© Shelley Mays / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Darius Rucker, founder and front man of Hootie & The Blowfish, made headlines this week with the announcement of a new band. He has formed a ‘super group’ with Mike Mills, the bassist and backup vocalist of R.E.M., and Steve Gorman who is the drummer for The Black Crowes and Stereophonics.
The new band will be named Howl Owl Howl. Whoever came up with that name was probably thinking about how cool it would look in a t-shirt and not how much of a pain it would be to say out loud but I won’t be shocked if ‘H-O-H’ sticks over Howlolowowlwowlwowlwowlwowowowlwwl as the band’s name.
Darius Rucker Cover’s ‘Everybody Hurts’ By R.E.M.
On TikTok, Darius Rucker shared a video of him sitting on the couch underneath a bookshelf strumming his iconic blue Gibson ‘Hummingbird’ guitar.
In the caption, Rucker calls this ‘Episode 1’ of ‘Songs I Wish I’d Written.’ It is obviously no coincidence that Darius is playing an R.E.M. song after forming the new supergroup with a founding member of R.E.M., a band that will never reunite for various reasons (mostly health related).
He doesn’t play the full song but my takeaway from this: while Darius Rucker looks his age, his voice sounds as young as ever. It is remarkable how much his voice has stayed true throughout the years. Take a listen:
@dariusrucker In honor of announcing my new band @howlowlhowl with Mike Mills & Steve Gorman here’s episode 1 of Songs I Wish I’d Written
The new band, Howl Owl Howl, already has tour dates set.
On their website, they’ve listed concerts in Indianapolis, Chicago, Washington D.C., Asbury Park, Boston, NYC, Philly, Athens, and Atlanta. The tour begins on November 3rd and runs through November 15th. Anyone who wants to learn more can visit the Howl Owl Howl website.
He’s No Stranger To R.E.M. Covers
It should be noted that Darius Rucker, like most of the global population, is a fan of R.E.M. But this isn’t the first time he’s covered one of their songs.
Here is Darius at the PNC Bank Arts Center covering ‘Losing My Religion’ by R.E.M. during a concert a year-ish ago:
I do wonder where all of this is headed. Will Howl Owl Howl be a cover band of sorts? Will they perform a handful of covers but mostly new music?
On the band’s website, their bio starts with ” Drawing on three of the most impactful careers in American rock, Howl Owl Howl is a brand-new band with an old school rock & roll soul – and an elusive musical creature, rarely seen in the wild.”
We’ll know soon enough when they start playing concerts in November!