Iconic pop-rock band Hootie & the Blowfish return to the road in 2024, as the foursome sets out on the Summer Camp with Trucks Tour featuring special guests Collective Soul and Edwin McCain. The 43-City tour will include a stop in Cincinnati, Ohio at Riverbend Music Center on Friday, June 7.
The group comprised of Mark Bryan, Dean Felber, Darius Rucker and Jim “Soni” Sonefeld, who formed the band during their time as students together at the University of South Carolina, will visit 43 cities across the U.S. and Canada. This marks the first full tour since 2019 for the band whose chart-topping, GRAMMY-award winning career has featured more than 25 million albums sold, including their 2x Diamond-certified debut album Cracked Rear View – which remains among the top 10 best-selling albums in all of music history – plus 17 Billboard-charting songs to date.
“Basically overnight, our lives changed when Cracked Rear View did what it did – and yet as we quickly moved from vans and college bars to tour busses and arenas, not much else changed with how we approached making music and sharing it with our fans,” reflects Bryan. “Edwin McCain told someone at the time that touring with us felt like summer camp with trucks… and that’s exactly how we want next year to feel, too. We can’t wait for you to join us!”
The tour will also offer a variety of different VIP packages and experiences for fans to take their concert experience to the next level. Packages vary but may include premium tickets, a backstage tour and photo on stage, VIP lounge access, autographed merch and more. For more information, visit vipnation.com.
In addition to playing limited engagements, including their annual Monday After the Masters charity event which raises funds to support educational programs and the South Carolina junior golf program, Hootie & the Blowfish most recently embarked on the sold-out Group Therapy Tour in 2019, with the Atlanta Journal Constitution praising the “well-produced nostalgic romp featuring a setlist stacked with singalongs, an effective stage show… and a band that sounds record perfect,” the Arizona Republic celebrating “the band’s tight harmonies and crunchy guitar solos, making it hard to believe they ever took a break,” the Dallas Observer remarking, “whatever the descriptive shorthand used — roots rock, alt-country, jangle-pop or country-rock — Hootie & the Blowfish’s material has aged extraordinarily well” and the Austin American-Statesman declaring, “Hootie & the Blowfish are getting the credit they always deserved.”
About Hootie & the Blowfish
With the rich, bluesy vocals of Darius Rucker and gleeful harmonies of guitarist Mark Bryan, bassist Dean Felber and drummer Jim “Soni” Sonefeld, Hootie & the Blowfish have sold over 25 million records worldwide to date after their infectious melodies hit the airwaves in 1994 with hits such as “Hold My Hand,” “Let Her Cry” and “Only Wanna Be With You.” The quartet met at the University of South Carolina where endless gigs at frat houses and local 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, 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 and multiple People's Choice Awards. Cracked Rear View also earned the band Billboard's Band of the Year Award in 1996 and the RIAA's Diamond Award for sales in excess of 10 million units. At 21x Platinum, Cracked Rear View remains among the Top 10 best-selling studio albums in music history.
The band remained a top draw nationwide following their debut 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 and CD. The band took a break from full-time touring in 2007, reuniting annually for a variety of philanthropic events while also pursuing solo projects. 2019 marked the band's first full-time touring year in over a decade as they embarked on the sold-out Group Therapy Tour in support of Imperfect Circle, released in late 2019 under a new record deal with Universal Music Group’s Capitol Nashville, and 2024 will see them return to the road once again for the upcoming Summer Camp with Trucks Tour.
About Collective Soul
Hailing from Atlanta, Ga., Collective Soul is Celebrating their 30th anniversary! With 11 studio albums and eight No. 1 hits under their belt, frontman and chief songwriter Ed Roland is unwaveringly driven in his desire to double down on doing more of what he does best – making music, sweet music, both in the studio and onstage. Seeing eye to eye, and ear to ear, is part of the secret sauce of why Collective Soul continues to both record and play together at an uncompromised level of high quality. With electrifying newer material such as their most recent 2022 release of Vibrating, along with the everlasting Collective Soul classic hits like “Shine,” “December,” “The World I Know,” “Heavy” and “Where The River Flows,” these five fiery rockers are only just getting started with the next phase of their thriving career that has moved millions of records and wowed multitudes of fans across the globe. Working in tandem, sharing unbridled opinions, and listening to what everyone else has to say without recrimination are all key proponents in fostering Collective Soul’s perpetual harmony. As 2024 unfurls, it’s clear that heaven continues to shine its light down on Collective Soul, a formidable five-man band humming along in unison with many more good vibrations of their own to share with the masses far and wide. For more information, visit collectivesoul.com.
About Edwin McCain
From Charleston, S.C., Edwin McCain is going on over 30 years of hits and worldwide touring. He has been called a “street corner prophet” by USA Today, an “aching tenor” by Slate Magazine and a “great American romantic” by the New York Times, but McCain is much more than those things. After a long ride on a wave created by recording two of the biggest love songs in the history of music (“I’ll Be” and “I Could Not Ask For More”) and producing and starring in a TV series (“Flippin’ Ships” on Animal Planet), McCain slowed his road schedule to dedicate more time to his primary roles as husband to his wife and father to their three young teenagers. Well, the kids are grown-ish and McCain’s fans are still clamoring for more as his hit songs, authentic spirit and surprisingly affable sense of humor keep everyone coming back time and time again; not that McCain’s music ever slows down. “American Idol” and “The Voice” contestants still turn to his ballads year after year to help them win over judges and fans. Millions more have been turned on by pop icons Justin Bieber and Charlie Puth who have both covered his hit songs. McCain shares, “15-year-old me would have crawled through a river of fire to be the singer/songwriter that I am today, and I remember that. I am incredibly grateful to be able to do this.” For more information, visit edwin.com.
