What happens when a Division I soccer dream turns into a rock and roll reality? Join us as we sit down with Jim Sonefeld, the drummer for Hootie and the Blowfish, and the author of "Swimming with the Blowfish: Hootie, Healing, and One Hell of a Ride." Jim recounts his remarkable journey from the Midwest to South Carolina, and shares the touching story of meeting the band after a devastating fire, capturing the essence of how their support transformed his life. This episode is filled with the kind of heartfelt and inspiring moments that highlight the band’s compassionate nature.

From their early days playing small gigs to becoming one of the top-selling bands in the U.S. with "Cracked Rearview," Jim gives us an insider’s look at the dedication and hard work that fueled their rise to fame. He discusses the evolution of music formats, their experience with Atlantic Records, and the joy of performing in major venues. We also touch on the challenges and thrills of planning tours, creating new music, and the shared joy of live performances, making this a must-listen for any music enthusiast.

But it’s not just about the music. Jim opens up about his personal battles with addiction and his road to recovery, shedding light on the importance of community support and recognizing the signs of addiction. He reflects on the process of writing his book, sharing memorable moments and humorous anecdotes, including a chance encounter with Bob Dylan. We also explore the unique dynamics within the band and their deep connections to Charleston’s music scene. Don't miss this episode packed with inspiration, resilience, and unforgettable stories.

Join us at the Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce's Business Expo on September 26th from 11 am - 5pm at the Omar Shrine in Mount Pleasant. Thanks to all our sponsors, especially our title sponsor, Crews Subaru, More Than a Car Dealer.

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Speaker 1: 0:31

Hello and welcome to the Building Business Podcast powered by the Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce. We're here recording in the Charleston Radio Group Studios, huge supporters of the chamber, Thank you. And thank you, Brian Cleary, for recording us today. My name is Kathy Herman, I'm the current president of the Chamber of Commerce and I'm also the marketing director of Mount Pleasant Town Center, and I have a new co-host with me today, Jennifer Maxwell. She is the past president of the Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce. Say hello, Jennifer.

Speaker 2: 1:02

Hello, Jennifer Maxwell. Thank you so much for having me Very excited to film my first podcast today. My real job I'm a regional director of sales for REINS and, yeah, immediate past president. Glad to be here with the chamber.

Speaker 1: 1:16

Well, you picked a good one. We had a list, the best one, just so you know. We had a list out the door wanting to come in today to talk to you, but I wasn't letting just anybody come. It had to be.

Speaker 2: 1:27

Jennifer, it had to be Jennifer you know why too, Because she's from here.

Speaker 3: 1:31

She's a local.

Speaker 1: 1:36

She too, because she's, she's from here, she's a local, yeah. So, um, she'll agree that.

Speaker 3: 1:37

You know, hootie was one of the best things to ever come out of south carolina, but I'm going at getting ahead of myself everybody.

Speaker 1: 1:40

I am so excited that we have jim sonnefeld, the drummer of hootie and the blowfish and author of an amazing book excuse my tagsimming with the Blowfish, hootie Healing and One Hell of a Ride, which I have read, and I'm going to tell you a couple of things. First of all, you are going to hear some spoiler alerts during this podcast today, but that does not mean that you don't go buy the book and read the book, because there's going to be things that we're not going to talk about that you need to know about. But seriously, jim, what an amazing, amazing book. We met you back in January when you were a guest speaker at our chamber luncheon and I mean what a I'm still thrilled, what a thrill that was to meet you.

Speaker 3: 2:28

Thank you all for having me then and also today, to be here to talk more about the book. And I don't know. My experience is down in South Carolina. Like you, I came from somewhere else to get here many years ago. But they let me stay.

Speaker 1: 2:42

I have to say Like I said, I think Hootie is one of the proudest moments of South.

Speaker 3: 2:47

Carolina history.

Speaker 1: 2:48

Well, I mean good South Carolina history. You all know what I'm talking about. But seriously, jim, we're so excited to have you and I have, as you can see, my little notes to talk about some of my favorite things in the book. But I'm sure, for those who might not know you, can you give everyone just a little rundown of where you came from and how you ended up at the University of South Carolina and, part of this, the most amazing band.

Speaker 3: 3:14

Well, we I had been coming down here with my family, who were based in the Midwest in the 70s, and we had some family down here in South Carolina so we'd come to visit.

Speaker 3: 3:25

We were out at Sullivan's Island and in the early to mid 70s and came a few times and enjoyed it, went to Myrtle Beach and stayed in Columbia and so I had a little bit of an idea of the warm weather and the nice attitudes.

Speaker 3: 3:40

And so when it came time for college and I was wanting to play Division I soccer, I pointed my ship towards Columbia at the University of South Carolina and the coach there at the time was nice enough to give me a fair tryout. That's all he could offer me. I wasn't recruited heavily or anything, but I made the team and continued with my very long journey to get a four-year degree, six years to be exact and at the end of that I ended up. My soccer dream had sort of come to a close and my music dream that I had as a kid, as a drummer most of my life, was sort of taking the front seat and I found three guys called Darius Rucker and Mark Bryan and Dean Felber, who called themselves Hootie and the Blowfish and who needed a drummer and well, that's how I restarted my, my future in a lot of ways.

Speaker 1: 4:33

Well, that's one of my yellow tags here and I want to talk about the fire. That's something else that upset me about the book, the only thing that upset me about the book, but the passing of the hat at that first show. I mean that is almost like a foretelling of what they did for you, and then I don't know how it affected the rest of your life.

Speaker 3: 4:53

Yeah, I mean, when I was sitting down to write this book and then began shaping it to pull out the parts that weren't important and look at what might be dramatic or ironic, I looked back and realized there was a great importance to how I first saw Hootie and the Blowfish. Obviously, I auditioned for them and I knew Mark Bryan from one of my audio production classes. But it was actually this night where I had about 12 kids from the university got burnt out of an apartment on one morning in February of 89. And it was. The twist was that that night I ended up like I always used to If I had a sorrow, I went to a bar. Right, that's where we maybe cure our sorrows. At least I did at that time, and I walked in and recognized the guitarist as this kid from my audio production class and I'd never seen Hootie and the Blowfish before. I'd heard of them being around campus. But you know, mark did a crazy thing that night.

Speaker 3: 5:57

It occurred to me that was the most important impact that they had on me before I joined the band even, which was Mark Bryant, stopped the show and told everyone in the crowd which must have been, you know, maybe 100 people, to be fair that there was a fire on campus and if they hadn't heard about it, a bunch of kids lost a lot of their stuff.

Speaker 3: 6:17

And one of them was standing right in the bar me and he took his sweaty Terps ball cap off his head he was from Maryland and he had, I think, a Terps hat on and passed it around and said give what you can. And five minutes later there was $35 sitting in that hat. I was like astounded that that was the memory I took of that band that that night. Not what they did on stage, not their quality or anything, it was that they did something for me who they barely knew. They used their moment, their influence, to do something impactful, so for someone, because they needed help. And I, six months later, when I was auditioning for the band, I still didn't know much about the band, but I remember that moment, of course.

Speaker 1: 6:58

It's amazing.

Speaker 2: 6:59

Yeah, still to this day, that stands out.

Speaker 1: 7:01

So that's an amazing thing.

Speaker 2: 7:03

Can you share a little bit more about the early phases of you joining the band, and did you envision the success that you've had today?

Speaker 3: 7:10

We didn't have necessarily a whole lot going for us in terms of, I don't know, a business model or connections to the music world. We had a lot of fire under us. We wanted to write original music. We had a great work ethic. We'd all been raised to work so we knew that hard work often paid off. We all had day jobs. We had degrees that were rolled up and shoved under our beds somewhere and we didn't want to necessarily go into regular jobs. We all wanted to play music.

Speaker 1: 7:46

It took you six years to still hold up under your bed, huh.

Speaker 3: 7:48

It took me six more to explain that to my dad, who was maybe wishing I would have had a job that paid and had health insurance. But we just started off and just tried. We were green and so we didn't know any better than just to try our hardest. Knock on every door, take any gig we could, and mainly the gigs that we were taking at the time were parties on campus or a club that wanted us to play for a few hours, and we would take that money. And here was the beginning of the Hootie.

Speaker 3: 8:18

Business model is that we wanted to write original music and get a record deal, but at the time a studio was really expensive. You couldn't have a laptop that served as your computer Technology had not gone forward yet. So we took the money from these gigs that weren't great and you had to play forever and you had to play a bunch of cover music. We took that money and invested it in studio time so we could start recording the music that we were writing at the time. So that was our earliest business model, besides buying a van, insuring it, making sure there was tires that were good on it and taking every gig we could.

Speaker 2: 8:57

That's awesome. You guys are very, very successful. I grew up going to the Credit One Stadium here at Dana Island. That was kind of like our annual tradition. Every August is me and my friends and family would go out there and hoping one day to get that back.

Speaker 3: 9:12

Yeah, yeah, yeah, me too. You know, in the early 90s we hadn't had a dream that put us on a stage that big even, let alone bigger or anything. We thought we could win over a few fans at a time with our effort and our you know swinging our hair and taking our shirts off on stage and drinking a lot of beer and just having a good time.

Speaker 3: 9:35

That was. It was a pretty simple world. In the small world we lived in, we had our sights set high. You know, we knew we wanted to go somewhere, but we would have never admitted that we had big dreams. That was something you kept close inside and you just tried hard, day after day, and when we didn't have gigs or couldn't get gigs, we rehearsed or we wrote more music. It's the way you start going before technology comes many, many years later.

Speaker 1: 10:04

That's right. But I, just like I said we were talking earlier when did you realize maybe I should say and I know it's other than selling the gazillion, million, thousands of copies of the album of Crack Rearview that you sold but when did it hit the band that I mean, this is something that you're never going to be forgotten. Like you are, you are not a one hit wonder. You are, you are like, almost like the band of a whole generation. I mean, everyone knows you. When did that hit?

Speaker 3: 10:36

For me, I think it's only in hindsight that you can reckon with bigger ideas like that, that you are maybe a worldwide band or that maybe your music does have a place in time and it will not be forgotten because it was so impactful. It's hard to see that as it's happening. It's definitely impossible to see it before it's happened. So that's why we always focused on the short term, trying to do what the next right business thing was and try and write the next cool song that was heartfelt and sincere and authentic. So it's only in hindsight that you get to look back and go, wow, we have longevity. That's maybe one of the greatest things no one ever plans for in a band. To look back and go, wow, we have longevity. That's maybe one of the greatest things no one ever plans for in a band, because you are eager to be just in the moment and live your dream. That's happening now.

Speaker 3: 11:25

You don't always think of the future. As artists, I don't think that's a regular thought. So to be 30, some years down the road and look back is Wow, we've survived, we've had an impact. We went from cassettes and albums to this compact disc format, to downloading, to streaming and what the heck's next. Who knows Implants?

Speaker 1: 11:49

I'm just kidding, you're right. Who knows, that'd be okay with me. But now Cracked Rearview is still one of the top-selling albums of all time.

Speaker 3: 12:00

Yeah in the US it is still, and that was the album that we put out to give it some context.

Speaker 3: 12:05

After five years of working as original songwriters and trying to get up the ladder, we got a record deal with Atlantic Records, who at the time had produced some of the biggest bands in rock history, and so we knew it was maybe an opportunity to to really get out there, but there was no guarantees.

Speaker 3: 12:25

So Atlantic produced what would be Cracked Rearview in 1994 and, like I just mentioned these different formats to, to be able to have a record that goes from record to cassette to all the other formats and through the years is a little lucky and also a great big gift, because some bands, music, dies with the format that went away, I agree, and if you can eclipse each format and go forward, say I always use the eagles greatest hits as an example that was first released on an album and it was a huge seller. Well, everybody, when CDs came along that wanted to listen to their Eagles' Greatest Hits with no scratches, re-bought the CD version. So it allowed them to sell another couple million more than likely and that helps your career, just pulls it forward. So we've had the benefit of that and that helps your career. Just pulls it forward. So we've had the benefit of that and again, a little luck maybe. Not sure what to give credit to there, exactly, besides the fans who are buying it.

Speaker 2: 13:29

When you've toured all over the world. Do you have a?

Speaker 3: 13:34

favorite place that you've performed. You know there's not one place that I would say is the place, but we have some high marks that astounded us along the way. And you know, when we first, I think, got to leave the first time we played in an amphitheater to our fans who had bought our tickets and we had been opening up for a couple other bands in early 94 as the opening act in 1,200, 1,500 seat theaters. So to move from that to headlining 15 to 20,000 seat amphitheaters was an amazing moment and I write about that in the book. That first it scared the hell out of me. Actually, the first time I heard the wave, which is not just an audible thing but is a feeling that comes against your body when that wave of sound hits you. And I was at the back of an amphitheater stage drumming, like I do, and when we entered the stage it scared me at first.

Speaker 2: 14:29

I thought what is that?

Speaker 3: 14:29

Yeah, I thought, is there like a tsunami coming in, or I just thought there was some sound and a feeling I had never experienced. So getting in an amphitheater the first time was a big moment. Going overseas, I think, our memory. As a band we always go back to Dublin, ireland, and we played this hall which held a couple thousand people, and we realized they were singing louder than our music was playing.

Speaker 3: 14:55

And as we stopped, they just kept singing in a beautiful sort of Irish lilt and it just was so sweet to know that we're not home, we're not even in our country and we're getting this. We move on. We go to play for our US troops abroad, taking us to Southeast Asia, taking us to Saudi Arabia, and that's impactful because you're doing something for people who are protecting our country, which is a whole other level of meaning for us. So there's all these spots along the way that you get to do and if you're lucky, you get to return to them and maybe experience it a second time. But sometimes it's just a one-off A thing that happened. You hope someone took a picture of it and maybe you have it in your calendar, because otherwise sometimes they can be easy to get blurry or forget well, I remember we again talk about this earlier.

Speaker 1: 15:46

I was lucky enough to see you on that first tour, that amphitheater tour, in new york at jones beach, one of the best places to have a concert ever and it was sold out and it was, um, just absolutely incredible and um, and that was just the beginning. Yeah, and it was sold out, and it was just absolutely incredible, and that was just the beginning.

Speaker 3: 16:03

Yeah, and that was probably one of those early moments in that first summer of amphitheaters that told us we just had to look in the mirror and go is this happening to us? We were getting attention and a lot of it is the feeling of the attention you're getting, not just that you're playing in front of a lot of fans. That's amazing. But when there's attention given from outside, it gives you this other feeling. We had people that were from New York on TV or in other bands that we admired coming out and being part of what we were doing and it felt like a little bit of your peers saying welcome or you've made it, and that attention always felt good too. It's something you can get kind of sucked into and it can become a bad thing too. If you get too attracted to it. That flattery can go sideways at times.

Speaker 2: 16:50

Unbelievable I wanted to ask about your autobiography Swimming with the Blowfish, because it delves into your life and death. What inspired you to write this and what do you hope readers will take away from your story?

Speaker 3: 17:03

Well, I had been toying with the idea that maybe the life's journey I'd had at that point, which had gone from sort of humble roots in the Midwest to my dreams of playing soccer at a high level, into music and eventually success in music, but then also going downwards in my spiritual life and struggling with addiction, I felt like it's a whole story. It just felt for a few years. So I started writing in pen and paper to try and put some stuff together and my wife finally said you know, they have laptops and you type right in there and they sometimes correct the words and you can type real fast.

Speaker 3: 17:46

Maybe you want to do that, and so on my birthday in 2017, october 20th, I said I'm going to open up this laptop, and she showed me how to create a little file and I just started writing. Four years later is when I was able to convince someone they could publish it for me. The journey gave me enough time to write an honest, authentic sort of piece, get it edited, for it to be better and more concise and, along the way, feel the sting of many rejections as well, which brought me back to the hootie days of well, when you get rejected, you keep going. You just sort of don't take one no as the final answer. I got a lot of no's on a lot of levels there and somebody finally sort of encouraged me and said all you need is one yes. So I kept fighting for that one yes and finally got it from Diversion Books up in New York.

Speaker 1: 18:45

Like I said, I mean I absolutely loved it. And, jennifer, I'm glad you brought it up because I wanted to kind of switch our topic for a second now Out of Hootie and onto a very meaningful revelation in this book. A very meaningful revelation in this book. And I'm going to say that because I don't think, jim, that there's anyone who does not know someone who has either dealt with alcoholism or any kind of substance abuse, or knows somebody or has been through it themselves. And I think a lot of the times people don't know what to say or don't know how to notice it, or don't know you know why, why are they doing this?

Speaker 1: 19:21

And I really felt the way you wrote your book. I've got a really good glimpse into what you were going through and, in all honesty, I think that's going to help me If I and let's hope not ever have to deal with someone. I love going through that and I give you a lot of kudos for that. I mean it really kind of blew my mind and gave me a lot to think about and so thank you for sharing what you went through because I think it's going to help people.

Speaker 3: 19:53

When I first reached out to try and get help for what was mainly what I thought I couldn't control my drinking and some drugs I'd dabbled in along the way, I thought that was my only problem. But I realized there was more depth to it than that. I had other problems and there were people along the way that really were there, prepared to give their time and their experience to help me. And I wanted to to, in a book, say something that could be helpful. And my editor was wise. He said you know, instead of talking about your feelings, about you know your feelings, how you felt and all this, just tell what happened. When you tell it like bluntly people are, they can decide what it means to them.

Speaker 3: 20:36

So I think maybe you're a reader that can say here's a black and white story of what some guy did, not, what he felt or what not some angle that I want to spin on it. I just said here's what I went through and here's also what I went through when I asked for help, and I think it leaves it then interpretive to the reader to say, oh, you know, that's I, have that person in my life or maybe even more deeply, that's me. I had a few people in my life that had to give up their favorite alcohol, and for years they had told me about it and it was never quite impactful. I wanted to make something that really just sort of was black and white and plain and let you see, oh, that stinks. And to me.

Speaker 1: 21:22

it's also the little details too, of all that you wrote about hiding all the alcohol in the cabinets and trying to find the five minutes that someone wasn't going to be there so you could go make a drink, yeah, and hiding up in that little room, the back room, and sleeping all day. I mean just all the little and I'm dealing. Or if you have someone that you love that's going through this, people might not know to look for that, yeah, right, well, I and I, well, I learned a lot from it. So I I just really appreciate all those details that you put in about that, because I think it could help people.

Speaker 3: 21:55

It took me a lot, a lot of years of of the pain of living through them, but then the sort of miracle of surviving them and finding a better way, which was only brought to me, as I said, by other people helping me. I wanted to sort of just try to give that to other people as well, because a lot of people who struggle in addiction they've lost hope, they've lost their self-worth, they've lost the idea that they can be a miracle, and that's part of the disease, I think. So to show someone who has gone from hopelessness to hopeful and having some self-worth and knowing that you can be valuable for other people is just what I wanted to say. It meant I had to tell some honest stories. Some of the stories that were out there were a little dark, and I've saved the readers from some of the more ugly ones, and you don't have to share everything, right?

Speaker 1: 22:49

No?

Speaker 3: 22:49

Well, that was thankful to.

Speaker 2: 22:52

Laura my wife and a good couple editors.

Speaker 3: 22:54

They said, yeah, if you tell more it will be a more dramatic story. But then you say but do you want to tell more? Your children will probably read this book, and your ancestors and people around you. It's not necessary to tell everything. Everybody does not need to know everything.

Speaker 1: 23:13

No, I don't want to scare away the children.

Speaker 2: 23:15

Well, that was going to lead into my next question. Maybe not the ugly stuff, but is there any other fond memory that you have from your experience throughout the band and traveling, or anything that didn't make it into your book that you can share?

Speaker 3: 23:27

Well, you know some of the moments even that we're living into now. You know, the book sort of wraps up. We got lucky with the timing that the story was ending and it has a nice twist ending. It sort of sums up or wraps up around the end of 2019. So I I'd like that I was able to put a nice bow on it, and it happened all before COVID. So, but COVID gives us another whole chapter, and some with my band, as we're here now in 2024, about to embark on another tour, the first since 2019.

Speaker 3: 24:04

You know, things have happened since then that are meaningful to me as well in our relationship as a band. You know, just surviving the COVID era, and that means looking at our singer Darius, the COVID era, and, uh, that means looking at our singer Darius, who likes to work hard and had to, you know, put his band aside, his country music, to see that and see how he worked through that. Uh, you know, honorably, and, and, and he didn't want to. You know a lot of people were not given things that they wanted, and so to see him go through that and still thrive, and to see how we all reacted with our families and and through that whole period there's. There's more cool stories that going forward, that just in a general sense, give me hope that, well, maybe we're meant to be out here making music a little longer and I'm excited to see, uh, what's to come and and how the tour will go.

Speaker 2: 24:54

I know it'll be very, very successful. How are you guys preparing to go back out after being off for a couple years together?

Speaker 3: 25:00

Well, it's different for everybody. I have to dust off a few cobwebs around my drum set because I don't drum a lot in my free time. I mainly am playing guitar and piano and doing shows for the recovery audiences and some other speaking opportunities. So I've got to do certain things to make sure I'm prepared to sit back there on the drums every night for a couple hours.

Speaker 1: 25:22

Is it like a bicycle, though, Jim? I mean like once you get going, is it? It is like a bicycle in some ways, Because you've played those songs thousands of times, right?

Speaker 3: 25:31

Yeah, and I think some of it is as you get older that muscle memory gets a little weaker. So while I could hop right back up there and make it work because it's ingrained in me, my body has changed too. You know, I'm approaching six zero and and so it'll be. It's different than it was when I was five years ago or 10 or 20, so I need to just get remind my body what it needs to do behind a drum set, and, uh, I think it's maybe a little more complicated than getting out of bike, which you know is a good analogy, though. So we all do our own thing. Darius has got to transition from being lead country singer and having a certain uh shape on stage to being on our rock stage and going into playing the deeper cuts of hootie and the blowfish. So that's, that's different for him, and the other guys too. I think Mark and Dean are like me, where we got to kind of dust some things off and remember what we need to do.

Speaker 1: 26:28

Was this something you just wanted to go back on tour again? Or did something come up, an opportunity? Or you just said we missed the road.

Speaker 3: 26:35

We at the end of 2019, in a general sense, said well, maybe in like five years we could do this again, and with no idea that COVID was going to steal a couple years and that lives continue to change and things don't always line up in timing with, you know, Darius's career or anyone else's interests. You never know what could get in the way of anything.

Speaker 3: 27:00

And so last year we just started sort of measuring it and saying, well, 2023 is too soon and 2026 seems so far away and I'm going to be busy because there's a world cup soccer tournament happening in our country, so I'm highly obsessed with soccer still.

Speaker 1: 27:18

Are they still obsessed with soccer?

Speaker 3: 27:19

Yes, so there's like you have to measure and try and do the best at lining these things up. So 2024 looked like it might be the best opportunity, and it is, I know.

Speaker 1: 27:30

Well, listen, I know many people are going to be very excited about this tour. And what about new music? Are we talking about any new music? We talked about some new music?

Speaker 3: 27:39

Are we talking about any new music? We talked about some new music, but it's honestly harder than doing a 50 show tour and getting ready for it and going out and doing it. Harder than that is making a record together, because it just is. It takes longer. Writing songs as older men together is not the same as it was when we were in our twenties or thirties.

Speaker 1: 27:59

We're talking about grandchildren, yeah honestly like.

Speaker 3: 28:02

What are we?

Speaker 1: 28:03

writing about here. Oh, my granddaughter.

Speaker 3: 28:05

Yeah, so we did a lot and it took a lot to make the record called Imperfect Circle that we put out with the 2019 tour. But coming into this, we just felt like let's simplify this a little bit for us and stay away from making a whole new record. We'll release a song that has never been released before that we made in 2017, I think. I think that will be released right before the tour. So there will be new music, technically, just not a whole album. Do people listen?

Speaker 1: 28:37

to albums anymore? I don't think they do, and I think that I mean my friends and I talk about this all the time. I like deep cuts, like I'm a deep cut album girl, so maybe I'm not the right one to talk to, but you know, the majority of people that go to a concert want to go hear their top band's top 20 songs and that's all they want to hear.

Speaker 1: 28:56

I'm completely opposite. Give that's all they want to hear. I'm completely opposite. Give me that last song on the B side, but that's what makes the fans happy, right? So?

Speaker 3: 29:07

that's what keeps them coming to the shows. We asked through our social media what do you fans want to hear out there this summer? Because we have people that are suggesting the deeper cuts, the ones that we haven't played or ever played, and then, of course, like you said, there's the hits. But when we came back with all the information and someone in the band asked me so what was the conclusion of all the answers, I said basically every fan out there wants to hear every deep cut.

Speaker 3: 29:34

We've never played their favorite song and it would be great to do that, but it would also be probably impossible.

Speaker 2: 29:42

I have deep cuts that we've never played. That I want to hear.

Speaker 3: 29:45

I can't convince you know everybody to want to dig them out of the earth and play them. It's hard to learn old stuff and and sort of. Sometimes they just stay on the, on the CD or on the album and they never get unearthed what is your favorite song to perform?

Speaker 3: 30:00

performing you know, oh gosh, I still like playing our hits. Honestly. I like because for me up there and it's I know how to play the song, I've done them hundreds or thousands of times but to me it's the interaction and to see the faces in front of us that have paid to come and see us. Because when I'm playing a song that I've written or co-written with the guys and there's still someone out there having a fun time with a song that's 30 some years old, I love that. I mean that's. There's no better feeling than getting to see their, the reactions of the people. So, while new songs are always fun because they're new and you, I'm always in love with our newest song because they're gonna love it, or I love it because it's new, it's a new, bright feeling. It's the old ones that get people's hearts and hands in the air. You know, and I like to see that. That's a good interaction, while my eyes are still good enough to see the first row.

Speaker 3: 30:59

I appreciate looking at the smiling faces. I love that it's great.

Speaker 1: 31:03

But now of course you know you as a magician and out on the road with all these other bands and stuff.

Speaker 3: 31:16

Is there? Do you have any kind of like stories about very famous people that you've met that you can share with us? Are we doing a tell-all podcast now?

Speaker 1: 31:18

No, I just want to hear something, one fun one. I want to hear one fun one Because I do have. I do want to talk to you about the one the bathroom issue.

Speaker 3: 31:26

Oh, yes, I am going to bring that up Besides him. You make it sound like a really weird story now.

Speaker 1: 31:30

So the bathroom issue I will clear that up, folks, jim Salfeld and his IBS problem. I will clear that up. We Like meeting when you met Eddie Van Halen. That was exciting for you, right it was. That was like a big, huge. Thing.

Speaker 3: 31:44

I mean meeting and standing with some of the peers that I idolize, because, you know, we came from the 90s but we listened to music from the 80s and 70s and 60s. So when we're out there, you might cross paths with someone who's on the downside of their career and you're on the upswing and you look at the person like, oh my god, this is, you're the reason I make music. You know, even getting to do a photo op, which we recently posted, with Elton John was an amazing thing, because he was probably by and far my biggest musical influence in general growing up and somebody that inspired me and I wanted to be like that, and so we had a photo op with him at some point and our Facebook page just reprinted it and what you don't see in the picture this is a little funny is that I'm still a fan. You know we'd been in our career. We had Grammy Awards.

Speaker 3: 32:34

Elton John had all his million selling hits. I can't remember the event we were at, but there we are and I've got shyness. I'm typically overcome with the shy guy. Even when I want to just get an autograph or shake the hand of my idol, I'm always no, I can't. He's gonna think I'm an idiot and in this picture without John I you don't see I've got shoved in the back of my pants an old Elton John album.

Speaker 3: 33:01

love it that I've brought that I really want to get Elton John to sign to me and I panic and I you know, freak out, and I didn't do it so there I'm smiling with my you know arm next to elton john and you don't know, there's you know rock of the westies in my pants for you I'm sure he would have, but I'm um, you know, I get my self-doubt and yeah, my paranoia comes back and I'm like he's not not going to want to sign that. So I just had a sweaty album that was in my pants for 10 minutes.

Speaker 2: 33:31

No, big deal.

Speaker 3: 33:33

Probably warped the record. If anything, it's terrible.

Speaker 2: 33:36

Do you have any pre-show rituals or superstitions that you have to do before you perform?

Speaker 3: 33:42

No superstitions per se. I did have a lot in my life with a lot of things, usually supporting my sports teams because you know the jersey you wear could impact the team that's playing a thousand miles away

Speaker 3: 33:54

it does, so you want to wear the right one, uh. But we didn't have superstitions and and honestly, we were so terrible for, like what would typically be a good idea called warming up, we were winging it a lot because we're a rock band, we don't want to go by the rules always, but we always did a shot together, which was always just a nice coming together moment to kick off. You know about to walk on stage in front of a lot of people, and so when I uh had to learn that I cannot drink responsibly, I had to not do the shot anymore. I hated that. I always hated that. I had to hold up like gatorade. I was like what a wuss this guy.

Speaker 1: 34:30

There's some mocktails that I did listen. There's plenty of good things to drink without alcohol these days, yeah, so we still do the shot everybody else does real shots and I do the the mocktail and it's fine.

Speaker 3: 34:41

Uh, you know we try and keep it simple. Uh, you know, everyone has their individual responsibility. We've always lived by this. We don't have to look out for your bandmate. Are you getting ready? Are you warmed up? Are you doing the right thing? You expect everybody to get on that stage fully prepared. So, whatever everybody has to do individually, whether it's a long nap in the afternoon or an extra shot before you go on stage maybe. Whatever that is, we all expect each other to get it right. That's great.

Speaker 1: 35:10

What about the? Did you have any fun tour riders? The rider in the contract did you have like green M&Ms or anything in?

Speaker 3: 35:17

your dressing room.

Speaker 1: 35:18

Ours. I'm fascinated by bands.

Speaker 3: 35:20

Just so if you haven't, Because we liked to have a lot of fun back in the day and we were young and hard and always just thought if this is the last day we're ever on stage and we've got a bunch of fans here, let's party. I don't even think we put a food item on our rider so many, many years later it was just like how much budweiser can you fit in the dressing room? And jim beam and jagermeister and some light.

Speaker 1: 35:44

It was just the second thought that's right, you can get us food too, too.

Speaker 3: 35:47

Eventually we realized, yeah, we should get some food too, but it was always. It was just the earliest days. You know even our contract. There was no rider, it was what you got paid to do a gig name the bar. In the southeast you know we would often just get paid in beer. Yeah, in the southeast we would often just get paid in beer. If there was not enough people or we didn't agree on a set fee or nobody showed up, just pay us some beer. We're always good with that.

Speaker 1: 36:18

Those are the stories I want to hear about. We turn the mics off for those so we don't get anybody in trouble. I know.

Speaker 2: 36:24

Another interesting question what's the craziest fan encounter that you've ever had throughout your years? I guess.

Speaker 3: 36:31

There were some really weird people that popped up in the mid-90s, and by weird, like you know, we were still getting a lot of fan mail. So email wasn't a thing. There was no social media. Email probably existed, but that wasn't the way anybody communicated. You got fan mail, so you get some just bizarre fan mail of people either claiming things or maybe claiming God told them some things that they, you know you maybe were the chosen one, or maybe I'm going to beat your show at this certain place and tell you they're going to be waiting for you there and like, oh that's really awkward and people did at times show up and have to be removed or show up continually, I think maybe the nice old word is called stalking and for the most part I don't think many of them were dangerous, but maybe just a little delusional.

Speaker 3: 37:27

And through the years you get yeah, you just get people that come to believe certain things and you don't know why, and it might be a little bit of a mental health issue at times.

Speaker 2: 37:37

claiming that I mean yeah just some stuff that I'm not even going into it couldn't physically have happened.

Speaker 3: 37:45

Yet they're like no, and this stuff isn't even that old. Now we are years, decades removed from the big time where we were traveling and interacting with fans, and 20 years later you get a strange correspondence that says Well, now you're called the police. Yeah, like hi Dad, what Not going there? Yeah, not so much.

Speaker 1: 38:10

That is hysterical. I do want to go through quickly just a couple of my favorite parts of the book.

Speaker 3: 38:15

If that's okay with you.

Speaker 1: 38:16

Again, everybody Swimming with the Blowfish. I am telling you, pick up this book and read it. It is absolutely fantastic.

Speaker 3: 38:23

And support your local booksellers. Yes, absolutely, I supported you, I supported you, I supported you. Down in Powell, charleston, is Buxton Books. Yes, buxton Books, that's right. And Mount Pleasant is Village Bookseller.

Speaker 1: 38:31

Mine was already signed last time when I met Jim in.

Speaker 3: 38:34

January, it was really pretty awesome.

Speaker 1: 38:37

So we're going way back to the fire, right? The kitten died.

Speaker 3: 38:42

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 38:43

I mean, I'm just letting you know it doesn't ruin the book, but I was really upset, as you can see. I mean.

Speaker 3: 38:49

I knew the cat people of the world would pick that out and have to say something.

Speaker 1: 38:54

It's literally like five words and I was like, did you really have to put it in there? Yeah, but I did love the part when you were going down to help the young lady in the first floor with the dog and you were trying to get her to dog, wouldn't leave her and she was in the shower again.

Speaker 3: 39:09

I'm not, you have to read it, it's really funny fire does a really weird thing to the human mind and it's in the form of panic. So the fact that I even remembered anything about those moments when I realized our apartment is on fire, yeah, uh, this is a slight miracle, uh. But the stories are important because they show sort of what goes through the mind.

Speaker 1: 39:30

Oh, absolutely.

Speaker 3: 39:31

When that happens.

Speaker 1: 39:32

One of my next favorite parts was the whole background of. Some of you may not know that Jim wrote Hold my Hand, one of the biggest hits for Hootie and the Blowfish. And I'm just reading, and reading, and reading and all of a sudden I start with a little love and some tenderness. I'm like here we go and I just started to cry.

Speaker 2: 39:53

I mean happy cry.

Speaker 3: 39:54

A very happy cry.

Speaker 1: 39:56

But that song well, so many of them. But that song, like I said, it was in the middle of my 20s and it came out and it took my breath away when I heard that song for the first time and then to read you and you being like, oh, you know, oh, my God, this is working. I'm actually writing this song to turn again to turn out to be a song that there can be anybody who doesn't know that song.

Speaker 3: 40:19

Yeah, the roots of that song are interesting. You know that it was just another attempt which I had many failures, as a new songwriter. It was just another attempt which I had many failures as a new songwriter to write something that I thought was a combination of catchy and unique and clear. It was when it was first working for me. So the fact that that song ends up traveling through time, not just that the band liked it in 1989, but that we recorded on a cassette and then a cd and then it's a song we end up playing from south africa to australia, to wherever we've traveled in the world, that's always in our set. So it's a.

Speaker 1: 40:59

It's been a great journey for that song, yeah oh, absolutely, all right, two more quick things and then we'll have just the two more quick things and then, um, we will finish up. So one of my favorite thing when you were going in to record your first album with the producer manager, dick hud hudgen, did I say that, right? Yes, his quote about um being in the record business really made me laugh. I'm gonna read it, if everyone doesn't mind, because it really cracks me up. So he says to the guys so you boys really want to be in the record business, do you? And so of course now they're all excited and they want to hear about being in the record business. I'm not going to say the bad words that are in here, jim, because we're a business podcast.

Speaker 3: 41:38

You say them and I'll just try and bleep them out.

Speaker 1: 41:41

Well, the music business is like a big superhighway and you need to take certain roads that will bring you to that big superhighway. So there's all these roads and many detours too. But if you work hard, get good directions, have patience and, of course, make great music, you can get on that superhighway. I mean, listen to that Is that amazing, right? But then my fun part it goes and you guys are still sitting in the blank kitchen looking for your blank car keys, and I just love that. You have to start somewhere. But I love those words of wisdom. I thought it was pretty awesome.

Speaker 3: 42:15

We dared to ask for some advice and maybe we hoped that Dick would give us some encouragement Because we thought, yeah, we made this cassette, we're probably going to get signed to a record deal really quickly and Dick had experience. But he was also. The best thing about it was he was honest. We needed to have somebody be very honest with us and say, hey, here's where you are on the journey in reality, not where your mind thinks you are. So we needed that truth and him and some other people along the way were always honest with us to say hold your horses or keep working. And so we always tried to take that advice and we did keep working. That's awesome.

Speaker 1: 42:56

And then I'm going to go back to the bathroom story for a second to clear up any misconceptions on the bathroom story. But it is about a very well-recognized rock musician and there was an issue with that. I won't go into all the details. You've got to read the book. We'll just call him. Bob Dylan, we'll just call him Bob Dylan, and there was something with lyrics with Bob Dylan and one of the band's songs and Jim ran into him in the bathroom.

Speaker 3: 43:24

Yeah, at an award show Very surprisingly.

Speaker 1: 43:29

Like what? There's dylan and two stalls down. Yeah, and it was so funny and all like I and he said he was he wanted. I can't even say well to set that up.

Speaker 3: 43:40

We, but we were. I was still holding on to a resentment with bob dylan and his, his lawyers, because they had sued us about use of some lyrics which they had originally said we could use them. And then, when the song we used them in became a huge hit, there was now a debate which is just typical of the music business. No one cares what you do with art, and if there's money made on it, then there's going to be a lawyer involved. So I was still a little burnt from that. And here I am right near mr dylan and, uh, I'm thinking I know how I can get him back. And it has to do with something that takes place in the bathroom, of course, so I won't spoil it, but uh what is bob dylan we're talking about here?

Speaker 1: 44:22

but we think he saved we, you know, the bodyguard stopped you from doing it which kind of probably, you know, saved a little, a little bit of issues with you and Mr Dillon going forward.

Speaker 3: 44:32

That was a funny one, oh goodness.

Speaker 2: 44:34

I'm going to have to read now to get the full story Everybody has got to read this book.

Speaker 1: 44:39

They really do. And the other secret that I love talking about that we learned at the luncheon, of course, we learned through the book is how you met your beautiful bride.

Speaker 3: 44:48

Well, I knew my beautiful bride because we had been friends for many years and we had. The crazy thing is in the greater Hootie family. We all get used to you know each other's families, distant cousins, because you traveled all over and you always meet them all and we all had wives in the mid 90s and late 90s and girlfriends, and so you kind of get used to the picture of that whole group, right. But then divorces start happening and and then all this great people are moving away to different towns to live in the band and and people come and go and fast forward many years later.

Speaker 3: 45:26

Two great things are happening in 2008 on one weekend that if you were in the hootie family you never would, sort of you couldn't conjure if you tried. And one of them was that on the same weekend, darius rucker is coming to charleston, south carolina, back home, uh, to do a big reunion homecoming gig as a country artist, which doesn't make any sense if you're sitting in 2007 or 1998. What? That doesn't make any sense, a country artist. And that same weekend, another thing is happening that sort of shakes up the hootie world a little bit if you're in the family, and that I'm getting remarried and I'm marrying Laura, my wife of 15 years now, who happened to have been married and had three kids with our guitarist, mark Bryan. So that was a big like what? So between Darius Country Homecoming and Reunion and Laura and I a wedding in the same weekend, it's something that doesn't look like it makes any sense or it's a weird story.

Speaker 3: 46:32

Both of them worked out pretty well now, didn't they? Well, in hindsight, yeah, again, sometimes you can't understand something except for looking back at it. So, 15 years later, yeah, laura and I are married and our Hootie family which includes Mark and our kids and my ex-wife too four adults raising five kids together ends up because we're all adults working out pretty okay. You know, and it did seem weird at the time and I apologize to all those people who thought what the?

Speaker 1: 46:59

I'm sure it is not the only time that that has happened, I'm sure.

Speaker 3: 47:03

It goes back to, I think, the beginning of the book. There's a page you have like beginning of the book. There's a page you have a dedication page, you have acknowledgments, and there's a page where the book company says you get to write a quote. No, I take that back. This is in the book. It's the quote that I think best describes that moment, which I think it says Love is for the daring, and I felt like that was summed up that moment. It's like love doesn't always make sense when you're in it, right, right, it makes us do dumb things, exciting, courageous things, but it is only for the daring.

Speaker 1: 47:40

That's amazing.

Speaker 2: 47:41

So where are the whereabouts of you and Laura and the band in the Charleston area these days?

Speaker 3: 47:47

Well, we've always had roots here. When Darius came back in around 2000, I think maybe because he's from Ravenel originally. So when he came back it started a little trend. Mark and Laura moved here from Columbia, dean moved here and got married and I was left in Columbia. But fast forward, when Laura and I get married, I dragged her kicking and screaming to Columbia. Because who wants to go live in Columbia? But fast forward, when Laura and I get married, I dragged her kicking and screaming to Columbia. Because who wants to go live in Columbia when you live in Mount Pleasant?

Speaker 1: 48:15

honestly, and she still married you and she did.

Speaker 3: 48:17

She still married me, but now again, I promised her that one day we would return or we'd come back here and live. So we get to be part of that now. For a few years now I've been going back and forth from Mount Pleasant to Columbia and I've really enjoyed it, because I've never lived here. I've really enjoyed it. I have family here and Laura has a lot of old friends, so we have enjoyed being part of this community and getting to relive some of the old days where we played at the Windjammer and we played at some clubs downtown that have long since been gone, I'm afraid, but it's been a good thing getting back here for us.

Speaker 2: 48:56

Good, good. I love the old Windjammer days.

Speaker 3: 48:59

Yeah, we still go there, we go to see shows, and boy do I feel old. I say does it start at 7? Is it a non-smoking show? I don't want my clothes to smell. I really sound like I'm 85 years old.

Speaker 1: 49:11

Well, that's what we should do. We should get you guys to play the wound down.

Speaker 3: 49:14

I know, yeah, well, I think you know it helps that the drummer is closer by now. Well, exactly, you know.

Speaker 2: 49:23

Right down. You know, yeah, Mark still lives down here.

Speaker 3: 49:26

Darius does part of the time and Dean does, so yeah, that looks like it would be an easier thing to accomplish than the old days when you had to be dragged from Columbia.

Speaker 1: 49:35

Well, just do me a favor If you ever play the Wim Jammer or anything the size of the Wim Jammer, just give me a little heads up so I can be first on line to get tickets, because those will sell out. I'll have to fight people for that.

Speaker 3: 49:53

I'm okay because those are still out. I have to fight people for that, well, even, yeah, right, yeah, every year, every year, yeah, there's a lot of good venues down here and we've really enjoyed, uh, playing here our homegrown series. That lasted a long time and then got sidetracked by our 2019 tour and and uh, covid has not yet returned, so we're not sure what we're gonna do with that, darius has got a great festival here too, so the Riverfront Revival is an incredible opportunity too. So he puts together a great show.

Speaker 1: 50:17

Any chance you could play at that? Yeah, there's always a chance. See, I know, really Breaking news.

Speaker 3: 50:24

You never know.

Speaker 1: 50:25

Thank you so very much for coming on and spending some time with us today. I could say it 18 times I'm a huge, huge, huge fan, and I think it's important for artists like yourself to know the impact that they've made on people, because I don't know if you get to hear I mean, I'm sure you'll be oh, we love you. But literally you impacted an entire generation of people, jim. So it's just very it's an honor to meet you and an honor to talk to you. It's just something you guys should all be very proud of.

Speaker 3: 50:55

Well, thanks for continuing to be a fan. And you know this is somewhat easier as an older guy to do podcasts and chamber events and all that. I never thought that would be a fun thing, but when you're 59, oh yeah, I can do that. Well, that's because it's the Mount Pleasant At 12 in the afternoon.

Speaker 1: 51:11

Yeah, it's the Mount Pleasant Chamber. That's why it's so cool. Nobody else is as cool as we are. Just so you know. We've got the best guests. I told you we have the best guests, but really again to have you.

Speaker 3: 51:28

Just call me. I'll bring my acoustic guitar and my book. That's even better. I'll bring some new stories.

Speaker 1: 51:34

I was going to say please don't forget Swimming with the Blowfish, Hootie Healing, and One Hell of a Ride. It is an amazing book. Please, please, pick up a copy, Support your local bookseller. That's right. Buxton Books, you said right.

Speaker 3: 51:47

Downtown and then out on Mount Pleasant is Village Booksellers. So I'm sure there's more.

Speaker 1: 51:54

I just haven't seen it yet Absolutely, absolutely, get this book. You'll really enjoy it. So, again, I want to thank our sponsors of Charleston Radio Group Brian, you're amazing, as always and, of course, the, as always. And, of course, the Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce. If you're interested in sponsoring our podcast or being a guest on our show, just reach out to any one of us at the chamber and we'll get back to you. Make sure to like and subscribe to all of our media channels. We'll be on Spotify, itunes, youtube, instagram, facebook and LinkedIn. So again, thank you so much for being with us today. Until next time, mount Pleasant. Until next time, listeners.

Building Business w/ the Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce

Healing, Music, and Life Lessons: Jim Sonefeld’s Journey with Hootie and the Blowfish

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