Blending elements of alternative rock, Southern rock, pop and folk, Sister Hazel has been making music together since their 1994 self-titled debut album. The quintet of Ken Block, Jett Beres, Drew Copeland, Ryan Newell and Mark Trojanowski followed up that debut with 1997’s platinum-selling . . . Somewhere More Familiar, which featured hits “All for You” and “Happy.” After 12 albums and more than 20 years together, the five friends from Gainesville, Fla., released their first “country” album, Lighter in the Dark, in 2016.
The 14-song offering debuted at No. 4 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart and featured a bevy of country’s top songwriters, including Rodney Clawson, Chris DeStefano, Ashley Gorley, Luke Laird, Hillary Lindsey and Darius Rucker.
Not only did Darius co-pen “Karaoke Song” with Barry Dean and Sister Hazel’s Drew Copeland, but the former Hootie & the Blowfish frontman provided vocals on the tune.
“Darius has been a friend since both of our bands were touring around in vans and trailers,” says Sister Hazel’s Drew Copeland. “We’ve only had a few opportunities to write together but have always enjoyed the process. I knew the song had something to it when [songwriter] Barry Dean and I walked out of Darius’ house and he was walking back up the steps singing it. I took it to the band on the road that weekend and played a rough demo that we recorded while we were writing and everyone was like, ‘We’ve got to have that song.’ It’s a great song to play live and Darius has joined us onstage a few times to play it. Having him come in the studio and actually sing on the record was a lot of fun. The guy is super busy pretty much all the time, so we’re really thankful he made it happen.”
Watch Sister Hazel’s new lyric video for “Karaoke Song.”
