SWIMMING WITH THE BLOWFISH

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, and their live performances were played alongside the Dave Matthews Band, R.E.M., and even Willie Nelson and Neil Young. 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. 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.

Since then, a full spiritual awakening led to a complete lifestyle change and inspired Sonefeld to follow a new path of clarity, and nothing was clearer to him than God's calling to recreate himself as a Contemporary Christian artist. He also helps others in recovery by sharing his story and his music with Celebrate Recovery groups around the United States.

SWIMMING WITH THE BLOWFISH is for readers of Flea's ACID FOR CHILDREN and Travis Barker's CAN I SAY.

Hootie & the Blowfish drummer Jim "Soni" Sonefeld dreamt more of being a professional soccer player than a successful musician. But with the unsuspected success of the band's 1994 debut release, Cracked Rear View, he and his bandmates found themselves traveling the world to support what would become the 16th best-selling album of all time in the United States. The band would record four more studio albums and receive numerous awards, among them, two Grammys. During this era, Sonefeld's lines of truth became blurred and his addictions began to take over his life as he relied heavily on drugs and alcohol to cope with the emptiness growing inside of him. He struggled to find peace and to hold his personal life together, and in 2004 Sonefeld finally accepted that he was powerless over drugs and alcohol and that his life had become entirely unmanageable. In sobriety Sonefeld discovered there were parts of his life that had incurred damages beyond repair, but that God would heal him if he turned his life over to His care.
Since then, a full spiritual awakening led to a complete lifestyle change and inspired Sonefeld to follow a new path of clarity, and nothing was clearer to him than God's calling to recreate himself as a Contemporary Christian artist. He also helps others in recovery by sharing his story and his music with Celebrate Recovery groups around the United States.