Swimming with the Blowfish, Jim Sonefeld
Swimming with the Blowfish, Jim Sonefeld
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

Swimming with the Blowfish
Hootie, Healing, and One Hell of a Ride

Author: Jim Sonefeld

Narrator: Jim Sonefeld

Unabridged: 8 hr 49 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 06/28/2022


Synopsis

The ultimate front-row seat to Hootie & the Blowfish and Jim “Soni" Sonefeld’s breathtaking path from addiction to recovery.

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. Jim Sonefeld, drummer and one of the group’s principal songwriters,
reveals their humble beginnings, meteoric rise, Grammy Award–winning musicianship, sudden fall, and ultimate rebirth—and opens his heart to readers about addiction, recovery, and faith.

Hootie’s debut album Cracked Rear View was one of the bestselling in the history of rock music. It saturated radio airwaves, television, and culture, and placed the quartet at the center of the American music conversation—for better and for
worse. 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 careened toward
disaster, he sought relief in twelve-step recovery, eventually devoting himself to a loving but by no means uncomplicated home life.

Swimming with the Blowfish is an unpretentious, emotional story of one man’s spiritual path to a more fruitful life. Jim’s journey is staggering and redeeming, and ultimately as comforting as your favorite flannel shirt.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Jill on June 27, 2022

Jim Sonefeld pours out his heart and soul detailing the highs, lows, and in-between times as a part of the band Hootie and the Blowfish. He describes the inside story of the band’s beginnings, rise to fame, and ultimate rebirth. His detailed story of overcoming self doubt, fame, addiction and recove......more

Goodreads review by Jim Pryde on January 21, 2024

This was an impulse pickup on Audible. I'll admit it, Hootie and the Blowfish are a guilty musical pleasure of mine. I have a close, personal connection to their debut album and it's catchy pop tunes. I've always loved Darius' voice, and their music was a nice addition to my life's soundtrack at som......more

Goodreads review by Rob on September 25, 2022

3.5 stars. I have read many biographies/autobiography’s of musicians. I met Soni when I was student teaching and he stopped by his alma mater. My students were going nuts because “Hootie” was there somewhere. I was older as I changed professions in my 30’s. I’m more of a classic rock guy and with a......more

Goodreads review by Austin on August 14, 2022

Over the last year, I have found myself reading memoirs in a niche genre I have come to call “Drummers in Recovery.” This is one of the best. It belongs alongside Travis Barker’s Can I Say, Patty Schemel’s Hit So Hard, and Joey Kramer’s Hit Hard. I was a casual fan, at best, of Hootie and the Blowfis......more

Goodreads review by Jan on September 19, 2022

A heartfelt story of one man’s public and professional life. As a student at UofSC 1985-89, and also 1989-91, I could appreciate the story and details of a time I lived in and a band I adored from playing at my sorority’s fall band party to seeing them on the cover of Rolling Stone. I listened to th......more