Darius Rucker

Darius Rucker just wants to tell a story.

Not surprisingly, it is the narrative allure of country music that so appeals to recording artists who try their hand at it for the first time. Musicians who also are lyricists can find this story-telling capacity irresistible, especially as counterpoint to the genres for which they are best known.

Rucker now reigns as not only the most successful pop star to have emerged from the Charleston area, but perhaps its most noted country artist as well. If his platinum-selling solo album, "Learn to Live" (2008), laid the foundation, Rucker's follow-up effort, "Charleston, SC 1966" (due out Oct. 12), is erecting the superstructure.

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Darius Rucker

Darius Rucker as he waited to do a scene for a music video aboard the shrimp boat Winds of Fortune.

"Come Back Song," the first single from album No. 2, already has been released to radio and is ascending the country charts.

"That's one of the things I love most about it," says Rucker, 44, taking a break from the H2O tour with Brad Paisley. "Ninety-five percent of country songs tell a story, and I like writing that way, where the second verse has to pick up where the first verse leaves off."

But Rucker's solo career takes a back seat on Wednesday when Hootie & the Blowfish puff up for the eighth annual Homegrown Concert at Family Circle Cup Stadium. Doors open at 6 p.m. with the concert ready to rip at 7 p.m.

"Charleston is the best place in the world to play because the energy level is so high," says Rucker. "People go crazy. Coming home is definitely the one show I most look forward to every year."

Rucker, guitarist Mark Bryan, bassist Dean Felber and drummer Jim "Soni" Sonefeld have sold more than 25 million records since 1994. With success has come a muscular social awareness, embodied in the Hootie & the Blowfish Foundation, which since being inaugurated to aid South Carolina children through education and school music programs, has grown into a nationwide campaign.

What with these extracurricular involvements and a demanding touring schedule -- the H2O Tour runs through November -- it's a wonder Rucker had the time to write 77 songs for the new country album.

"We recorded 16 of them and 12 made the cut. Actually, we started writing for the record as soon as we finished the first one. It was just one of those things; by the time we were finished, we had 77 songs. If you really love them, the songs that don't make it onto one record may find their way to the next."

Just don't expect to hear any of the new tunes on Wednesday. This concert is about the band's music, not Rucker's solo act. And the band still tries to reunite several times a year.

"It'll be strictly the band's (material) for the concert in Charleston," Rucker says. "Last year, we played three shows. This year, we will play three or four shows. We have our charity gigs we do every year, but I'm sure that somewhere down the road in a few years there will be another record tour."

Sometimes when artists shift genres, audiences and critics don't follow, at least not right away. Looking back, Rucker says he did not expect his inaugural country album to have been received so enthusiastically.

"Oh, I'm still surprised. When I started out, it was just a record I wanted to make for me. Then Capitol (Records) got involved, but I still didn't think much about it, other than it would now be cheaper to do. But for it to have the success it had was very surprising, considering I was coming from the pop world. But I think there was also a group of people who came along with me because they heard a familiar voice they liked."

Meanwhile, Rucker is savoring newfound normalcy within his hectic slate. Coming home last week to shoot a video was almost like a holiday.

"It was fun. We shot all over Charleston, not just in the harbor. For me it was great, because every time I get to work at home I love it. I get to show people how beautiful Charleston is. My kids are getting to the age where they can travel with me, alone or with my wife. But every time I get to work at home, I love it. It doesn't feel like such a crazy time as it does when we are not at home."

"With Hootie I would get into a bus in April and I'd be in the bus until November. We'd come home every two weeks -- for one day. Now, being home every week, it seems like a regular job."

Reach Bill Thompson at bthompson@postandcourier.com or 937-5707.