided that day in the studio, I knew the picture I was going to use,” says Darius. “That’s our favorite family picture. Like, every family member has that picture in their house. My mom was 25 at the time. I think it’s her nursing school picture and we all have it. And so, I knew what picture I was going to use.”

The South Carolina native credits his mother for all of his good qualities. “She instilled everything in me that’s good — you know, my philanthropy, the way I care about people, being nice all the time — those are all things that my mom (would do). My mom used to say all the time, ‘It’s so much easier to be nice than to be a jerk,’ but she didn’t say jerk. That wasn’t the word she used. (laughs)  But, everything good in me she instilled in me, and I always believe, that I hope that I became the man that she was trying to raise.”

Darius, who was just inducted into the Music City Walk of Fame in Nashville on Wednesday (October 4th), will bring the new music to his hometown of Charleston, South Carolina during his personally-curated Riverfront Revival Music Festival for a second year during his album release weekend (October 7th & 8th).