Darius Rucker is doing very well these days. The former Hootie and the Blowfish frontman is ensconced in Merry Olde England, per Holler. He is happily "eschewing Nashville's dizzying Broadway lights in favour of the quaint cobblestones and pub-adorned streets of the Big Smoke." And it suits him ideally. The singer unloaded a lot of the tension that had bothered him and unwound once he was in England. Per the outlet, Rucker was glad to get away from the constraints and protocols that define Nashville.
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He Teamed With BigXthaPlug
BigXthaPlug got into country music after making his reputation elsewhere, much like Post Malone and Beyonce. Rucker joined a star-studded list of artists who pitched in on BigXthaPlug's freshman country LP, I Hope You're Happy. Also along for the ride are Shaboozey, Tucker Wetmore, Bailey Zimmerman, INK, Luke Combs, Jelly Roll, and Ella Langley.
Per the outlet, Rucker excelled and outdid himself alongside BigXthaPlug. He reportedly delivered "one of the most striking performances on the project." His vocals meshed well with BigX. He described how the gig came his way.
How the Gig Came About
Rucker explained,. "I got a phone call a couple months ago with a buddy of mine who's friends with X, and those guys asked if I'd be interested. They sent me some of the stuff they'd already done. Then they sent me the song, and Chris [Stapleton] was singing the demo. It was so good, and they asked me to do it. I told them, 'If you don't like it, don't use it!' We went in, and I tried to make it my own. It's just really cool to get to sing a little blues thing, then X has these great lyrics."
He humorously downplayed his role. "When I listened to it, I thought, 'That doesn't sound like me!' I realized that it's just different...I was trying to be one of those old blues guys."
He Has an Album in the Works
Coming on the heels of Carolyn's Boy two years back, Rucker has another album in the works. "It's not really as bluesy as that. We do have some stuff that went that way. But no, it's definitely a country record. You know, writing over here with these guys, we were writing about different things, and even when we're writing about the same thing as we would in Nashville, we're writing about it in different ways - because British people are just different."
He added, "When you're raised in a different culture, in a different country, you see things differently. It was just awesome to be able to write with people like Wayne Hector, Amy Wadge, Steve Robson, The Nocturns, James Blunt...I'm dying for people to hear it."
Rucker's Exciting New Rock Band
Rucker is enthusiastic about this new group. "I got another project that we're about to concentrate on for a few months. I'm in a band with Mike Mills from R.E.M. and Steve Gorman, who played drums in The Black Crowes, HowlOwlHowl, and we'll put out a record here soon that's just straight rock n' roll. The first time one of my buddies listened to it, they said, 'If this was 1998, this would be Album of the Year...!'"
