Darius Rucker

	Thompson Square opened for Jason Aldean Summerfest photo by Sally Rosen - OFC Contributor

Darius Rucker is touring with Justin Moore and Thompson Square!

North Charleston Coliseum on Saturday, November 12 at 7:30pm
Internet pre-sale starts Wed, Aug 17 at 10am and runs until Thu, Aug 18 at 10pm - Password: CHARLESTON

Click HERE to get tickets on Ticketmaster

Darius Rucker is a new name to country music, but a veteran name in the music industry. The South Carolina native spent two decades as lead singer of "Hootie and the Blowfish" as they won two Grammy awards and turned out 16 chart-topping singles.

The group went on hiatus in 2008, but that same year, Rucker launched a solo country music project that returned him to his Southern roots. Christian Hoard, senior editor of Rolling Stone magazine, said, "It makes perfect sense that Rucker became a country artist, because he was all about communicating to a wide group of people while keeping it simple. And there's something just down home and friendly about the way he wrote songs for Hootie."

His first record, Learn to Live, debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's top country albums. In the Early Show summer concert series, Rucker said he didn't expect the success. "I just wanted to make the record for myself," he said. "And to see all this happening -- country fans and country radio have been awesome."

While Rucker had successfully broken into country music, he was also breaking down barriers. Karla Lawson, of Big 98 WSIX Nashville, said, "There have been some other African-Americans that have tried to be in country music, but there again, they were pretending to be, they were trying to fit a mold, they were just being who they are."