Okay, this is awesome! Three of rock’s heavyweights just formed a new band: Howl Owl Howl. They’re fronted by Grammy-winning Hootie & the Blowfish singer Darius Rucker, alongside R.E.M. co-founder and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’r Mike Mills, and The Black Crowes co-founder Steve Gorman!
There’s so much potential in Howl Owl Howl. Think about being in the jam room. Their chemistry. Blending roots, rock, alternative. We all know Rucker’s gravelly vocals. Get Mills and Gorman locked in? Damn. I can almost feel the rumble.
Howl Owl Howl drop their debut single, “My Cologne”, on October 31. A tour starts November 3 at The Vogue in Indianapolis (dates below).
“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,” Rucker says. “The stuff we’re writing is so different than anything I’ve tried to do before.”
Mills chimes in: “You never can explain band chemistry. 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.”
Photo credit: Steven Cohen
Howl Owl Howl’s journey started back in 2019, when Gorman pulled the friends together for a Nashville benefit show. By 2021, they were in a recording studio, jams turned into songs.
“The concept from day one was, ‘Let’s just write a bunch of songs together and see what we think,’” Gorman explains. “And then we all hit this realization: ‘This is actually really good! I think we’ve caught something.’”
Rucker adds, “Writing these songs — it feels great to get to do it the way we did it back in the day.”
Howl Owl Howl tour dates:
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Nov. 03 – Indianapolis, IN @ The Vogue
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Nov. 04 – Chicago, IL @ Metro Chicago
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Nov. 06 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
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Nov. 07 – Asbury Park, NJ @ Stone Pony
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Nov. 08 – Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club – Music Hall
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Nov. 11 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall
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Nov. 12 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
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Nov. 14 – Athens, GA @ Georgia Theatre
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Nov. 15 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
“Hopefully people hear this and realize it’s just three old rock & roll friends hanging out,” Rucker says.
“This is a record we would be proud of in any of our other bands,” Gorman adds. “It’s fun, it’s real, and it feels like the band we always wanted to be.”
Wow! This looks cool, hey?! Build a group. Which musicians would make your supergroup?
