Pullin’ ‘Tubes: Hootie & The Old Crowfish

While modern country music is easily one of the most popular, if not the most popular genre of music going today, it’s not something that we give much press to around these parts. So you’ll have to forgive us if we’re a little late to the party on finding out the fact that Darius Rucker has been burning up the country music charts with his cover of Old Crow Medicine Show’s signature tune Wagon Wheel. Rucker, who came to fame with as the front man for Hootie & The Blowfish, has been making country music records since 2008 – and is arguably having one of the best second acts of a career that we can remember in quite some time.

Rucker has been fully embraced by country fans since the release of his debut Learn To Live, which spawned three number one singles on its way to being certified platinum for sales of over a million copies. A year later he was named Best New Artist of the Year by the Country Music Association, which also marked the first time an African-American had won the award since it was introduced in 1981.

Rucker got the inspiration to cover the Old Crow via Bob Dylan song, when he heard the faculty band at his daughter’s school playing it. The tune, which he turned into a 1950’s country-influenced song, appears on his recently released record True Believers and features assistance from the folks in Lady Antebellum. Rucker has sold 1.2 million copies of his take since the beginning of April – making it the most successful song of his young country music career. Let’s check out the video…