Darius Rucker On Touring With Lady Antebellum

Currently halfway through his tour with Lady Antebellum and Thompson Square, Darius Rucker filled CBS Local in on what it’s like opening for Lady A and some of his favorite songs to play during his set.

(Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for Capitol Records)

“It’s so much fun for me being out with Lady Antebellum. They’re huge and doing so well. We’re playing big places, selling them out and having a good time,” he said. Joking that he’s almost 20 years older than Lady Antebellum, he said watching them each night strikes up memories of his early career.

“Sitting there watching them, they’re kids. Just watching them go through something I’ve been through, watching them enjoy it. It’s fun for me. I love going out there playing and playing in front of their audience has been a lot of fun.”

Each night Darius’ set spans his catalog of country songs, Hootie & the Blowfish hits and a few covers. Having first released “Let Her Cry” in 1994, he admitted that it still tops his set list every night.

“My favorite song to play will always be ‘Let Her Cry.’ Always,” he said. “I remember writing that song and I remember the whole circumstance of that day and that song will always be special to me.”

One cover song in particular he’s surprised he never played with Hootie & the Blowfish is Prince’s “Purple Rain.”

“‘Purple Rain’ is one of my favorite cover songs to play. I still can’t believe Hootie never played that. It took me becoming a country band to play,” he admitted. “It’s one of those songs that I don’t think I can stop playing it. I didn’t play it at one of my shows and on the Internet the next day everybody was mad because I didn’t play ‘Purple Rain.’ If I have to play that song the rest of my life, I’m cool with that.”

While what’s going on through his head during his performance is different every night, Darius filled us in on a few of his thoughts each night.

“Most nights I’m thinking, ‘Are they having fun?’ That’s really all that matters to me, if the crowd is having fun,” he said. “I know we’re having fun because I know everyone I play with, we’re just so happy that we’re playing music for a living that we’re going to go out there and have fun. My worry is, ‘Is the audience having fun?’”