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"We loved, fought, cried, laughed a lot, and did whatever it took to play the music that we knew was very distinctly ours. . . . Jim 'Soni' Sonefeld has lived a life that is rife with fun and pain, light and darkness, but always with an amazing amount of love. The way he sees the world is one of a kind and his story is one for the ages."-from the Foreword by Darius Rucker



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.