Former chart-topping band to play Columbia show with Hootie & the Blowfish member on bill
A benefit concert will be held in Columbia in September, and a hit-maker from the 1990s is headlining the show.
Platinum-selling group Sister Hazel is at the top of the bill for the Rock for Recovery benefit concert, according to promoters. The show is scheduled for Sept. 26, and will be held at Columbia’s Central Energy, which is on Gregg Street.
In addition to Sister Hazel, which is best known for its chart-topping hit song “All For You,” the concert will include performances by Departure, Unisoghn, and Hootie & the Blowfish drummer, Jim ‘Soni’ Sonefeld.
It will be the fourth Columbia concert in less than two weeks for Sonefeld, who will perform with Hootie & the Blowfish from Sept. 11-13 in three shows at Colonial Life Arena.
Unlike those stadium shows, Sonefeld is scheduled to play an acoustic set of music at Rock for Recovery.
Departure is a Journey tribute band, and Unisoghn is billed as South Carolina’s “best kept secret,” according to promoters.
Tickets for the concert are on sale, and cost $40 apiece. Free parking in addition to “complimentary appetizers and mocktails,” are included with the tickets.
Proceeds from the event will be donated to the LRADAC Foundation, which used to be known as the Lexington/Richland Alcohol and Drug Abuse Council. Those funds will “benefit individuals and families impacted by addiction,” it says on the concert’s website.
This is a return to Columbia for Sister Hazel, which was one of the headliners at the Famously Hot New Year celebration in 2017, The State reported.
The band from Gainesville, Florida, topped the adult alternative charts in 1997 with “All For You,” and that success made their album reach platinum sales success, Kaylor Girl Promotions said.
Since then the group has found a fan base among country music fans, similar to Hootie & the Blowfish lead singer Darius Rucker.
In fact, Rucker sang on the group’s track “Karaoke Song,” from the “Lighter In The Dark” album, which reached No. 4 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart.
“We’ve known him for two decades,” Sister Hazel singer Ken Block said in a 2016 interview with The State. “The Hootie guys are like brothers to us. (Rhythm guitarist) Drew Copeland and Darius came up with that song and when we asked Darius to sing on it and he said, ‘Absolutely.’ We’ve collaborated with him on live stages before, but this was the first time we’ve recorded together.”
“Lighter In The Dark” also climbed to No. 6 on Billboard’s Independent Albums chart, 30 on the Top Current Albums chart and 79 on the Billboard 200 album chart, according to Kaylor Girl Promotions.
The upcoming concert comes two weeks after the release of new music from Sister Hazel, which will debut the EP “Earth,” on Sept. 6.
But this will be more than a promotion for the album. South Carolina’s capital city is a special place for Sister Hazel.
“Columbia has been a big part of our story over the years — we played Rockafellas’ and Elbow Room back in the day,” Block said. “It’s a great college town, much like the one we grew up in in Gainesville. Columbia embraced us early on.”
This story was originally published August 26, 2019 at 7:29 PM.