Hootie & the Blowfish frontman Darius Rucker, R.E.M.‘s Mike Mills, and co-founding former Black Crowes drummer Steve Gorman (and 92KQRS’s host of Gorman In The Morning) have teamed up for the new rock supergroup Howl Owl Howl.
The trio’s debut single, “My Cologne,” which they released on October 31st, is available now. The song is an irreverent, tongue-in-cheek anthem that was inspired by Ariana Grande‘s 2018 track “R.E.M.” and its accompanying perfume line.
The band is currently supporting the single with a nine-date U.S. tour. The trek will feature the band performing their new original music alongside hits from their respective former bands.
Rucker expressed his enthusiasm for the project: “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. The stuff we’re writing is so different than anything I’ve tried to do before.”
Mills commented on the unique connection they share: “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.”
The band’s formation began in 2019 when Gorman drafted Mills and Rucker to play a benefit show in Nashville. Following that successful collaboration, the trio started working on original songs in 2021. Gorman said, “The concept from day one was, ‘Let’s just write a bunch of songs together and see what we think, see if there’s anything cool that comes from it’ — 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.’”
