Swimming with the Blowfish : Hootie, healing, and one hell of a ride

The ultimate front-row seat to the rise, fall, and rebirth of a band that was--for a time--the biggest in the world, Hootie & the Blowish, and Jim Sonefeld's shattering and redeeming spiritual path from addiction to recovery and a more fruitful life

For a time, there was no bigger band in the world than Hootie & the Blowfish--rock & roll's unexpected foil to the grunge music that dominated the early '90s airwaves. In Swimming with the Blowfish , Jim Sonefeld, drummer and one of the band's principal songwriters, reveals the inside story of the band's humble beginnings, meteoric rise, sudden fall, and ultimate rebirth--and in the telling he opens his heart to readers about addiction, recovery, and faith.

Hootie became ubiquitous in the '90s--their debut album Cracked Rear View was one of the best-selling in the history of rock music; they won two Grammy Awards; their live performances were played alongside the Dave Matthews Band, R.E.M., and even Willie Nelson and Neil Young; and they appeared at the biggest venues in the world. Though Jim enjoyed the perks that came with fame--the parties, the relationships, the money, the drugs and alcohol--eventually it all became a camouflage that hid a deeper spiritual malady. As his life was careening toward disaster, he reached out his hands to seek relief in twelve-step recovery, eventually settling into a loving, but by no means uncomplicated, homelife.

 A book that encapsulates a band still beloved by legions of fans, Swimming with the Blowfish is much more--an unpretentious, emotional story of one man's spiritual path to a more fruitful life. Jim's journey is shattering, redeeming, and ultimately as comforting as your favorite flannel shirt.