A Relaxing 10 Minutes with Darius Rucker at Stagecoach
During Sunday night’s Stagecoach festival, Darius Rucker revisited his roots by bringing his band Hootie & the Blowfish to the desert stage. In a conversation held a few hours before their performance, Rucker reflected on the connections between 1990s rock bands and country music, a theme prevalent at this year’s event.
“I noticed the same thing you’re noticing,” Rucker remarked. “On that one stage, the Wallflowers were just playing. I think country music today is not far from what was happening with rock in the ’90s, except for grunge. I think it’s pretty cool that they’re doing that.”
Rucker was also asked about his acquaintance with Jakob Dylan of the Wallflowers, to which he responded, “I met him once, I think, a long time ago.” When probed about other ’90s rock icons like Gavin Rossdale from Bush and Stephan Jenkins from Third Eye Blind, he noted, “The crazy thing about us is we lived in Columbia, S.C. We might see these guys at awards shows and stuff like that, but we never really got to hang out with them or tour with them or anything.”
As he approaches his 60th birthday in two weeks, Rucker acknowledged the milestone with good humor. When pressed about whether there is a Hootie & the Blowfish song that might be suitable for a Cialis commercial, he quipped, “Oh goodness. ‘Let Her Cry’?”
Tonight’s performance features an unexpected element: a rendition of Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power.” Rucker shared what the song means to him, recalling, “For me back in ’84, when they came out, it was mind-blowing what they were doing. Nobody was like them — they were so militant. In my neighborhood, they were so big. And to be out here now playing Stagecoach, and we actually have them coming out and playing with us — that’s gonna be crazy, man.”
Rucker also noted the relevance of the song in today’s social climate. “With everything that’s going on in the world these days, I think it’s a good place for the song,” he said, emphasizing the powerful message behind it.
