Imperfect Circle, the first new album from Hootie & the Blowfish in nearly 15 years, will be released by Snakefarm Records in the UK on November 1st. Pre-order from September 6th.
Imperfect Circle is the latest milestone in a remarkable career that has seen Hootie & the Blowfish selling over 25 million records worldwide, winning numerous awards including 2 Grammys, and securing the 10th biggest selling album in history with their Cracked Rear View debut.
Having achieved “the highest attendance figures of their career” (Billboard Boxscore) on this year’s Group Therapy tour in the US, including two nights at New York’s famed Madison Square Garden, Hootie & the Blowfish have announced much-anticipated UK / Ireland tour dates for October:
October 4 Dublin | 3Arena
October 6 Bristol | O2 Academy
October 7 Leeds | O2 Academy
October 9 Glasgow | Barrowland
October 10 Glasgow | Barrowland
October 12 London | Eventim Apollo Hammersmith
October 15 Manchester | O2 Apollo
October 16 Birmingham | O2 Academy
“There’s something timeless about their sound,” proclaimed USA Today. “From their stupendous 1994 debut Cracked Rear View, which is certified 21 x Platinum (equivalent to 21 million certified units sold), to their reunion album, Imperfect Circle, Hootie & the Blowfish appear ready to pick up where they left off as a pop music phenomenon.”
“Whatever the descriptive shorthand used — roots rock, alt-country, jangle-pop or country-rock — Hootie and the Blowfish’s material has aged extraordinarily well,” noted the Dallas Observer at a recent show on the band’s Group Therapy Tour in the US , 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.
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 plus the gleeful harmonies of guitarist Mark Bryan, bassist Dean Felber and drummer Jim “Soni” Sonefeld, Hootie & the Blowfish have to date sold over 25 million records worldwide, after their infectious melodies hit the airwaves in 1994 with hits such as “Hold My Hand”, “Let Her Cry” & “Only Wanna Be With You”.
The quartet met at the University of South Carolina where endless gigs at frat houses and 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 – the album 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, plus multiple People’s Choice Awards. It also won the group Billboard‘s ‘Band of the Year’ Award in 1996 along with the RIAA’s Diamond Award for sales in excess of 10 million units. Cracked Rear View remains the fifth 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 & CD.
The band took a break from full-time touring in 2007, reuniting annually for a variety of philanthropic events whilst also pursuing solo projects. 2019 marked their first full-time touring year in over a decade as they embarked on the Group Therapy Tour ahead of Imperfect Circle, their first new album in nearly 15 years, due out November 1st on Snakefarm Records in the UK.
