Darius Rucker, Mike Mills, And Steve Gorman Will Release An Album And Will Go On Tour As Howl Owl Howl
Three unlikely friends are getting ready to make some noise with a new rock supergroup.
Rather than hooting, they’ll be howling.
The name of this band is Howl Owl Howl, and it’s been founded by Darius Rucker, the frontman for Hootie & the Blowfish; as well as Mike Mills of R.E.M.; and Steve Gorman of The Black Crowes.
“Howl Owl Howl rekindles the spirit of the authentic rock band,” states a September 24 press release, noting that the band will be approaching rock with “an open-minded alternative flair.”
Further, the band will feature “a fluid rhythm section and the barrel-chested vocal rasp of an iconic frontman,” namely Darius.
The first single by Howl Owl Howl, titled “My Cologne,” is slated for release on October 31.
Writing on social media about the announcement of the band, Darius said, “So pumped for this!!”
Howl Owl Howl’s Members Speak About The Band
In a press release announcing the formation of Howl Owl Howl, the band is described as being “born from friendship and the pure joy of collaboration” while being “powered by the world-class instincts of true originals.”
It also turns out that Darius, Mike, and Steve have known each other for some time, with Darius and Steve playing in a band together called The Invisible Hand.
“The band traces its beginnings back to 2019, when [Steve] pulled the longtime friends together for a Nashville benefit show,” the press release states. “Then in 2021, they began working in earnest. With no idea considered off limits, each member contributed to original songwriting in a series of loose, freewheeling studio sessions, building a sound moment by moment.”
Still, it was “a leap of faith” to pull this off.
The result of these sessions was fruitful, and now they’re ready to share what they’ve created.
“You never can explain band chemistry,” Mike said. “We all like each other. And we all admire each other musically. All those things come together and if it weren’t fun, we wouldn’t be doing it.”
Speaking on the conceit for Howl Owl Owl, Steve said their approach was to “just write a bunch of songs together and see what we think.”
Continuing, Steve said, “There was no grand design beyond that, and then we all hit this realization of, ‘This is actually really good! I think we’ve caught something.’”
Of the writing process, Darius said, “It feels great to get to do it the way we did it back in the day … It feels great to be singing with a rock band again. It’s like buddies getting together, but also getting to play with your idols.”
He added, “The stuff we’re writing is so different than anything I’ve tried to do before.”
With the first glimpse at Howl Owl Howl’s sound coming in October, Steve said, “We all truly dig the record. We knew it would be fun and we knew it would be cool and all those things, but this is beyond that. This is a record we would feel when we were much younger. This is a record we’d be proud of in any of our other bands.”
Concluding their discussion of the band’s forthcoming material, Darius said, “I hope people listen to this and realize it’s just three old rock & roll friends that started hanging out.”
Howl Owl Howl will also give these friends in the music industry a chance to perform their work together live, as they’ll be going on tour.
Tour dates are already listed online, with concerts beginning in November.
Tickets go on sale this Friday, September 26.