Going solo: Darius, Soni and Mark take a break from Hootie to record their own albums

By OTIS R. TAYLOR JR. - otaylor@thestate.com

"Glad to be Alive" was one of several songs Mark Bryan brought into the studio when Hootie and the Blowfish convened to record its most recent album, 2005's "Looking For Lucky."

"It's a punky little thing about how kids will wear anything, and once it's time to get a job, they dress more conservatively," Bryan said of the song.

Hootie's lead singer, Darius Rucker, didn't vibe with the punkish track.

That was OK with Bryan. "I can totally respect it's not a Hootie song."

But "Glad to be Alive" still was recorded - for Bryan's solo album, "End of the Front," which will be released Tuesday by independent distributors Fontana/Artist Garage.

Not to be outdone, two other members of Hootie - Rucker and drummer Jim "Soni" Sonefeld - will release albums this year as well. (Bassist Dean Felber doesn't have any solo plans - yet.)

"This is what felt right," Sonefeld said, "to go to the studio and record solo records."

Bryan's album might be the most diverse, with songs ranging from punk to pop, rock to bluegrass. "Fork in the Road," a duet with Danielle Howle, is the title track for "National Treasure" director Jim Kouf's new comedy due in theaters this year.

"Stylistically it's all over the place," Bryan said about his second solo album. "But it's because the songs were written over a 10-year period."

For his sophomore solo project, Rucker, who released an R&B album, "Back to Then," in 2002, drove to Nashville. He apparently can't sing punk, but he can sing country.

"I've heard a bunch of it," Sonefeld said. "It's slick."

Rucker's untitled Capitol Nashville debut was supposed to hit stores last year, but he came down with a staph infection that set the release back a couple of months because Rucker couldn't promote it. He sees country as a natural progression from his work with Hootie.

"I know that a lot of country fans have 'Cracked Rear View,'" Rucker said of Hootie's breakthrough album, which has sold more than 16 million copies.

"We've never really been that far from country. It came out so organically."

Many will remember Rucker as the purple-suited singing cowboy in TV ads for Burger King's TenderCrisp Bacon Cheddar Ranch sandwich. This album isn't a parody: Rucker says Capitol believes in his work, which now is scheduled for release at the end of summer or early fall.

"It seems like a real priority," he said. "I wasn't looking for a deal. I just wanted to make a record."

Rucker said the sound leans toward old-school country - with big hooks.

"The thing about country today, it has that element of storytelling and that great chorus where you have to kill them," he said. "I know at one point I was asked for some of the songs to not sound so country."

Sonefeld might own a cabin in the woods, but his album, "Snowman Melting," isn't country. Produced with Francis Dunnery, a British singer/songwriter, the album of progressive sounds will be released by indie label Aquarian Nation in May, Sonefeld said.

"It just feels so alive," he said. "It's killing me not to have it ready yet."

Is it any good?

"It's fabulous," he said. "It will be a summertime record."

Michel Celmer is a longtime Hootie fan, and she's excited about all three albums. Celmer, who was raised in Summerville but now lives in Louisiana, has "Hootie" tattooed on her ankle.

"I love the fact that they have branched out and are expanding," she said.

Would she prefer another Hootie album instead of the members releasing solo efforts?

"When it comes to having another Hootie album or solos - I am a fan and it makes no difference to me because talent is talent," Celmer said.

When Hootie got together for "Looking For Lucky," the guys had 45 songs to work through.

"We had so many ideas it was insane," Bryan said.

By then Rucker was contemplating his country ride, and "we didn't want to take a whole album as Hootie and make a country album," Bryan said.

Hootie is Hootie, and there's nothing country - or punk, for that matter - about it.

Reach Taylor at (803) 771-8362.

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