I have no idea what most singers on the radio look like, and I don't care. Image gets in the way of my enjoyment of the music, so I just listen. Because of this, sometimes I'm liking several songs by the same artist and have no idea.
With that in mind, here's a little story. I'm cooking dinner, and one of my new favorite songs come on, "It Won't Be Like This for Long." (Some of you already know where this is going.) There's something familiar about the guy's rich, beautiful voice, but I can't place it. Every time the song comes on I run through all the country artists I can remember, and none match up. So last night I don't try to figure it out, just slice potatos and let my subconscious do its work.
Hootie. Of Hootie and the Blowfish.
I walk into the living room, chef's knife in hand, and tell my husband, "There's this new country song on the radio and the guy sounds exactly like Hootie. Exactly. Same vibrato, same timbre, everything. A really beautiful voice." Hubs replies, "Huh," and I return to the kitchen, slide the potatoes in the oven, and go a-googlin'.
Now, I know Hootie is not the guy's real name, but since I don't pay attention to such things, I don't know his real name. I know he's a black guy, I know he's handsome, I know he has a great voice, I know I haven't heard from him in a while. That's about it. But for some reason, I think of him as an old friend. I love Hootie. I have no idea why, since I didn't even own a Blowfish album, but I've always liked him. Maybe he just seems like a nice guy.
So I find the song I'm looking for, and see the name Darius Rucker. Familiar. And yeah, he's a black guy. Not jumping to any conclusions, I confirm that Darius Rucker is, indeed, Hootie. I'm ecstatic.
"It's Hootie!" I yell down the hall. "Hootie's singing country!" Hubs ambles up and says, "Huh. Really?" And I play "It Won't Be Like This for Long" on YouTube. Then I find out another song I like even more is also by him: "Don't Think I Don't Think About It."
And that's my story. I give you Hootie--er--Darius Rucker. (Yay!)
Thursday, June 4, 2009
A woman, wielding a knife, running through her home shouting "Hootie! Hootie!"
ReplyDeleteYou Americans make me laugh.
Darius Rucker's a great singer, and could do most genres well (bar opera, of course ... yikes to THAT image).
ReplyDeleteHe's cool. I heard one of his recently and it took me by surprise too. He's quite the crooner o' country, ain't he?
My bad, my bad ... it WAS this song I heard. I love it. Heh.
ReplyDeleteI looove Hootie!! At first I didn't think I would like him as a country artist, but I've grown to enjoy it. My favourite Hootie song was "Not Even the Trees" off the Cracked Rear View album. There is so much raw emotion in his voice it makes me weep everytime I hear it.
ReplyDeletePretty song - and so true!
ReplyDeleteFunny, I never thought of him as a country singer but his voice works really well in that genre.
I did not know that Hootie and Darius Rucker were the same guy.
ReplyDeleteI love Darius Rucker. =)
But it's not surprising that he didn't sound familiar to me; I'm kinda too young to remember Hootie and the Blowfish. I probably only know the name because of you. lol.
You'd be surprised, but a lot of my childhood memories are of you singing and dancing in the living room. =)
Ha! I'm not surprised at all. We did it a lot.
ReplyDelete