Band signs with Universal Music Nashville
Iconic pop-rock band Hootie & the Blowfish appeared on NBC’s TODAY Monday morning (Dec 3rd) to announce a highly anticipated return to full-time touring in 2019, as the foursome sets out on the 2019 Group Therapy Tour with direct support from special guest Barenaked Ladies.
The band formed by Mark Bryan, Dean Felber, Darius Rucker and Jim “Soni” Sonefeld during their time as students at the University of South Carolina will visit 44 cities on the tour produced by Live Nation, kicking off Thursday, May 30th in Virginia Beach, Virginia and wrapping Friday, September 13th with a Columbia, South Carolina homecoming.
Citi is the official pre-sale credit card for the Group Therapy Tour. As such, Citi cardmembers will have access to purchase pre-sale tickets beginning December 3rd at 10 am local time until Thursday, December 6th at 10 pm local time through Citi’s Private Pass program.
Hootie & the Blowfish fan club members can also access an exclusive pre-sale starting December 3rd at 10 am local time. Barenaked Ladies fans who have purchased VIP packages in the past will receive an exclusive code to purchase tickets early on Wednesday, December 5th starting at 10 am local time before they go on sale to the general public this Friday, December 7th at LiveNation.com.
“Once the four of us met and started playing shows, we toured for years before signing a record deal,” reflects Rucker who, in the ten year plus break since their last formal tour and nearly 15 years since their last studio album as a band, has charted nine No. 1 singles on country radio.
Felber notes, “Having those shows at fraternity houses, clubs and dive bars under our belt prepared us for success to a degree, and it’s something we’re proud of – that we put in the work – but what matters to me the most is that we’re still a band all these years later. We’ve never stopped being a band.”
“We were content playing clubs and small theaters, so playing to three-, four- and five-times that size was incredible, and we’re looking forward to that feeling again on this tour,” Sonefeld echoes.
Bryan adds, “There’s nothing like playing music live. For the first time in nearly 20 years we’ll be coming back to Columbia, South Carolina where it all began,” before Rucker interjects, “and we’re ready to rock.”
In addition to hitting the road on the Group Therapy Tour in 2019, the band described as “beloved” by the New York Times and praised by Billboard for their “undeniable charm” will also release a forthcoming sixth studio album under new label home Universal Music Group Nashville as their debut Cracked Rear View celebrates its 25th anniversary.
Cracked Rear View, certified by the RIAA as 21x Platinum and the fifth-most certified studio album of all time, marked the beginning of a whirlwind of success for the two-time GRAMMY winners who have gone on to sell over 25 million albums and notch 17 Billboard-charting songs to date.
Group Therapy Tour:
May 30 Virginia Beach, Va. | Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater
May 31 Raleigh, N.C. | Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek
June 1 Atlanta, Ga. | Cellairis Amphitheatre at Lakewood
June 6 Orange Beach, Ala. | The Wharf
June 7 Tampa, Fla. | MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
June 8 West Palm Beach, Fla. | Coral Sky Amphitheatre
June 13 Austin, Texas | Austin360 Amphitheater
June 14 Houston, Texas | The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion presented by Huntsman
June 15 Dallas, Texas | Dos Equis Pavilion
June 19 Phoenix, Ariz. | Ak-Chin Pavilion
June 21 Chula Vista, Calif. | North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre
June 22 Las Vegas, Nev. | T-Mobile Arena
June 23 Irvine, Calif. | FivePoint Amphitheatre presented by Mercury Insurance
June 25 Los Angeles, Calif. | Hollywood Bowl
June 28 Wheatland, Calif. | Toyota Amphitheatre
June 29 Mountain View, Calif. | Shoreline Amphitheatre
July 11 Englewood, Colo. | Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
July 13 Maryland Heights, Mo. | Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
July 14 Rogers, Ark. | Walmart AMP
July 19 Monticello, Iowa | Great Jones County Fair
July 20 Cincinnati, Ohio | Riverbend Music Center
July 21 Burgettstown, Penn. | KeyBank Pavilion
July 26 Cleveland, Ohio | Blossom Music Center
July 27 Bristow, Va. | Jiffy Lube Live
July 28 Camden, N.J. | BB&T Pavilion
August 2 Guilford, N.H. | Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion
August 3 Mansfield, Mass. | Xfinity Center
August 4 Saratoga Springs, N.Y. | Saratoga Performing Arts Center
August 8 Columbia, Md. | Merriweather Post Pavilion
August 9 Canandaigua, N.Y. | Constellation Brands-Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center: CMAC
August 10 New York, N.Y. | Madison Square Garden
August 16 Detroit, Mich. | DTE Energy Music Theatre
August 17 Noblesville, Ind. | Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center
August 18 Des Moines, Iowa | Iowa State Fair
August 22 St. Paul, Minn. | Minnesota State Fair
August 23 East Troy, Wis. | Alpine Valley Music Theatre
August 24 Tinley Park, Ill. | Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
August 29 Toronto, Ont. | Budweiser Stage
August 30 Hershey, Penn. | Hersheypark Stadium
August 31 Hartford, Conn. | XFINITY Theatre
September 5 Charlotte, N.C. | PNC Music Pavilion
September 6 Birmingham, Ala. | Oak Mountain Amphitheatre
September 7 Nashville, Tenn. | Bridgestone Arena
September 13 Columbia, S.C. | Colonial Life Arena