"Our story starts with the CMAs. If you saw the show or read the news reports about last week's mega Country show, the big headline was 19-year old Taylor Swift, who took four major awards, including the coveted Entertainer of the Year honor.
But perhaps the more significant news below the fold was the award for "Best New Artist of the Year" - Darius Rucker. Yup, the same guy who fronted Hootie & the Blowfish back in the '90s, whose fortunes sank quickly and deeply - just like Men At Work, INXS, and so many others.
The difference is that after a decade of obscurity, Rucker turned his career around, addresessed his negatives and his opportunities, and created a Second Life in country music. In thanking the CMA, he commented, "To the fans, thank y'all for accepting me. And I think most importantly, to country radio, you took a chance on a pop singer from Charleston, South Carolina. Thank you so much for that!"
Rucker has learned how to adjust his act for a new market, making him one of the few African-American artists to make it big in Country. And all of this, after everyone was convinced he was a total washout back in the late '90s."
-- Fred Jacobs gets it right and if you don't normally check out JacoBLOG, this is a post I commend to your attention
2 comments:
Hearing Darrius use the word, "Y'all" isn't all that astounding. I was his neighbor in Charleston, SC and, believe me, that's not a stretch for him. He's been surrounded by country music all his life and you can take just about any of the Hootie & the Blowfish songs, produce them differently and have a country song.
Fully agree with you Bob. Darius did story songs with Hootie...he is continuing to do them now. He sounds, talks, and acts like we expect a country artist to behave.
Fred's got the address change right. Now if he only weren't so shocked country artists can perform well.
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