Darius Rucker enjoys country career after Hootie

Darius Rucker is a new name to country music, but a veteran name in the music industry.

The South Carolina native spent two decades as lead singer of "Hootie and the Blowfish" as they won two Grammy awards and turned out 16 chart-topping singles.

The group went on hiatus in 2008, but that same year, Rucker launched a solo country music project that returned him to his Southern roots.

Christian Hoard, senior editor of Rolling Stone magazine, said, "It makes perfect sense that Rucker became a country artist, because he was all about communicating to a wide group of people while keeping it simple. And there's something just down home and friendly about the way he wrote songs for Hootie."

His first record, "Learn to Live," debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's top country albums.

In the "Early Show" summer concert series, Rucker said he didn't expect the success.

"I just wanted to make the record for myself," he said. "And to see all this happening -- country fans and country radio have been awesome."

While Rucker had successfully broken into country music, he was also breaking down barriers.

Karla Lawson, of Big 98 WSIX Nashville, said, "There have been some other African-Americans that have tried to be in country music, but there again, they were pretending to be, they were trying to fit a mold, they were just being who they are."

In 2009, he received the Country Music Association award for Best New Artist, making him the first African-American performer to win a major CMA award since 1972.

"Darius was just trying to pick great songs that reflected who he was and write great songs that represented where he was in his life," Lawson said.

Rucker said making the switch from Hootie and the Blowfish was nerve-wracking in the beginning, but then, people started to warm up to him and his music.

Rucker said, "We did a lot of work with a lot of radio stations, shook a lot of hands, kissed a lot of babies and all that stuff, but once I got in the building and people started liking me and they heard the music, that was important. They liked it."

And with the release of his sophomore album, "Charleston South Carolina 1966," Rucker is back on top of the charts - and sticking to his Southern state of mind.

"Just hearing that number makes me giggle like a school girl," Rucker said. "That's amazing. I didn't expect that. It's pretty awesome."