Hootie and Sister Hazel
Bands and Brothers
As part of my work for the band Sister Hazel on their 30th anniversary, I am interviewing bands that they have been friends with since the early days. Here are some excerpts from my interviews with Hootie and the Blowfish.
Darius: Their story is so similar to ours. Working in clubs for so long, just banging it out. And getting there, getting to the pinnacle of success. It's really what every band dreams of.
And then, for the rest of your life, you're not chasing that, but you're just out there trying to have a career. Going out and playing for the fans who want to see you play, playing as much as you can, every place that you can, and working hard.
It's really a story of hard work, and perseverance, and love for each other, I think.
Mark: Music brings people together. And when you can help people through your music… Sister Hazel has performed at Monday After The Masters. We've performed at Lyrics For life. We look out for each other's charities. It's something we've been very fortunate to be able to do our whole career.
Soni: If I had to write about Sister Hazel, it would be an amazing book, honestly. It would have all the heroic tales. Having a dream, being willing to work hard, having talent, striving. Then getting there, seeing the hardship, that things don't last and nothing goes on forever. Then deciding what you want to do. Do you want to keep making music? Do you want to keep your fan base together? There's an amazing story that could be written there.
Dean: Jett is just solid. He's everything a bass player needs to be and then some. He adds to them without obscuring them in any way. He's great.
Darius: Sister Hazel writes real songs. That's what I like, songs about real life. And they can put an experience into words that is great.
But the thing I really love about Sister Hazel is the harmonies. They're like brothers when they sing together. You can't beat family harmonies. And when they sing together, it's like they've been doing it their whole lives. I think it's incredible.
Soni: Their fans, the Hazelnuts, love them. That's the beauty. And because of that, you get 30 years.
And that's not nothing. We know bands that couldn't get out of five years or couldn't get past 10. We're 38 down the road, I think, with Hootie and The Blowfish.
It's not easy. It's not easy being in a band. It's probably harder to stay a band.
So God bless them for that.
Mark: Ryan is a great guitar player. When we needed a slide part for a song we were recording for the Looking For Lucky album, I said, "Let's get Ryan Newell." That's Ryan playing slide guitar on "The Killing Stone."
I'm a huge fan of his guitar playing. He's a slick, badass dude.
Dean: There's always been something more to the relationship (between Hootie and Sister Hazel). You have work friends. That's kind of how it started. But it goes beyond that. I mean, the amount of shit-talking that goes back and forth is extreme. And it doesn't hurt that they like horrible teams, like the Gators.
Mark: The Gator / Gamecock rivalry is real. Andrew Copeland texts all four members in Hootie on the first day of every football season and immediately starts talking shit. Fortunately, the Gators have been struggling lately. So we've been able to clobber them pretty good.
“What is your prediction for the Gamecocks / Gators game this fall?”
Darius: It's the same prediction always. We're going to beat them.
Soni: It's kind of like ownership in a way. Gamecocks… it's like they own a gator. It's our little pet. We get to do what we want. We'll let them win one year because we feel bad.
So, I think it's another win this year.
Darius: Another one for the Gamecocks.
“And the score?”
Darius: 99 to 6.
Soni: 99 to 6. Probably that. That's what Darius calls a lock.
Darius: That's a lock. Although we might be giving them 80.
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