Darius Rucker

Darius Rucker’s exaggerated, from-the-belly bellow made Hootie and the Blowfish’s adult-alternative-friendly roots-rock fun for even the band’s biggest detractors to sing along with, and Rucker hasn’t much tempered that croon since reinventing himself as a country artist in 2008. His album Learn to Live and its three No. 1 singles, including “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It,” made him the most successful black country singer in decades. Rucker sticks closely to that album’s formula on his new follow-up, Charleston, SC 1966. The album’s title evokes another era, but its studio-slickened sound is unabashedly modern.