Former Hootie frontman happy to bring the country fun

Darius Rucker is practicing truth in advertising with his new tour “Good For a Good Time.”

The former Hootie & the Blowfish frontman turned country star brings this philosophy to his show at the Ironstone Amphitheatre on Thursday, July 14.

“We’ve wanted to bring a party; it’s high-energy, and it’s about fun,” Rucker says. “The worst thing for me when I go to a concert is a whole bunch of ballads. You get bored. And if we’re not having fun up there onstage, you’re not having fun.”

His set list will be full of songs from his solo albums, including “Southern Style” (2015), “True Believers” (2013), “Charleston, SC 1966” (2010) and “Learn to Live” (2008), but he’ll also honor his roots with Hootie & the Blowfish.

That’s something he says he has to do. Plus he is proud of his past hits like “Hold My Hand,” “Only Wanna Be With You” and “Let Her Cry.”

“If I did a show and didn’t do Hootie songs, I would be ripping people off,” says Rucker.

He says he also could unveil some new material from his coming album; the release of the first single is imminent. Opening for Rucker at the Ironstone show are newer acts Dan + Shay and Michael Ray.

“They’re both up-and-coming and have big hits on country radio,” he says. “That’s what I want when putting together a tour – guys who are doing big things and guys who I want to know. They’re awesome dudes. I’ve watched both of their shows, and it’s great.”

Rucker’s continued status as a big-name country headliner comes after several years of being a sought-after support act for bigger country stars. When a headlining opportunity arose a couple of years ago, he admits he was comfortable where he was: as an opening act.

He says he liked playing for an hour and then being able to enjoy the rest of the show. Opening comes with fewer worries. And since he’d headlined with Hootie & the Blowfish, he’d been there, done that.

But his management and concert producer Live Nation convinced him it was time to step it up. Rucker’s situation – being successful in one genre, then switching it up to find success in another – is rare.

“I got lucky,” he says jokingly. He had always wanted to make a country record, but the question of “Who was gonna give the black lead singer of Hootie & the Blowfish a country deal?” loomed like a dark cloud.

He went from country station to country station, more than 100 total, with his new music. He shook hands with radio programmers and asked them to give his music a spin.

“Some people thought I would be a diva,” he says. “It’s not about being a diva. It was about playing my music to eight people in a conference room.”

Coming in as an established name both helped and hurt him, he says.

“People looked at me as a carpetbagger coming over from pop to country,” Rucker says. “But it helped because it got me in the room.”

This story was originally published July 6, 2016 at 10:01 AM with the headline "Former Hootie frontman happy to bring the country fun."