The cover of Darius Rucker’s eighth album holds special significance. It’s an old photograph of Rucker’s mother, Carolyn, who died in 1992, two years before Rucker and his band Hootie & The Blowfish would find massive success with their diamond-certified album Cracked Rear View. The bittersweet tribute comes in the second decade of Rucker’s career as a country artist and serves as something of a mission statement for Rucker, who shared in press materials for the record that he chose to honor his mother because she never got to see his success. Accordingly, the record finds Rucker sounding confident and comfortable in his artistry, mixing laidback party anthems (“Beers and Sunshine,” “Have a Good Time”) with more reflective material, like “Sure Would Have Loved Her.” Rucker also invites up-and-coming country group Chapel Hart to join him on “Ol’ Church Hymn,” connecting country’s old guard to its newest generation.
- Old Dominion
- Dierks Bentley
- Hootie & The Blowfish
- Tim McGraw
- Jake Owen